Mushroom places of the Rostov region
The Rostov region is not the most fungal region in Russia, but in some areas the soils are excellent for germinating their spores. Mushrooms of the Rostov region in 2019 appeared in early spring. There will be harvests in summer and autumn as well.
Mushroom places of the Rostov region
What mushrooms grow in the region
In 2019, mushrooms in the Rostov region began to be collected from the end of winter, when the snow had not yet completely melted. Mushroom pickers found oyster mushrooms, frammulina, Judas ears. Their number was expectedly small. The spring-autumn 2019 season promises to be successful.
Mushroom places are rich in the following types of edible and conditionally edible mushrooms:
- morels: appear first in mid-spring;
- boletus: they are harvested from mid-April to early summer;
- calocybe, or spring mushroom, or May row: appear in vegetable gardens, deciduous forests in mid or late May;
- white: grow from mid-August;
- aspen (boletus): harvested from early summer to autumn;
- lilac-legged rows (blue feet): they begin to grow in late August before the first autumn frosts;
- boletus: grow from mid-June to autumn cold snap;
- chanterelles: meet all summer;
- mushrooms: their fruiting bodies appear at the end of July;
- Champignon: bear fruit all summer.
Summer mushrooms have the highest nutritional value, autumn mushrooms are good for pickling.
Only young fruiting bodies are subject to collection, the diameter of the cap of which is 2.5-4.5 cm. Old mushrooms, in the absence of precipitation, accumulate a large amount of toxins and become unsuitable for consumption or preparations.
Irina Selyutina (Biologist):
In the spring, when the first morels appear in the sun-warmed places, lovers of tasty mushrooms immediately go hunting for them. And having collected the first harvest of forest gifts this year, they hurry home to cook a tasty treat. However, we must not forget that morels require serious processing before use, because are conditionally edible mushrooms. Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to boil them for 10-15 minutes in salted boiling water, then drain the broth or use it to prepare various dishes after drying.
When picking mushrooms, be careful not to accidentally fall into the basket with a poisonous twin of edible species.
Inedible and poisonous mushrooms
There are more toxic mushrooms in the steppe Rostov region than useful edible species. The most common types are:
- Green rows (greenfinches): the caps are olive green. They grow from the beginning of September.
- Sulfur rows (sulfur-yellow): It is a grayish-yellow, fibrous mushroom with long legs that grows from the end of August.
- Amanita muscaria: they have a red cap with white flakes and bear fruit from the beginning of August.
- Toadstools: their caps are grayish-yellow or grayish-green, hemispherical or flat, dense, whitish stem.
- Amanita muscaria: this species has a reddish-brown hat, found from mid-summer to late autumn.
Irina Selyutina (Biologist):
In an adult Amanita muscaria, the cap from hemispherical becomes almost flat, with a weakly depressed center and thin radial lines clearly visible along the edge. The coloration is usually dark umber brown, but it can also be gray-yellow. In any case, its center is colored brighter than the edges. From the general blanket, yellow flakes remain on the surface, which gradually turn white, and as the fungus ages, they acquire a gray-yellow color.
Stem with a well-pronounced thickening at the base, white, but turns brown when touched. This mushroom is poisonous and causes poisoning, similar to poisoning with fly agaric and panther, due to the presence in the pulp of a number of the same toxic substances with a hallucinogenic effect.
Rows are characterized by a flat hat with a bulge in the center. Amanita muscaria have a frill on a white leg, sometimes the leg is hollow. The presence of a large number of fly agarics in the meadow indicates the purity of the soil. In such a place, it is recommended to collect edible species.
Mushroom places
Be extremely careful in the forest
Mushroom places are found throughout the Rostov region. Experienced mushroom pickers distinguish such territories that are successful in terms of the development of myceliums:
- Schepkinskaya forest strip;
- Semikarakorsk region;
- Chertkovsky district;
- pine plantations in the Millerovsky district;
- Tarasovsky district;
- coastal area of the Don.
Mushroom places in coastal areas and on the Don coast in spring and summer are dangerous by vipers.
In order not to confuse the steppe viper with a snake, you need to know its distinctive features:
- the head is slightly elongated, the edges of the muzzle are raised;
- from above the head is covered with small irregular shields;
- on the upper side of the head - a dark pattern;
- the pupil is elongated;
- the color of the dorsal part is brownish-gray with a light middle of the back, on which a zigzag pattern is visible located along the ridge;
- the belly is gray, with light specks.
Please note! Snakes are especially active during this period.
Mushroom hunting rules
Doctors advise against picking mushrooms in the Rostov region because of the predominantly dry climate, as well as periodic excess of the natural radiation background. Mushroom pickers harvest according to a number of rules to protect themselves:
- collect only young fruiting bodies;
- do not pick mushrooms after opening the cap and sowing the spores;
- collect early in the morning;
- do not cut off wormy or too large (overgrown) fruit bodies;
- do not pick mushrooms that smell bad;
- before hunting, carefully study the descriptions of edible mushrooms growing in the area, do not cut off unfamiliar fruit bodies.
Collected mushrooms must be washed under clean running water, cleaned of dust. Conditionally edible species require preliminary cooking.
They are boiled in clean water for 20-25 minutes. Then the liquid is drained. Even white mushrooms and mushrooms collected in the Rostov region are not recommended to be consumed raw. They are boiled for 10-15 minutes or fried.
Conclusion
Mushroom hunting in the Rostov region has lost its popularity in recent years due to the hot climate. Despite this, mushroom pickers continue to visit popular mushroom places, collect porcini mushrooms, aspen mushrooms, morels, and photograph fly agarics. If you follow the rules of collection and processing, the harvest will only benefit and can please in winter.
