first time this fall I discovered these puffballs near a stack of wood, the wood is a jumble of various cut trees from clearing an area, the wood pile has been sitting there for several years the mushrooms were harvested either by cutting, twisting or pulling out of medium I'm not sure which is the "correct" method or if all the above is fine? we ate some fried, dried others in the oven, and froze some of the fried ones for later use
Yum Yum! Still one of my favorite 'poppers' to munch on! Ours here have grown HUGE this year...but I can't hardly ever find them before they've started to turn green or spore.
the size I harvest are about one inch or less in diameter, they don't seem to get much bigger I also found out that I need to process them as soon as possible, I had some of them just sitting on the table for a day and they had started to turn yellowish by the next day
Even when sitting in the fridge they'll dehydrate VERY fast. The moment even a touch of yellow hits, unedible! Sad...lol Up till the last group I found 2 days ago, I just considered them a great edible....But the group I found was already past it's 'prime'...so I decided on photos instead. The textures to some of these were just incredible. My son and I've collected a few this year...and now I feel guilty for that since they become so fascinating even as they age. Have you tried the Giants yet? They make great cassaroles...and with them getting so big you have a BIG meal with them!
No, I have not tried the Giants yet, nor have I found or seen one in nature - those small puff balls are popping up all over two rotten wood stacks, I have noticed that slugs and other small critters seem to feed on them too, there are plenty for everyone and plenty to let mature and maybe capture a great photo like you submitted -
