Chicken of the woods mushroom is a common, easy-to-identify edible wild mushroom that’s perfect for beginning foragers.
Read More: Foraging Chicken of the Woods Mushrooms
Chicken of the woods mushrooms are a common summertime sight, provided you spend any time in the woods during the hottest part of the year. Once you find them, they’ll always be there, in that same spot year after year until the tree they’re growing from is little more than dust.
Last year, we found ourselves desperate for a bit of relief from record-high summer temperatures here in Vermont. True, it’s nothing like the south, but 96 F and near 100% humidity is a lot to ask of a people that are more prepared for the 6 months of winter we endure here in our northern climate.
We’d normally hit up our favorite swimming holes back in the woods, but this time the kids were desperate to try out the new community swimming pool that just opened up in the next town over. We packed up towels and snacks and headed out…only to find in the kerfuffle of 2021 there wasn’t staff to open the pool. It sat there full of water, but with a locked gate…empty for lack of lifeguards and ticket takers.
We weren’t the only ones disappointed that day, and there were dozens of cars in the parking lot full of disappointed kids.
An old man on a bench out front came to our rescue and told us about an old forgotten swimming hole on a trail half a mile through the woods. We’re used to swimming holes, and the pool would have been a rare novelty, so off through the woods we went, excited to check out the new spot. (There were no other takers, as apparently, it’s chlorinated pools or nothing for the majority of families these days.)
A short way into the woods, my daughter squealed with delight, “Ice cream mushrooms!” and pointed up the embankment. I know, that’s a weird one…but we actually do make ice cream with mushrooms. Chanterelles have a flavor like fresh apricots, and ever since we made chanterelle ice cream my daughter’s constantly scanning the woodland landscape for splashes of orange color. (Good way to train little ones to help mama forage, am I right?)
They were pretty far off the trail, but I could see that big patch of orange in the distance too, so we scrambled up the embankment to find a beautiful patch of orange mushrooms…but not chanterelles. These were Chicken of the Woods!
We packed up a whole sack of them, nearly 30 pounds…and still left more in the woods that we took. These are really prolific when they get going. (And impossible to overharvest, so enjoy!)
A few minutes later we arrived at the swimming hole to find another summer treasure…cascading waterfalls down to a calm pool. The absolute perfect spot, and infinitely better than the community pool.
Even without chicken of the woods mushrooms on offer right along the trail, we’d be back here every summer, but now we have an extra incentive. Once you find a tree that bears chicken of the woods mushrooms, you can come back to that very same spot year after year.
See what happens when you take the path less traveled by?
Read More: How to Identify Chicken of the woods mushrooms
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What a great story!! The perfect swimming area and to find 30 pounds of mushrooms!! Thanks for sharing....
Ashley, just so you know, I live in the South. 96F and near 100% humidity is miserable here, too. I’ve been here 5 years this time and still have not gotten used to this oppressive duo.