mushroom pickers are not celebrating

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Will the 2024 mushroom season be catastrophic? The pickers fear it after the heavy rains this September. All this water is far from promoting growth. And what's more, it encourages the proliferation of slugs, as Dany Fagot deplores, in the Rambouillet forest (Yvelines). “It’s a big competition for us. The good mushrooms are disappearing at great speed, there are so many slugs,” notes this recognized specialist from the CERF (Rambouillet Forest Study Center).

For her, climate chaos also affects mushrooms. “We are already finding bare tricholoma blue feet, which normally arrive at the end of November. It scares me for the end of the season,” she confides while leading a group into the woods of Poigny-la-Forêt, one of her mushroom spots.

No Bordeaux porcini mushrooms

But even there, the common varieties, edible and prized by pickers, are not there. “Not many boletus, no Bordeaux porcini mushrooms For now. It rains too frequently. They need a thermal shock, a hot period and a lull after the rain to appear… But, who knows, we have surprises with mushrooms. »

Another common and curiously rare species at the moment, la coulemelle. “There are almost none left and they are difficult to access due to very muddy paths and weakened trees. »

But death trumpets and sheep's feet

All is not lost, however. “The rain favors death trumpets, a good edible. You can cook them with anything, dry them. With poultry, it’s excellent! », assures Dany.

“We have an abundance of chanterelles in tubes. It is recognizable by its folds. We luckily have sheep's feet at the moment. I cook them with shallot cream! »

Near oaks, pushing aside ferns, small light brown caps appear with their little spines measuring a few millimeters. At the moment, they are small, “little redheads over there,” she spots in the middle of the forest moss.

Rely on trees to find mushrooms

But how to find them? You have to trust which trees coexist with this or that type of mushrooms.

“In the dark copses, near the hornbeams, the beeches and the chestnut trees, there are the death trumpets. Not at all dangerous, their name comes from the fact that they generally grow around the 1^is november ! », specifies Dany. In the pine forests, you will find delicious milkweed and chanterelle in tubes. Chanterelles love moss and heather. The vines will grow in the large oak groves.

Depending on the weather, anything is possible for mushroom pickers: “This time we luckily had sheepsfoot and chanterelles, but last time we found nothing… Too much rain! So, we fell back on chestnuts! And there are chestnuts! »

The CERF mushroom exhibition will be held on Saturday October 26, 2024, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday October 27, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., in the Hermeray multipurpose room, rue des Noues (Hermeray church car park). Admission is free and collections for determination and supply of the exhibition are welcome.

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