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Christine Gagnon 🕎

@lady.chaga

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Uncanoonuc Foraging Company. Foraging and mushroom education in NH and beyond.

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by @lady.chaga

It’s that time of year, again! Even though it’s cold and snowy and icy, I’m looking forward to mushroom season 2025. Know someone who is interested in mushrooms, but doesn’t know how to get started? Give the gift of an introductory mushroom walk. The recipient will spend two hours in the woods, learning about mushrooms, mushroom, identification, and more. $30

Once payment is received message me your email address and I will send a certificate.

https://venmo.com/u/Christine-Gagnon-7 by @lady.chaga

I enjoyed a wonderful day in the dunes with friends. We enjoyed the sun and blue sky and found all kinds of mushrooms unique to this type of environment. The first shot is what happens when I go to take a pic and my phone is on selfie mode. It happens all the time. Sometimes it works out. #RIfungi #RImushrooms #sandmushrooms by @lady.chaga

Some random shots from @lady.chaga ‘s @sporeprints Foraging Certification course this past weekend @jwufoodinnovation .

@jwuculinarysustainability students, masters students, faculty, and alumni attended the course together to earn their foraging licenses!

The study materials and exam are no walk in the park. We’re so proud of everyone who participated in this amazing opportunity!

#SustainableChefs #Foraging by @lady.chaga

We saw these holes in Rhode Island on Friday. They were too large for ants and had beautifully woven entrances made from pine needles and sticks and rocks, reminiscent of decorative wreathes. We used @inaturalistorg and figured out they belong to a wolf spider. Later when I zoomed in I could see the threads created by the spider used to weave and stick the objects together around the opening. I’m not good at expressing how connected I feel to nature at times. This is one of those times. Hogna baltimoriana, the unbanded wolf spider, rates right up there with caddis flies, and other arachnids and insects that build their own housing. #wolfspider #weaving #wovenhomes by @lady.chaga

by @lady.chaga

by @lady.chaga

Another successful weekend of replenishment, friends, amazing food, and mushroom foraging in the Catskills. A trip I look forward to every year. I didn’t take enough pictures! Got land and mushrooms but need IDs? I will travel. #mushrooms #catskills #mushroomhunting by @lady.chaga

It’s been a while since I made an actual post. Even though as of last week we’re still in a moderate drought we’ve been blessed with weekly rains. The mushrooms are here for it. It’s a very welcome change from the last two seasons of drought. We took a drive to Whites(White Mountain National Forest) on Sunday and it did not disappoint. Lots of first time finds and yet to be IDd finds but best staple find was the spring kings, aka porcini, aka edulis clade, aka chips, aka Boletus chippewaensis. Looking forward to continued precipitation and an amazing summer and fall. by @lady.chaga

We got skunked ice fishing but I found an amber jelly roll covered stick! It does look like a wood ear mushroom but there are differences. These aren’t really ear shaped. The top side of wood ear has a hairs or fuzz. The overall surface of wood ear is smooth while amber jelly is more wrinkled. Also, I haven’t found a lot of wood ear in my area, that I recall.

They’re starting to show up now and tend to grow on sticks on the ground and on dead branches still attached to trees. They dehydrate easily, even when they’re still in nature. They shrink to crispy black scab looking thing but rehydrate very easily.

Whenever I find them I take the whole branch with me. Once home I pull off the mushrooms, rinse them in a colander, and make sure all the bark and lichen are gone, and set them aside to dry. They can usually dehydrate at room temperature but you can put them in a dehydrator. In fact today’s stick had plump mushrooms on the end that was covered by snow and the ones on the end of the stick that was poking out were dehydrated.

So you’re probably wondering what I’ll do with these. You can put them in salads, soups, roasts, gravies, noodle and rice bowls, etc.

BUT DID YOU KNOW YOU CAN MAKE CANDY WITH THEM???

You can see the comparison of the fresh to dried in the pics below. I save the dehydrated ones until I have enough to do something with. But I think I’ll candy these this year. Basically you simmer them is a sweet syrup with the option of adding flavors like lemon or ginger or sour. Then you strain and dehydrate. I can’t wait! So many options.

PS: Scientific name is Exidia crenata by @lady.chaga

Early morning treasure hunting part 2! Patterned sea-worn pottery charms, embossed and frosted glass. Crackled glazes. Ironstone, porcelain, stoneware. I wish we could combine vertical and horizontal on here. Anyway, it was a lovely morning. by @lady.chaga

At my request Paul got up before the sun so we could get the hot spot in time for low tide. The spot where we slowly make are way up and down and back and forth across seaweed covered boulders, quick sandy areas, and mounds of shells and pebbles and sea glass and pottery sherds. The sun was warm and we took off our gloves, then our hats, and eventually I slipped my jacket off. Once back home I made piles and sorted and loaded everything into jars to be cleaned another day while Paul made me a delicious dinner.

Thanks to everyone for all the birthday love that poured in all day. These are some words that stood out:

(Have a) marvelous, wonderful, awesome, great, wicked good, extra special, special, happy birthday

Sending Mush love

(You are) miraculous, an intrepid forager, a sexy beast, a goddess, beautiful with smiley dimples, an amazing human, and an amazing woman who lives for exploits and adventures, and who should be celebrated.

That is a lot! You are all the best and my life is truly better for having you all in it. 😘🥰😘 by @lady.chaga