# Oyster mushrooms!



## sargent (Oct 1, 2001)

Thars oysters in them thar woods!

If you have a chance this weekend or the next week or so you can find Qyster mushrooms in abundance. Tonight I picked 5 lbs. of the tasty schrooms in less than a ½ hour outback in the woods. Oysters grow exclusively on dead Aspen (Popple) in the spring and you can find a silver variety in the fall on dead Maples. They get their name from their shape; they look like an oyster shell. They grow in clumps on downed and standing dead Aspen. They are white to off-white color. Very easy to see in the woods this time of year. Unfortunately bugs love them to so you need to get out early to find some that arent completely infested with wormholes. Even if they are partially infested many times you can cut off the infested part and still have quite a bit of good eating mushroom. These are the same mushrooms that are sold in grow your own kits listed in many gardening catalogs. They are great just fried in butter or you can freeze them for later. If you freeze them you must blanch them for at least 3 minutes in boiling water. Cool them and then lay them single layer on a cookie sheet. Freeze them overnight and then after they are frozen you can break them up and bag them. Then when you get them out of the freezer they will be in pieces and not a big frozen clump. 

Good luck!


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## sargent (Oct 1, 2001)

Will try to get out in the woods this week to find some more. meanwhile check the woods especially around wet areas with downed aspen or standing dead aspen. They stand out like sore thumbs ,white as can be, they will grow in clumps on the trunk and all branches.

Many of the field guides have excellent pictures of them. You can find them on the web just by typing in "Oyster Mushroom" in the search too. 

Good luck!


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