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The mushroom season in the Urals begins in spring and ends in mid-autumn. Honey mushrooms in the Urals are one of the types of mushrooms popular among mushroom pickers. The ecological system of the region allows you to collect large crops; for local residents, honey agaric is not only a product of winter harvesting, but also brings a good income from the sale.
Types of edible mushrooms in the Urals
The territory of the Urals is a land rich in forests. Here there are mixed and coniferous forests. Continental climate with short but warm summers, frequent autumn rains – a favorable environment for abundant growth of mushrooms of different fruiting periods.
Ural is a raw material base for the woodworking industry. After cutting down commercial timber, illiquid assets remain, which are a necessary environment for the spread of saprophytic fungi. The main species that are in demand among the local population are summer and autumn mushrooms. In the mountain forests in the southern Urals, spring honey mushroom grows – forest-loving collibia.
In terms of nutritional value, the species is inferior to autumn representatives, but is no less popular. Fruit bodies with a dark brown hydrophobic cap are suitable for any processing method. They grow in colonies on the remains of deciduous wood.
The summer member of Kyuneromyces variatus is a popular mushroom used for commercial cultivation.
Summer mushrooms form large groups on rotting stumps, trunks and branches of birch, less often linden. This is the most delicious representative of the genus, but with a short fruiting period, it grows within three weeks.
Mass collection occurs in the autumn, when the common honey agaric begins to grow. The fungus is unpretentious to tree species; it can be found on coniferous deadwood. Settles on oak remains, near the root of hazel, aspen or birch.
Fruiting is long, in warm autumn with periodic rainfall, the last specimens can be found in early November.
Autumn representatives include thick-legged honey agaric – an equally popular species in the Urals.
Outwardly, it differs from the ordinary honey agaric in a thick stem and a scaly surface of the cap. The fungus grows only in pine forests on old stumps or trunks of cedars and pines.
The winter look includes velvety-legged flammulina.
The fungus prefers to grow on the trunk of a poplar or willow tree far from the soil surface. The fruiting body is orange with an oily cap. It is characterized by a high gastronomic assessment.
No less popular is meadow honey agaric, growing in glades, pastures, near undersized shrubs. Fruiting occurs from spring to autumn in warm weather after heavy rains.
Grows in long rows or in a semicircle.
Where mushrooms grow in the Urals
Varieties are found in all forests of the Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk regions. If we consider the southern part of the Urals, mushrooms are followed by:
- To the lake Arakul, located between Upper Ufaley and Vyshnegorodsk in the northern direction.
- Northwest of Chelyabinsk. Representatives of the mushroom kingdom grow in the forests adjacent to Lake Kremenkul.
- In the Ilmensky Reserve, where all kinds of trees are found. This is a popular gathering place for fatfoot mushrooms.
- In the area of the Taganay National Park.
Mushroom places famous throughout the Urals in massifs near settlements:
- Castle;
- Norkino;
- Tomino;
- Kyshtym-Ozersk;
- Troitsk;
- New keys.
In the Sverdlovsk region, areas popular with mushroom pickers:
- Krasnoufimsky;
- Serovsky.
- Kamensky;
- Nizhneserginsky;
- Krasnouralsky.
When mushrooms grow in the Urals
Each species begins to bear fruit in a certain period. Dates may vary within 10 days depending on the temperature regime and rainfall. Varieties grow in the following terms:
- The first colonies of wood-loving collibia begin to appear after the daytime temperature is set at around +10 0C, and will not drop to zero at night. In the Urals (approximately in May) there are spring rains, immediately after them you can harvest. The second fruiting of the species occurs in the autumn months with the same temperature regime.
- Kyuneromyces variant grows only in a humid environment at a temperature not higher than +200 Fruits abundantly, forms large colonies on aspen or birch deadwood from mid-June to early July.
- Autumn species begin to appear at the end of August, the peak of productivity occurs in mid-September, mushrooms are collected in the region where there are mixed or coniferous tree species.
- Flammulina is the last representative of the mushroom season. The formation of fruiting bodies begins at sub-zero temperatures. Grows even at -15 0C, then the vegetation stops after the first thaws, for the Urals this is the end or middle of February.
Collection rules
Harvest away from industrial cities, because fruiting bodies accumulate carcinogens and heavy metals, so edible species can cause poisoning. For this reason, do not take mushrooms near the highway or city dump. Overripe specimens are not suitable for processing. It is not recommended to go into an unfamiliar forest alone without a means of communication and a supply of food. It is best to go accompanied by an experienced mushroom picker or with a compass.
How to find out if mushrooms went to the Urals
It is possible to determine when honey mushrooms will go in the Urals by the temperature regime. Each species begins to grow at certain rates. Autumn collection begins after the temperature drops to + 15-17 0C and heavy rains. Fruiting bodies are formed within a few days, the main fruiting is fixed a week after precipitation. Locals know mushroom places, many are engaged in the sale of the harvested crop. The appearance of mushroom products on local markets can also be considered the beginning of the season.
Conclusion
Honey mushrooms in the Urals grow in all massifs, in mountain and lakeside meadows. Each species forms fruiting bodies at a certain time. Harvesting continues throughout the year. Spring mushrooms open the season, and winter ones end. The climatic conditions and the ecological system of the Urals allow for a bountiful harvest, especially in autumn.
