So many cramp balls!

[whats wrong with you all]

Found a dead Ash tree out on a walk today, never seen so many cramp balls in my life! Including this massive great thing

Left all but this one on the tree, no sense taking more than I need. Was a good find though, will definitely be going back there soon

Link to more photos of cramp balls.

 

[shaggystu]

do NOT leave them on top of the fireplace in the living room. first, you'll forget all about them, second, they'll explode oily black spores all over the place, third.....well, pick your punishment of choice, at the time SWMBO and i ran a pub between us, i was lumbered with the early shifts for some time! happy days

stuart

 

[whats wrong with you all]

do NOT leave them on top of the fireplace in the living room. first, you'll forget all about them, second, they'll explode oily black spores all over the place, third.....well, pick your punishment of choice, at the time SWMBO and i ran a pub between us, i was lumbered with the early shifts for some time! happy days

stuart

How on earth did that even happen? I have never had any cramp balls explode at me. Was it because of the fire I guess?

 

[tinderbox]

Take a few more, there's people who live further North that will trade you for them.

 

[whats wrong with you all]

Take a few more, there's people who live further North that will trade you for them.

Not a bad idea, I could put a box of cramp balls on the gift it on thread

EDIT: Wait, Do cramp balls not grow up north?

 

[shaggystu]

How on earth did that even happen? I have never had any cramp balls explode at me. Was it because of the fire I guess?

i have no idea mate, i guess they must have just dried out and decided to do their thing. the experiment has yet to be repeated!

 

[ex-member BareThrills]

Im in Coventry and ive never seen them in the woods around where i live

 

[tinderbox]

EDIT: Wait, Do cramp balls not grow up north?

They do, but they're not common.

 

[Retired Member southey]

i have no idea mate, i guess they must have just dried out and decided to do their thing. the experiment has yet to be repeated!

DO NOT! I repeat DO NOT repeat it but in the airing cupboard!!!!!!!

 

[British Red]

DO NOT! I repeat DO NOT repeat it but in the airing cupboard!!!!!!!

I have never butted in the airing cupboard. It makes a mess on the towels!

 

[tinderbox]

That would be a purple mess Red. As well as catching a spark they make a nice purple dye, and I think we all know of a lady who could use, say, a shoebox full.

 

[R.Lewis]

This exploding spores thing.. I'm a little concerned now! Got a tray of them drying in our utility, is exploding likely or is it just with heat?

 

[Ogri the trog]

This exploding spores thing.. I'm a little concerned now! Got a tray of them drying in our utility, is exploding likely or is it just with heat?

They don't explode, as in burst, but they do shed their spores by the billion, coating surfaces for meters around in a fine purple-y haze!

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[decorum]

This exploding spores thing.. I'm a little concerned now! Got a tray of them drying in our utility, is exploding likely or is it just with heat?

They'll not explode but the indelible black marks left can *look* like there's been one . Let then dry naturally, away from direct heat, and out of direct sunlight ~ kitchen paper towel will help too .

Im in Coventry and ive never seen them in the woods around where i live

Keep looking, we do have them locally. Mind you, they are a lot scarcer than they have been in recent years :bluThinki .

 

[Geoff Dann]

Take a few more, there's people who live further North that will trade you for them.

Really? I could fill sacks with the things.

 

[FGYT]

Really? I could fill sacks with the things.

Put em on Ebay

 

[sasquatch]

Really? I could fill sacks with the things.

One thing to keep in mind is if they're dense sounding when you tap them and purple or brownish they're best left alone until they've released their spores. When they turn black and sound hollow when tapped and are light in the hand they're ready to take a spark easily.

 

[shaggystu]

Put em on Ebay

i'm sure that duncan intended this comment to be taken slightly less than literally, winky smiley and all that, but i still feel that it's worth commenting on.

if you collect cramp balls (or any kind of fungus) for your own use then as long as you have collected them from land where you have a right to be, apart from land which is covered by the CROW act (unless it was previously common land and/or you are are on a pre-existing footpath), or unless that land is subject to a local bye-law prohibiting the collection of funghi, then you are doing nothing at all wrong. as soon as you pass them on to someone else, regardless of any money exchanging hands, you are guilty of theft. if you're unsure then iirc the 1976 theft act is the relevant act with the 1981 countryside act (i think), the CROW act, and local byelaws possibly updating and/or over-ruling the theft act.

HTH

happy hunting

stuart

 

[wattsy]

when you get them cut them in half there's a species of weevil (i think) that spends its larval phase in cramp balls eating them, they scrape loads of dust out everywhere (had one in my jacket pocket for a month it wasn't pretty) and when you come to use it you just find a fat grub in the middle no lovely concentric rings

 

[R.Lewis]

Cool, good tips here. Will cut mine in half and cover them in paper when I get home!