Wot, No Ceps?

[Macaroon]

The highlight of my foraging year has always been when the Ceps, or Penny Buns, make their appearance; I love them fried in butter in the woods and their season always reminds me that we're in for comparatively lean time. There's just the nuts to come a bit later, chestnuts and walnuts are generally the last things for me. I collect the Ceps in a variety of locations all of which I've been going to for fifty years or more and know very well; I've always under collected rather than taken all I see, and these are all places which until recently I'd rarely see a soul and even now not that many people get reeving thereabouts.

Over the past four or five years there's been nowhere near the quantities there always were, but I've usually managed at least a few feeds and to take some to the older people in the village that collected all their lives but can no longer get about; but this year, despite what I thought were the best conditions for a good while, I haven't seen a single one!

All the other species which are normally present are there and some of the other Boletus have been more numerous and certainly bigger than I've seen in a long time, but not a single Cep to be found!

Anyone else had any luck? Any ideas as to why we've been having such a shortage hereabouts? I'm puzzled!.....................................atb mac

 

[salad]

I am in the same boat mate, I went looking the other day in a great spot where I have always found some before , the conditions where perfect and not one found

 

[bert333]

Salad, the trick is simple but takes time, fuel and a LOT of patience then a lot of stealth
Search the web for village names where they are reporting a crop ( takes ages!), go there, park up and wait and wait and wait and wait.... in the early hours of the morning you'll see one or two furtively creeping out with torches and heading out- follow them - they will lead you unwittingly to the shrooms.
Word of caution- many don't take kindly to being snooped upon!!! hence the need for real stealth- A GPS with topo mapping is a plus in the dark.
Just don't fire up your Nitecore TM26 at them!! (fab torch BTW!)
France is good place to find them as is Italy but the latter are rather noisy if they catch you!

 

[xylaria]

I have had ink boletes and brown birch boletes last week. Plenty of saffron milk caps. Some species dont do cold summers, this year was a brillant summer but we have had some real cold ones for the last decade. Maybe the growth of some species as been put in check.

 

[Macaroon]

@ xylaria, I've found Birch Boletes this year bigger than any I've ever seen - like 10 - 12 inches across - and all the others are numerous. I think you're right and it's a weather cycle thing. I suppose that some fungi don't operate in the same way as we think of adapting to conditions, plants and animals do it fairly quickly, but I suppose it's not the same for them.................atb mac

 

[Shewie]

I saw quite a few Penny Buns a couple of weekends ago at Ennerdale, not loads but they were dotted about in twos and threes.

We didn't take any as we had half a pack of food to get through

 

[Geoff Dann]

I've found a few. Not many though.

 

[Androo]

I've had my second biggest ever haul this season, looks like they were out earlier than last year - up here atleast. (That's the South Lakes)

There has been a profusion of Lurid boletes and Blackening Brittle gills this year - 2 species that I've rarely seen in past years...

 

[Macaroon]

I'm glad you've had a result Androo, still nothing down here. Although the field mushrooms seem to be about to have another flush, they stopped completely a week or so ago but I hit the meadows at dawn this morning and got a few pounds of good 'uns in short order...............still time for the ceps to come, but the f'cast is speaking of dry.........we'll see!......................atb mac

 

[Ecoman]

Only seen 2 this year. One was too small and already maggot ridden and the second was on a golf course but it had been kicked by someone and was spread over a wide area

I have had some stunning brown birch boletes though. Plenty of winter chanterelles and amethyst deceivers too.

 

[Paulm]

Went out again yesterday and found a few more oak boletes for drying for the winter, but still not much of anything around even after recent rains, maybe still to come....

Cheers, Paul