Cazadero Pt. 1: Fun Guys of Salt Point

 Charlotte and I took a 2 night excursion to Cazadero last weekend.  On day one we hiked around Salt Point State Park a bit, mostly rooting around for mushrooms in this forager's hot spot.  There was much evidence of heavy human traffic on and around the main trail, including pieces of mushrooms discarded.

Here are some of the characters we encountered in the mixed forest of conifers, tan oak, and coastal redwoods:

Clavulinopsis laeticolor (Handsome Club)

Some type of coral fungus

Unknown mushroom beside interesting foliage, both growing on a decaying log.

unknown

unknown

  
Hygrocybes sp. (Waxcaps) were abundant in small groupings throughout our hike.

. . . And here are three edible species that we found, although we weren't sure at the time.  They are all apparently considered "chanterelles" of different ilks, and anybody at all familiar with chanterelles can kind of guess as much based on the unique pseudo-gills that they all have (smoother ridges on the undersides, rather than the narrow rows of blade-like gills possessed by typical mushrooms):

Gomphus clavatus (Pig's Ears)
We found many fragments of these laying along the trails.  It seemed to be the most abundantly harvested mushroom of the moment at this particular location.  Also called "Violet Chanterelle" due to it's unique violet-colored underside (although not too visible in this particular picture)

Craterellus calicornicopioides (California Black Trumpet) had almost completely smooth undersides.  If I am properly identifying this one, it is supposedly a very choice edible specimen, and was also probably the most pristine edible mushroom we saw on this hike.  Never the less, we didn't do any harvesting, just photographing.

Turbinellus floccosus (Scaly Chanterelle) was impressive in its size!  We saw a few of these.  While supposedly edible, I think the ones we saw were all past the ideal stage to be cooked and eaten.  But I am really not sure - I don't know much about these species other than what my cursory research on the iNaturalist app has told me.

Wow, what an exciting day!

...More pictures of Day 2, including more mushrooms to come!

Mid-winter veggie harvest

This year I put a little extra effort into cool-season vegetable planting, something we are fortunate to be able to pull off in the mild climate of Napa. I was able to harvest some nice lettuce "Marvel of 4 Seasons", curly green kale, purple tree collards, purple kohlrabi, and green onions! The kohlrabi, lettuce, and onions have been going into salads, and the other greens have been going into Charlotte's juicer as often as possible.

...and a week or so later, another basket of abundance! This time with a load of pineapple guavas aka "feijoas", a Brazilian shrub which grows great in our climate. I planted 10 of the handsome bushes the first year I lived at the house and they are just now starting to produce some good quantities of fruit!

oh, and that long stalk of lettuce is an Asian vegetable called "celtuce" (like celery-lettuce). it is peeled and cut up and sauteed. it has a wonderfully nutty flavor and has been a favorite discovery for Charlotte and myself.

Point Reyes

I greatly enjoyed a visit from my wonderful friend Nick (aka "Rowser") who lives in Hawaii. I stayed with him at his family's cabin in the small town of Inverness in Pt. Reyes for a couple days. We shared many a craft beer and homebrew (he is responsible for getting me into brewing beer back in Santa Cruz). We chatted by the fire, took a couple trips to nearby Abbott's Lagoon, and cooked tacos at the cabin with our other friends, Brianna and Nate, and their daughter Lucy, who live in the Santa Cruz area and came up to visit as well.

We lucked out with a couple clear (but oh so cold!) days between rain storms (hallelujah for those!).

The wildlife at Abbott's Lagoon wasnot only abundant, but quite friendly! We saw a coyote cruising along...

...some adorable Snowy Plovers hunkered down in what looked like human shoeprints in the sand...

...and, a real delight: this family of 5 river otters was playing in the sand dunes! It took us a moment to realize these were not sea otters, but freshwater river otters. There were signs posted about them; apparently this family regularly inhabits the lagoon. We wondered how far out into the salt water or brackish water they go.

...And that is all from the Captain's Log! 🪵

Mysterious Mushrooms

We solved the caper! The suspected "stinkhorn egg" I posted about previously is, in fact, Lysurus mokusin aka "Lantern Stinkhorn". A real oddity in the garden; it is of tropical origin and said to be common in warmer climates, such as Southern California, and rarely the north Bay Area like Napa. The fruiting body, shown here, has an odor of rotting flesh so as to attract the flies which spread its spores.

On a recent trip to Pt. Reyes I pulled over when I spotted this whopper of a toadstool by the roadside. I believe it is Amanita calyptroderma aka "Coccora". It must have been at least about 7" in diameter, bigger than the length of my hand! It is said to be edible, however, I would never risk it, as the Amanita family contains most of the few deadly species of mushrooms and only a trained mycologist should be trusted with such identification. I mostly just like to photograph.

Merry Mischief

Season's greetings!

Of course, we have to do the holidays a little bit different. Charlotte and her old Sonoma State friends introduced me to a thing they call "Christume", which is just a Christmas-themed costume party they celebrate each year. This year our friend Julia joined in the fun and the 3 of us dressed up as the 3 kids from The Nightmare Before Christmas that kidnap Santa... Charlotte is Lock, I am Shock, and Julia is Barrel.

Settling into Winter

It has been a month of more or less normalcy, giving Charlotte's body a chance to heal after her surgery about 5 weeks ago. We've had some good solid Fall rains for the first time in years, it seems, and the fireplace has been doing a good job of keeping us cozy. We've done our best to focus on home cooked nutritive foods for the body and soul.

The garden has just about completed its transformation into winter mode. When removing the tomato plants I discovered this oddity:

A fungus-wise friend of ours, Melina, informed me it is surely a species of fungus... perhaps a "stinkhorn egg", maybe even the species Clathrus ruber (aka Basket Stinkhorn), which forms an eye-catching bright red basket shape. I reburied the specimen in the garden. A few days later I had forgotten about it and accidentally unburied it again while doing some weeding. This is what it looked like, apparently mid-way through "hatching":

Indeed, it appears to have contained a reddish fruiting body, although I think it's development was probably interfered with due to the uncovering and reburying. I set it back in the earth just in case any further growth occurs............................................................................................................. (for some reason I still can't make paragraph breaks) ...........................................................................................................................................................The rains brought a variety of fungal curiosities... Here was a cool one called Chocolate Tube Slim, apparently a variety of slime mold.

I also harvested my first Wine Cap mushrooms (Stropharia rugosoannulata, aka "Garden Giant", "King Stropharia") grown amongst the veggies in the garden. I was given mycellium of this one by a coworker this past year. They are grown in a medium of straw and wood chips and kept evenly moist and voila! It was a small harvest, but tasty sauteed with some garlic... the caps moreso than the stems in my experience.

Theodore looks on from the window...

Charlotte and I were very proud of a bat house we collaborated on as a birthday gift for her dad, Hal. We were inspired by the box my dad had made for the house here (although we haven't had any tenants take up residence in it... we think perhaps we might have better luck if we change its location, perhaps further away from tree branches).

Charlotte had the idea to use a carved wooden surface of an old serving tray for the front piece. She did the painting of it as well, which turned out beautifully. We went with a 3-chamber design, so there are 3 different nesting chambers inside the box, with 2 small holes between each panel so that bats can move between the layers and self-regulate their temperature.

On the sides we also included small ventilation holes.

Hal ans Selene have seen bats in their yard, so we are hoping that is a good indicator that the bat house may attract some occupants with a big appetite for mosquitos and other such bugs!

...And one final share. At the encouragement of my mom, I got out my charcoal drawing supplies for the first time in a long while and made this picture of two Oak Titmice (a native bird species which we have witnessed in our yard - although I did not take the photograph used). I am very happy with the result and I think that mom will be happy adding it to her collection of "Nick Art"!

A Successful Surgery and Good Times at the Beach

October is here like a breath of fresh air. The garden maintenance is much slowed at this point, we are just reaping the rewards of tomatoes, peppers, and melons, and tending to a few cool-season crops that I have growing; kale, cabbage, beets, kohlrabi, lettuce, and celtuce ("celery-lettuce"). But I have been happy to refrain from yard work recently, partly due to the warm and dry weather this time of year. Charlotte and I took a nice trip to nearby Shell Beach this past weekend with our good friends Alexa and Tavis, and Tavis' son, Cillian, a very sweet little guy who has been fun to watch growing up over the last few years. The tide was high, but we saw sea stars, crabs, and sea anemones, as well as a surprisingly diverse community of different fun-shaped sea weeds washed ashore.

Out on the rocks were a number of harbor seals. They seemed a bit wary, even of us humans on shore, at least 40 or 50 feet from them. I heard there was a Great White shark attack near Bodega Bay that same weekend.

It was a gorgeously clear, surprisingly warm day on the coast.

All in all it was a very pleasant day, one that was mentally helpful in preparation for Charlotte having surgery two days later. Just a few weeks ago, her doctors (who we have the highest regard for and have been incredibly supportive, considering how difficult the medical system so often can be) decided on a plan to remove a mass that had not diminished like all her others did with the chemo- and then immunotherapy treatments. Additionally, they did a hysterectomy, as she had a polyp on an ovary and it was deemed the most thorough way to eliminate those couple of masses all at once. We were happy with this course of action (not wanting to have children, this wasn't a hard decision to make) and eager to get the masses removed. We went with her parents to the hospital in San Francisco yesterday and surgery went very smoothly! We were very happy to hear the doctor say that they saw no other masses in the area, nor did anything have to be removed from the nearby colon - it was all apparently central to the ovaries, which was the best possible outcome. Charlotte was in and out of the hospital in about 8 hours and could walk and eat that very evening. Pretty amazing! Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge after a long day in the city, the sunset was a soothing sight.

We will be focusing on recovery and allowing Charlotte's body to heal for a number of weeks ahead, and continuing with bi-weekly immunotherapy treatments indefinitely, as well as focusing on a more anti-cancer diet as an ongoing form of strengthening her system and eliminating any remaining cancer cells. (Yeah, we USUALLY eat pretty healthy, but things like sugar and hollow carbs can often get consumed in large quantities... and there is always room for more vegetables in the repertoire, as well as certain foods known to be rich in antioxidants, lycopine, and other nutritional goodies). We are both very thankful to have such caring and supportive friends and family members in our lives, near and far, who have helped immensely to make this year manageable. Happy Autumn! 🍂 I was treated to this young deer's exuberant performance as I glanced out our window the morning of surgery. We love our deer-in-residence, despite their destructive appetites. How lucky we are to get to witness such unbridled joy of life in our very own yard! (Sorry, for some reason I can't make paragraph breaks on the blog anymore, hmmm...)