Boletus are considered the kings of forest mushrooms, literally everyone loves them. Thanks to this, lovers of "quiet hunting" every year try to find places where these mushrooms appear. Porcini mushrooms grow abundantly in the Moscow region. Some places are especially rich in these valuable forest products.
Porcini mushrooms in the Moscow region
Description and nutritional value
White, or boletus, is considered to be the king of the forest. For lovers of "quiet hunting" it is of particular value, it is a noble representative of the mushroom kingdom.
The classic specimen of this species has a barrel-shaped stem and a fleshy elastic brown cap. The bottom of the cap of a healthy mushroom is from white to creamy yellow.
Boletus is valued for its unsurpassed taste and a distinct mushroom aroma, which is why experts attributed it to the 1st category of edibility. It is dried, salted, pickled, boiled and fried.
The variety of dishes with a "forest representative" can only be compared with meat: they prepare sauces, first courses, bake pies, stew in combination with vegetables, sour cream.
Dry boletus can be stored for up to 3 years. With any heat treatment, this product remains invariably white. Noticing this feature, people gave the name to the mushroom - "white".
In its composition, the miracle plant contains the protein necessary for a person, vitamins C and PP, B2. This type of mushroom is recommended for diabetics, because it helps to reduce blood sugar. Boletus is also appreciated by vegans.
When the season starts
Midsummer is the beginning of the "quiet hunt". By July, the soil warms up, a sufficient amount of precipitation gives an impetus for the growth of fruit bodies from the mycelium. Prolonged humid and warm weather indicates that the first mushrooms have already "gone", so it's time to go "fishing".
Boletus prefer pine and spruce copses or pine forests, birch groves, oak groves. Hence their name. Look for white ones in those places where they grow for years and decades. Each mushroom picker has its own secret meadows that bestow upon the picker from year to year. Boletus loves secluded places where moss, lichens grow, there are a lot of foliage and needles around. Mushrooms appear by lifting the forest floor with their hat.
Harvested until late autumn - until the end of October.
Favorite mushroom spots
Moscow and the Moscow region (the Moscow region and adjacent areas) attract mushroom-pickers with their fruitful places. Collecting two full buckets for one person in a few hours is not difficult.
According to experienced mushroom pickers-experts, the following places are considered rich in whites:
- Kursk direction: settlements Hryvno, Lviv, Kolkhoznaya, Stolbovaya, SharapovaOhota;
- Paveletskoe direction: Barybino, Vilyaminovo;
- Belarusian direction: Dorokhovo, Tuchkovo, Portnovskaya;
- Kazan direction: Donino, Ignatievo, Gzhel, Grigorovo;
- Leningrad direction: Golovkovo, Radishchevo, Povarovo;
- Kiev direction: Bashkino, Zosimova Pustyn.
The search for mushrooms begins already near the station. In the copses, not far from the platform, a decent harvest of whites is being harvested.
There are many fruitful places in the Moscow region
It would seem that Moscow and the Moscow region are walked up and down in search of "forest kings", but there are also secret paths.
Here are some of them:
- Selyatino station (go south, southeast, about 2 km, in the direction of Glagolev, Syryev, pine-birch forest);
- Vostryakovo (walk 2 km to the west towards the village of Zaborie, an area of a birch-pine forest);
- Firsanovka (the first mushrooms can be found at the railway platform, and if you walk 3 km to the west, there are places rich in boletus in the forest near the Goretovka River).
Basic rules of "silent hunting"
Having familiarized yourself with the most popular mushroom places in Moscow and the Moscow region, you should remember that porcini mushrooms also have false counterparts. If the mushroom makes you suspicious, it is better not to take it, so as not to get poisoned.
The false counterparts of the porcini mushroom, with which it is often confused, are the gall mushroom and the satanic one. Therefore, when going on a mushroom "hunt", be sure to refresh your memory of the peculiarities of these and other poisonous mushrooms typical for your area.
Going into the forest, you must adhere to the following rules:
- plan your trip early in the morning (5-6 hours) in order to be the first in an untouched meadow;
- it is better to look for whites in a company, there is a risk of getting lost or running into trouble;
- you should warn your family and friends about your trip;
- be sure to take water, a knife, a minimum dry ration (it is not recommended to take a lot of food, as this is an additional load),
- it is convenient to take a staff with you, a simple stick will go, it will also serve as a support while walking and with its help you can check the bumps from the forest flooring (mushrooms appear and grow under the foliage);
- experienced mushroom pickers collect whites without a knife, unscrewing them carefully from the soil (there is an opinion that the remains of cut boletus can infect the mycelium; when unscrewing, white will grow in this place already this year).
Irina Selyutina (Biologist):
When is it better to look for such coveted porcini mushrooms? Let's see what we know about this:
- It is better to go to the forest for porcini mushrooms after a good rain, which lasted for at least 2-3 days - this will increase your chances. But you shouldn't go immediately after the rain. Wait 5-7 days.
- For normal development, the porcini mushroom needs a certain soil temperature, which gives an impetus to its growth. This is approximately + 15 ... + 18 ℃.
- In very dry weather, the chances of finding a porcini mushroom are almost zero.
- If the spring was cold, but rainy, the porcini mushroom may appear in its autumn places where more sunlight falls.
- If autumn is warm and rainy, then porcini mushrooms can be picked until mid-late autumn.
- In summer, porcini mushrooms hide under the crowns of trees, and in autumn they warm themselves in a place where there is more light or moisture.
Council. If you have a GPS navigator, use it to mark all the places where you found the porcini mushroom: this way you will get not only an accurate picture of the distribution of mycelium, but also an overall picture of the distribution of mushroom places in a particular forest.
Collecting mushrooms from century to century, our ancestors were able to concentrate their knowledge in folk signs. For example, the following two will help you find exactly porcini mushrooms:
- If chanterelle mushrooms appear in the forest, then in two weeks porcini mushrooms will grow at full speed. What's left? And just remember the places where these same chanterelles grew and then you can find porcini mushrooms there or, at worst, boletus.
- Most often, porcini mushrooms grow where you can find fly agarics.
Mushroom places near Moscow. Vlog how we collected 600 porcini mushrooms in 3 hours.
Mikhail Vishnevsky: Where to pick mushrooms in the Moscow region
Porcini mushrooms flooded glades, Moscow region 2019
Conclusion
Mushroom picking is a great pastime: you can enjoy nature, breathe fresh air, plunge into the atmosphere of serenity and tranquility of the forest. Among other things, active rest will improve your health and provide an opportunity for moderate physical activity on the body.
The joy of the found mushrooms will give the mushroom picker an excellent mood, leave pleasant memories in his memory. Even one trip to the forest can provide a tasty and healthy product for the whole year.