Belarusian mushroom pickers rejoice after several days of heavy rains. A basket of mushrooms one can collect in the forest within one hour is not the only reason. Residents share stories about aspen mushrooms and puffball mushrooms, which grow in people’s backyards.
A basket per day
Mikhail Pekarsky from the agrotown of Ilya, Vileika District can be described as a true professional among mushroom gatherers. The man rides a bicycle to go to forests and will soon turn 85.
“I am a forest person. I’ve been picking up mushrooms in forests all my life. Boletus mushrooms and aspen mushrooms are the varieties I respect the most. We try to dry some and pickle some ahead of winter. But my wife takes care of that. My job is to pick them up and deliver them,” the rural dweller said.
According to Mikhail Pekarsky, he does not bring hundreds of kilograms of mushrooms from the forest. “I don’t pick up much. I cut one basket full of mushrooms per day. It doesn’t take much effort and hiking with a basket is not hard. It is a pleasure. I use a bicycle to get to the forest because it is hard and far to walk there. I ‘park’ it near a tree and walk around without losing sight of my transport,” he stressed.
According to the man’s observations, there were not that many mushrooms in the forest before the heavy rains. He could pick up only a small number of chanterelle mushrooms. All kinds are available now.
“You can definitely pick up one bag full of mushrooms within one hour. If you walk along the edge, you can get some aspen mushrooms and boletus mushrooms. You have to get to know the forest little by little. Especially if you don’t know it much. Even local residents could lose their way inside this forest,” Mikhail Pekarsky noted.
He added that his family, like many villagers, used to sell mushrooms and berries.
"When we were younger, we used to sell them. Now I pick them only to cook. I love mushroom hunting... I know every path here," Mikhail Pekarsky said.
Aspen mushrooms near houses
The village of Sokolye Ugol in Vileika District is special. Pine trees grow right near the villagers' houses and a road to the village goes right through a thick forest. As it turned out, it is not the locals who go to the forest to hunt for mushrooms, but mushrooms themselves "come" to them.
“The other day my wife found three aspen boletes right in the garden. This is not a rare thing. During a season mushrooms do grow near houses. But we just take a basket and go behind the vegetable garden straight into the forest," summer resident Nikolai Artimenkov said, adding that most of all he likes fried mushrooms with potatoes.
He and his wife spend the whole warm season in the village, and they can't imagine a summer in the city.
"In the morning, I already cut up penny buns, aspen mushrooms, suillus mushrooms, and birch boletes. I already cleaned them. We have been going mushroom picking for two weeks already, ‘inspecting’ our special places. Weekends are less successful, as Minsk residents flood in," Nikolai Artimenkov said.
"There's enough mushrooms for everyone," he summarized.
Giants from Volkovysk
Valery and Svetlana Radivon, a married couple, have been growing giant puffball mushrooms on their property in Volkovysk for the third year in a row. Three puffballs favored the beds with cucumbers and strawberries last season. This time a few more have been spotted under the red currant and gooseberry bushes near the garden swing.
Their number is on the rise as the couple have already counted eight of them. The biggest one grew in their home garden in mid-June. Over the time, it turned dark, covered with spores and became like a loaf, more than 30cm wide. The couple admit they have never seen such a giant before. Neighbors come around to see the marvel.
Rains in July gave rise to more mushrooms. “We have not noticed one and damaged it a little, but it is still growing,” Svetlana said.
The mushroom that has been spotted in Volkovysk is called Giant Puffball. The mushroom belongs to the Agaricaceae family and makes part of the Red List of Fungi of Belarus. Its body can reach up to half a meter in diameter, and its weight sometimes reaches up to 4kg.
Mushrooming with pets
Warm and rainy weather in Brest Oblast also contributed to the growth of mushrooms. Social networks are flooded with photos of the mushroom harvest.
Residents of the southern outskirts of Brest and neighboring summer houses are lucky: a forest is just at hand. Some do not miss the opportunity to pick mushrooms even on weekdays after work. The residents often go to the forest with their dogs. They combine collecting mushrooms, walking a pet, and enjoying fresh air.
Valentina and her husband Aleksei now live in their summer cottage. "On the internet people show off how many mushrooms they picked. We also got excited, and decided to go into the forest after work. We brought our sheepdog with us. We didn't go far. Mostly we encountered chanterelles. We picked some for soup and fried potatoes," Valentina said.
The BelTA correspondent also walked through a forest with her pet in the evening. If you watch your step carefully, you will definitely find mushrooms. Chanterelles are mostly found in the pine forest. Many mushrooms grow as singles, others delight the eye, peeking out of the moss in whole families. There are many small chanterelles, which have grown rapidly after rains. While you're cutting one mushroom, you notice another. A few boletes, mossiness mushrooms and birch boletes also went into the basket. As a result, in an hour, without hurrying, I collected a three-liter pot of mushrooms.
There are concerns about the short period of mushroom picking in Brest Oblast, as forecasters predict hot weather next week.
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