Local park update. Pics taken a couple of weeks apart.
A couple of weeks later…
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Ok, I will be there to view flowers in a few minutes. 
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if the weather allows, I really should redo what I did last year, bring some onigiri and tea to enjoy it. Though, I might also make my way to the big botanical garden this week. Should be plenty to see there as well. ^>^ Tulips especially!
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This is not a type of mushroom I’ve had. I tried looking up info in Swedish, and nothing much is mentioned as while it apparently exists, is not common. It’s a north american mushroom apparently, seen as “choice edible” which I assume means edible, but not great? 
Do you dry these or just eat as is?
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Winecap are Stropharia rugosoannulata. Choice Edible means among the best, as in people choose this as their favorite. 
We cooked these, and the house was filled with mushroom fragrance, more then any mushroom I have ever cooked. I cooked them down a while, then put them on pizza with fresh asparagus.
This is my first experience with them. I scattered the spore two years ago, and was beginning to think they would never take off. They grow naturally in wood chips, and don’t mind some sunshine, so they are perfect for naturalizing in a garden plot.
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Ah, thanks for correcting that misunderstanding. 
I was trying to match it up with Swedish mushroom terminology, where there is this concept for “edible, but not great”, which means, great for when you have some really flavorsome mushrooms and you cook these with them, so they get flavored by the more flavorsome ones.
But these are top notch mushrooms. I’d love to try these Stropharia rugosoannulata sometime, but I’ll have a very hard time finding them here. The Swedish wiki is barebone, and it’s only mentioned that it exists. Which I assume, means it’s starting to spread here, while it didn’t use to?
That pizza sounds super delish! 
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I got the impression that this mushroom is commonly grown in vegetable gardens in England, but I haven’t read much about it since I originally planted the spore 2 years ago.
Its preferred habitat is woodchips, and it is often found growing wild in that sort of place in the usa.
I’ll do a little more reading and post something here later.
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Yeah, I just checked Wikipedia, English had some info about the woodships as their habitat, but the Swedish one was literally nothing much. I don’t recognize this mushroom visually either. Not that I’m some mushroom expert but I grew up picking wild mushrooms for sure and I still do when visiting my parents since they live close to good mushroom hunting grounds.
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The best thing about this one is how well it naturalizes in a garden. If you do no-till like I do, and use woodchips in the paths, you are providing them with the ideal environment.
I am so excited about these. I am only harvesting a few this year, because I want them to spread through the garden.
I love to eat mushrooms, but I have been slow to coming around to wild-harvesting them and growing them. Even with these, though I knew that I had planted spawn right on the spot, I went through all of the steps for positive identification.
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For sure, that is necessary. though mushrooms in a garden is rare, it can happen naturally.
I think it’s best to start out with some easy mushrooms and stick to those. Golden chanterrel, funnel chanterrels and porcini are all easy to pick and identify positively. For porcini especially, there are no poisonous mushrooms with those cushiony spores underneath, though there are some bad-tasting ones. So, that makes it also a safe starting point I think.
But, in the end, it all depends on what sort of woodlands you have near you. Mixed tree species? Spruce/no spruce? What’s the soil like? Sandy? Mossy and moist?
What I especially like about mushroom hunting is just being there in the forest, breathing in all that foresty smell and listen to the birds and wind in the trees. It’s instant meditative mood and good feels all around.
I’m super thankful for “Allemansrätten”, the right for all citizens to make use of the Swedish forest as long as you don’t destroy and litter. Berries and mushrooms are a given in Swedish cooking for a reason. ^>^
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So far, I have only harvested giant puffballs. These are often found here in mid-summer.
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These I have honestly never seen. I’m wondering if that’s because were in different zones when it comes to temperature. Or it could just be soil and type of forest for sure. Mushrooms are very complex beings that’s for sure. ^>^
I’m super happy for you, for that reason, that you managed to make those grow in your garden. Great stuff really. Expect them to grow well some years, but less so others. That’s all I can conclude from picking wild ones in the same spots over the years. Some years are great for chanterrell, other for porcini. Sometimes you don’t find either. Weather (rain) and temperature are very big factors for sure, and those being right at the right moment for those mushrooms to grow. ^>^
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One of the appeals of mushrooms is the great mysteries that are part of their existence. The parts that we ever see, and even what we can observe in any way, are only a small part of what they are.
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Fore sure, but then again, I never thought of an asparagus as mysterious: 
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So, I finally made my trip to Botaniska trädgården here in Gothenburg. Prepare for picture spam! ^>^
So many gorgeous tulips in bloom right now! 
Apparently Botaniska trädgården is celebrating 100 years this year. 
for that reason, they’ve also expanded the garden with some new sections! 
I haven’t a clue about half of these flowers. Absolutely stunning IRL!
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The garden also has a LOT of unique variaties of azaleas and rhododenron…but there is still time until they all go into bloom. That’ll happen in a couple of more weeks or so.
Many of them are HUGE! O_O
You could walk right under there. Amazing! 
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And let’s not forget the enormous and amazing smelling magnolias and cherry trees! 
The garden itself is lovely, of course, even if not that many plants have grown that far, it still being around 12 degrees in the day or so. Early spring really.
Sadly, this open air green house was closed off for maintenance. They have miniature tulip varieties and lillies among other things here.
Lots of koi in the ponds also.
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Both sets are really fantastic. Great place!
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