The Bovine Bugle

Mysterious creatures out on the Bog

I was putting some fence up across the brook when I noticed some white objects in the grass. After finishing the fence, I went back across the brook and over to the corner of the pasture where the white objects were sitting in the grass. I thought that maybe they were pieces of round bale plastic, but as I got closer I knew what they were. There were three giant puffball mushrooms (Calvatia gigantea) growing in the rich muck soil.

The largest of the three I picked and brought up to the house to show everyone.

I had never seen a puffball as large as this one. I put it next to the basketball to take a picture so we'd have some perspective on the size of the mushroom. It wasn't as heavy as it looked, weighing probably between 10 and 15 pounds. These mushrooms are edible but I haven't gotten brave enough to slice one up and saute it. I'm not a huge mushroom fan, anyway. I found some great information on the giant puffballs on this website.


--Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont

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Posted by Blogger Chris at October 25, 2005 04:13 PM