The Good Life - Summer mushrooms but...!

Agraricus Campestris

We took advantage of a brief gap in the near constant low, middle and upper levels of Irish Summer cloud cover to pay a visit to the allotment and bail the trenches dug to relieve the inundation of the raised beds; one end of the allotment where we have a large raised bed is reminiscent of Venice in a bad Winter over run by the Po. The still night and humid conditions guaranteed we were not the only visitors to the swamp! The air was thick with mosquitos, all hungry and eager for a light snack before retiring to gnaw on a reluctant and acquiescent badger or rabbit.

All moaning aside we did find evidence of some seasonal wild growth in the form of the common (actually quite rare) field mushroom. These pretty little mushrooms have elegant and delicate off pink gills when young which eventually turn brown. The specimens we found had a slightly brown cap and had a sweet smell. It would have been easy to stay in and go through the motions of preparing for work but that would have been unforgivable. There will be plenty of dark of dark Winter nights where you wish you could get outdoors do something or anything!