mushrooms Archives

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Barb — 1 Comment

Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter – Mushrooms Lichen Moss

March 2013 – Mushrooms, Lichen, and Moss

I know this month’s topic of mushrooms, lichen, and moss is not going to sound appealing to many of you at first glance. But, I encourage you to give it a try by reading each week’s challenge, covering the material as assigned in the Handbook of Nature Study, and then keeping your eyes open for your nature study opportunities. You can further generate some interest in the topic by gathering any resources you have and picking up a book or two at the library. I encourage everyone to participate as much as possible and if you find you need to switch to another topic that presents itself during the month of March…by all means, go with the interest.

Spring will be here in a few weeks and the mood for nature study will change along with it.

Make sure to download, save, and/or print the newsletter for future reference when you may come across a mushroom or some lichen or moss.

Contents of this edition of the newsletter include:

Articles to inspire and encourage you in your nature study
Book recommendations for this month’s study
March Study Grid and Bookmark – printables for you to use with your nature journal
Mushroom coloring pages
Show and Tell from OHC Participants
Recommended study links

I have attached the newsletter download link to the bottom of my blog feed so if you are a subscriber you will receive the link to the latest newsletter at the bottom of every post for the month of March. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can still subscribe and receive the newsletter link in the next post that comes to your email box. You can subscribe to my blog by filling in your email address in the subscription box on my sidebar.

There are lots of freebies and giveaways planned with my March Blog Sponsor: NotebookingPages.com.

How about we start the month off with lots of free notebooking pages for your family? Click below and get started with a free gift from Debra at NotebookingPages.com. Check your newsletter for additional discount codes and a giveaway announcement!

Note: You can download your newsletter from the link in two ways:

If your link is clickable, right click the link and then “save link as” to save the file on your computer.
If the link is not clickable, cut and paste the link to your browser, open, and then save your newsletter to your computer.

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Barb — 6 Comments

Fungus – Beautiful Polypores and Jelly and the Outdoor Hour Challenges Featuring Mushrooms

We always enjoy finding a beautiful fungus when we hike….yes, I said beautiful. They come in such interesting shapes and colors. There is no denying that the bracket fungus above is beautiful in its design.

Now identifying fungus with a specific name is not always easy for me so when I do learn a name it usually sticks. This fungus is called Witches’ Butter.

If you live in California, this is a good website to bookmark:
California Fungus-Simple Key.

This one was truly unusual and I don’t think we have seen it before on our hikes. It only lasted a few days and I am really glad we stopped to take some photos so we can remember the way it grows.

Here it is on another stump. At the bottom of the image you can see that something has knocked part of it off the stump and you can take a good look at the gills.

This one was just an interesting shape….don’t have any idea what it is exactly but I can still appreciate the way it is part of the habitat and that it is just fun to look at as we stopped to observe it along our trail.

Here is a link to another fungus entry I wrote last year: The Joy of Fungus. In this entry I share some of notebook pages and a couple of interesting links for you to check out.

Also, you can check out two of the Outdoor Hour Challenges featuring mushrooms in the Handbook of Nature Study:

Outdoor Hour Challenge #41

Autumn Series #9 Mushrooms

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Barb — 4 Comments

Spring Gardens – Filled With Promise

Our Plum Tree – Leaves are coming on fast this week with the little sunshine we experienced. Plum jelly in the making.

I have started reading An Oregon Cottage and she has a great gardening/home blog that hosts a Tuesday Garden Party meme.I thought this week I would join up and share with all of you what is going on in my garden right now as spring starts to burst forth.

My garden is definitely not a winter garden. I don’t do much more than throw out a few lettuce and carrot seeds in the late fall and those have long been harvested. My boys planted snap peas this past autumn but some critter of the night came and munched them down to the ground. I accept that I live in a habitat that offers yummy treats to my fellow creatures so I took the peas in stride.


Our Walnut Tree – Perhaps the squirrels will leave us some this year. 🙂

I think the theme of this post is going to be the PROMISE of a summer garden and fall harvest since that is what I observed as I toured around yesterday.

Our garlic chives are starting to grow again…can’t wait.

The oregano is filling in and hints at the summer pizza and sauces to come…of course, I had to nip a few leaves just to smell as I walked around the boxes.

My son’s strawberry box is greening up nicely as well. We are going to be adding a new strawberry box as soon as we can get through mud to built it. (see the last photo for a photo of the location)

This should tell you how badly I need to tend to the garden after a long winter. These onions are popping up despite being mixed in with the mullein and the dusty miller. I know I am not going to get to this part of the garden for at least a couple of weeks….just being honest.

So as long as I’m being honest, here is what the state of most of our garden boxes at this very moment. Very sad and in need of a good weeding before we can even think about getting something new planted. The saddest part is that if I put my mind to it, I could have this tidied up in an afternoon.

Moving away from the vegetable garden and onto the flower boxes is a little bit more cheerful. The tulips are just beginning to give us a hint of their deep purple blooms to come. I love my little tulip patch and look forward to watercoloring the flowers once they start to really shine.

The chrysanthemums that I planted last year look like they made it through the winter nicely. I look forward to seeing their happy little faces in a few months. This box has coneflowers as well so this spot has flowers long into the autumn once it gets started. I decided a long time ago that I needed to include a couple of flower boxes along with the vegetables because it cheers me up to see the color when I look out the window. Food for the soul.

This wallflower has been a great plant in our garden for the last two years. I actually saw some bees buzzing in it too! Happy bees.

Here are some guys who came uninvited to my garden! My son spotted these whoppers in the back of the bed and of course I had to take a photo.

Now for the exciting part of the post!

See that fresh garden territory? I finally convinced my husband that this “lawn” was using up valuable garden space and very expensive water (rates just increased again!). We are trying out a few possible configurations to build some raised boxes with one center block bed to hold something artsy. Any ideas are welcome. It usually gets summer sun mid-morning to late afternoon so probably about six+ hours altogether.

So there ends my garden survey for this first week in the spring season. I am truly looking forward to the change of the season.

Jami’s Tuesday Garden Party meme is open from Tuesday to Thursday so there is still time for you to jump in and participate!

Posted on January 17, 2011 by Barb — 8 Comments

Hiking On A Winter Day – California Style

We had the opportunity to hike down at the river, sunny skies and warmer temperatures were just too good to pass up. The Kona dog went swimming and brought us a bunch of sticks to throw for her to fetch. She was one happy dog!

This sign is for rafters, not hikers. There are stretches of the river that flow through “private” areas and you are not supposed to be loud and rowdy there but then when you hit public lands you can have water fights and swim and holler as much as you want. There were no rafters on the river this time but in the summer there is raft after raft of water lovers floating down this section of the river.

Hiking still means climbing on things for my teenage boys. This time it was an old oak tree lying on its side. It is a sad sight to see one of these old oaks giving in to the elements. I know it is home to creatures and soon it will melt into the floor of the woods but it still makes me sad.

Down at the river the boys made Andy Goldworthy style rock piles again but in the end my rock sculpture was the best…..

What do you think? At least it didn’t fall over before I could take a photo….just friendly family competition/fun. It is not as easy at it looks to stack rocks, big and small, into something that looks nice.

Hiking back up from the river I spotted this little mushroom growing in the moss on the side of a tree.

Here is another one that we thought was interesting. My boys call me the Fungus Lady for a reason. 🙂

Seriously, our part of the world is not a winter wonderland but it can get cold. I decided that it is pleasantly warm enough afternoons that it makes our cold winter mornings bearable. I have never lived anywhere else and I just don’t know how I would cope with really long, snowy winters. We have days at a time where it is cold and we get a few inches of snow but it melts and the sun comes out and we see green. Our green season is really from about this time of the year until the end of May…..they our state turns “golden”. I like “golden”.

Shhhh…don’t tell anyone. Barb is admitting that she doesn’t care for winter as much as summer.

154 days until the first day of summer but I’m not counting.

I am going to have to postpone our winter snow study until we actually get some snow. We are working on our winter tree study though so stay tuned for that this week. We also took another fabulous hike to a different part of the river today…I know….we are spoiled but loving it.

Posted on January 1, 2011 by Barb — 2 Comments

Miscellaneous Nature Study Using The Outdoor Hour Challenges

NOTE: If the challenge is included an ebook, it is noted directly after the challenge. If you have an Ultimate Membership, you will be able to pull up the ebook and print any notebook pages, coloring pages, or other printables for your nature study.

The links above are Amazon affiliate links to resources I own and love.

Mushroom, Lichen, Moss, Fern Challenges
Bracket Fungi -Autumn Nature Study Continues
Ferns – More Nature Study Spring
Field Horsetail – Autumn 2015
Hedgehog Fungi – Autumn 2015
Moss and Lichen
Moss Observation Notebook Page
Molds, Puffballs, Morels
Mushrooms -Autumn ebook
Extraordinary in the Ordinary – Mushrooms
Mushroom Cap Shapes Notebook Page
Scarlet Cup -Winter Nature Study Continues
Stinkhorn Nature Study -Autumn Nature Study Continues
Parts of a Mushroom Notebook Page

Newsletters With a Mushroom, Lichen, Moss, or Fern Theme (If you have a membership, you have access to all archived newsletters.)

March 2013 – Mushroom, Lichen, and Moss study grid printable. Mushroom coloring page. Types of lichen.
March 2016 – Lichen and moss nature study ideas. Lichen Study notebook page. Lichen vocabulary.
November 2016 – Mushroom Cap notebook page. Nature study ideas for fungi.

Weather Challenges
Autumn Weather – Autumn ebook
Autumn Weather Challenge #1
Autumn – Signs of Autumn
Cloud Observations
Fall Seasonal Weather Challenge -with free printable notebook page
Fall Color Walk – More Nature Study Autumn
Seasonal Weather with Four Seasons Notebook Pages
Snow– Winter Wednesday
Spring Splendor Walk – More Nature Study Spring
Spring Weather – Spring ebook
Summer Weather – More Nature Study Summer
Weather Record Chart – printable notebook page
Weather Study with Weather Sounds Printable Notebook Page
Weather Walk – Four Seasons free printable notebook page
Winter Weather -Winter ebook
Winter Wonder Weather– More Nature Study Winter

Seasonal Challenges
December World-free printable notebook page
November World– Autumn ebook
The Winter World

Newsletters With a Weather Theme (If you have a membership, you have access to all archived newsletters.)

December 2011 – Know Your Own Backyard in December notebook page. December World study grid.
January 2012 – January World study grid.
February 2012 – Know Your Own Backyard in February notebook page.
March 2012 – Know Your Own Backyard in Early Spring notebook page. Early Spring study grid.
April 2013 – April study grid.
May 2013 – May study grid.
July 2012 – Beat the Heat study grid. Know Your Own Backyard When Its Hot notebook page.
December 2012 – Weather study ideas. Weather nature table ideas. My Weather notebook page.
September 2013 – Fall Fun grid study. Fall Time Field Trip notebook page.
November 2013 – Weather Observation study grid.
January 2014 – Winter Fun study grid.
February 2014 – February Fun study grid.
March 2014 – Lion or Lamb notebook page.
June 2014 – Summer Fun grid study printable.
February 2015 – Winter nature study ideas.
March 2015 – Calendar of Firsts for nature observations. Printable nature calendar.
December 2015 – Weather chart printable. My Seasonal Weather notebook page. Weather Study big grid printable.
October 2016 – Weather nature study and nature journal ideas.
December 2016 – Silent Autumn Nature Walk notebook page.

The links above are Amazon affiliate links to resources I own and love.

Reptiles, Amphibians, Invertebrates, Fish
Banana Slug – Creepy Things ebook
Black Widow – Creepy Things ebook
Catfish – Autumn 2015
Common Shiner – Summer Nature Study Continues
Crayfish –Spring Nature Study Continues
Earthworms– Spring ebook
Fish Nature Study and Definition Copywork Page
Frogs – Summer ebook
Frog Field Guide Notebook Page
Goldfish Nature Study-free printable notebook page
Johnny Darter – Summer Nature Study Continues
Leech – Creepy Things ebook
Lizard, Gecko, Anole Study –Autumn Nature Study Continues
Millipede – Creepy Things ebook
Newts -Spring Nature Study Continues
Snakes-Spring ebook
Snails -More Nature Study Spring
Sphinx Moth – Creepy Things ebook
Spring Peepers -Spring Nature Study Continues
Sunfish – Summer Nature Study Continues
Tarantula – Creepy Things ebook
Trout and Salmon –Autumn ebook
Turtles and Pondweed-More Nature Study Summer

You may also want to read my review of this awesome resource: National Audubon Society First Field Guide to Reptiles.

Additional Links You May Find Helpful:

Newsletters With a Reptile, Amphibian, Invertebrate, or Fish Theme (If you have a membership, you have access to all archived newsletters.)

April 2013 – Reptiles and Amphibians study grid.
July 2013 – Fish grid study. Fish Study – Trout notebook page.
October 2015 – Reptile Study notebook page.
August 2016 – Invertebrate nature journal and nature study ideas. Snail Study notebook page.
May 2017 – Fish study grid. Fish nature study and nature journal ideas.

The link above is an Amazon affiliate link to a resource I own and love.

Rock Related Challenges
Calcite – Autumn 2015
Crystal Study– Winter Nature Study Continues
Feldspar Study– Winter Nature Study Continues
Granite Study and Other Igneous Rocks – More Nature Study Book Summer
Limestone – Autumn 2015
Magnets and Compass – More Nature Study Winter
Marble – Autumn 2015
Mica Rock Study – Autumn Nature Study Continues
Quartz Study -More Nature Study Winter
Rock Observation Challenge – free printable chart
Rock Study Using a Magnifying Lens – free printable notebook page
Rock Collection Ideas – free printable activity
Rock Study and printable game activity
Salt Study – Winter ebook
Sand and Soil -More Nature Study Summer

Newsletters With a Rock Theme (If you have a membership, you have access to all archived newsletters.)

January 2013 – Rock study grid. Rock collection ideas.
February 2016 – Rock nature journal and study ideas.
March 2017 – Rock nature study and nature journal ideas.

Sky and Stars
Moon and Moon Names– More Nature Study Winter
Moon and Craters Nature Study-free printable notebook page
My Backyard At Night Notebook Page (free printable)
Night Sky Study- Cassiopeia – Autumn Nature Study Continues
Orion Study – Winter Nature Study Continues
Winter Sky and Stars – Winter ebook
Winter Sky– Winter Wednesday
Year-Long Big Dipper Study -free printable notebook page

Newsletters With a Sky or Star Theme (If you have a membership, you have access to all archived newsletters.)

August 2013 – Night sky study ideas. Night Sky study grid.
July 2016 – Sky and stars nature journal and nature study ideas. Big Dipper study notebook page.

The link above is an Amazon affiliate link to a resource I own and love.Pond, Beach, and CreekStudy
Cattail Seasonal Nature Study -free printable notebook page
Pond Seasonal Study -free printable notebook page

Newsletters With a Pond, Beach, or Creek Theme (If you have a membership, you have access to all archived newsletters.)

August 2011 – Pond and marsh study ideas. Summer Pond Study notebook page. Pond study grid.
June 2012 – Beach and tidepool nature study ideas. Beach grid study printable. My Seashore Study notebook page.
July 2013 – Year long pond study ideas.
February 2016 – Creek nature study in four seasons. Creek Study notebook page.

Miscellaneous Challenges
Brook – – Autumn 2015
Small Square Study – Winter ebook
Small Square Study – free printable notebook page
Winter Berries –Autumn Nature Study Continues
Winter Colors – Winter Wednesday

Posted on December 27, 2010 by Barb — 3 Comments

December World – Texture

We had a break in our rainy weather so that meant we seized the opportunity to get out and walk with the dog on the walking trail. Our surprise nature study subject of the day was “mushrooms”. They were in abundance on this trip down the trail.

After looking at all the photos when we got home, I decided the theme of the day was “texture”.

Must be something rotting underneath the debris….makes for a great photo.

Lots of things going on in this photo…reds and greens make a nice contrast to each other.

This is my favorite image of the day….wow! Look all those textures and colors and layers.

Someone or something had knocked a bunch of mushrooms loose along another section of the trail. Love the gills in this mushroom image.

Last one for today….mushrooms and brown grass make an interesting composition for this image.

We are enjoying our winter break and spending lots of time outdoors, both in the yard and out on walks. I haven’t had any nature study subjects in mind except to enjoy the pleasures that December has offered. I am sort of itching to get started on a more focused nature study plan again in January.

I am off to San Francisco today to spend the day looking at some great art….Post-Impressionists! Of course the museum is in Golden Gate Park so we will more than likely be taking a walk to see what we can find.

Have a great week!

Posted on January 10, 2010 by Barb — 3 Comments

Winter Cattails-Surprised Again!

We started our cattail study last fall with this entry: Cattails in Autumn.

We had two locations to visit for this study….one within walking distance and another up on our regular walking trail on the other side of town.

Here are the cattails near our house.

Our cattails are starting to look a little ragged. The water that was there in the fall has now completely dried up. The stalks of the cattails are dry, stiff, and hard. The leaves are stiff as well.

Here is our cattail area that is along our walking trail. I think that someone came and cut a lot of the actual cattails. Even thought they are still growing in water, the leaves and stems are all brown and stiff.

There is still a little water in this area that flows down to a creek. We all noticed that the water was a little smelly this time of year….hmmmm. We enjoyed having a purpose to our walk today and it was nice to focus on something other than the cold air. 🙂

The other interesting thing that we noted on this walk was that there were lots of mushrooms growing. Here are three different kinds that we stopped and looked at.

There were lots of this kind pushing up through the leaves.

There were some that were really white.

Then we saw this cute little yellow mushroom.

We are off to another hike today but this time down to the river. We will keep our eyes out for anything interesting.

Hope you get a chance to look for your cattails.

Posted on November 16, 2009 by Barb — 5 Comments

The Joy of Fungus: Our Mushroom Study

We haven’t had much of a chance to study mushrooms up close in the last few weeks but we did over our summer break. Our trip to Oregon gave us plenty to look at and identify. Identifying mushrooms is really a difficult task.

As part of our biology course, we studied the mushroom’s life cycle and my boys made nature journal entries using some of the photos we had collected of mushrooms in our area.

“Fungi, as a whole, are a great boon to the world. Without them our forests would be choked out with dead wood. Decay is simply the process by which fungi and other organisms break down dead material, so that the major part of it returns to the air in gaseous form, and the remainder, now mostly humus, mingles with the soil.” Handbook of Nature Study, page 715

I think if that is the only thing we learn about fungus/mushrooms from our study we will have accomplished a greater understanding of how the forest ecosystem works. There is great beauty in these living things and a wonderful purpose to their creation.

Our mushroom season will soon be upon us and we will be out and enjoying a whole array of fungus to observe. We will be using the diagram on page 717 to categorize the mushrooms we see as we go along. I am totally inspired by Casey’s study: Extraordinary World: Mushrooms.

Here is a set of our mushroom photos from the last year that I gathered on Flickr if you would like to see what we have in our area of California: Mushrooms

Posted on November 13, 2009 by Barb — 9 Comments

Outdoor Hour Challenge Autumn Series-Mushrooms

Mushrooms! Fungus! Molds! Ask my children and they will tell you that I am fascinated with these things when we find them during our outdoor time. They even call me very affectionately the “Fungus Lady”.

I found this video during our last study of mushrooms and I would love for you to watch it in order to prepare you for your study of mushrooms. This video is very well done and will help your children understand how a mushroom grows.

Planet Earth: Mushroom Madnes s

You will need to click over to YouTube.com to view this video. Please note: Turn down the sound if the music is too much for you. As always, please preview the video on YouTube and I do not endorse any other video that may come up after this one. There are some questionable videos about mushrooms.

If you do not think you will observe any mushrooms during your Outdoor Time, you can still complete the Inside Preparation work as a way to be ready the next time you do see a mushroom.

Outdoor Hour Challenge
Autumn Series #9 Mushrooms
(See Also Challenge #41)

Inside Preparation Work
Mushrooms and Other Fungi-read the overview starting on page 714 and continuing to page 719. Page 719 shows the parts of a mushroom with labels.

Outdoor Hour Time
The ideal study of ferns, mushrooms, and fungi would be to experience them outdoors in their natural habitat. Use your 15 to 20 minutes of outdoor time this week to enjoy a search for some kind of mushroom. Your particular area may not have these subjects readily at hand but let your friends, family, and neighbors know that you are studying mushrooms and with more pairs of eyes looking you may be able to find something to study up close.

Enjoy your time outdoors whether you can find this week’s subject or not. Remember to look at the sky and comment on the weather. Take time to notice your tree from your year long tree study. Collect a few items to take inside to sketch into your nature journal. Just because the topic of this challenge is mushrooms, you do not have to limit yourself to that narrow focus during your 15 to 20 minutes of outdoor time.

Follow-Up Activity
Spend a few minutes once inside to discuss your experiences from your nature walk.Are there questions that need to be answered or items that need to be identified? Make a note of any topics that come up that you can research further in the Handbook of Nature Study or at your local library.

Make an opportunity for a nature journal entry. The diagrams on pages 695 and 719 could be sketched into the nature journal. I have created a notebook page for you to use in your nature journal to record your mushroom observations and it is listed in the free downloads section of the sidebar of my blog.

“Since mushrooms are especially good subjects for watercolor and pencil studies, it would add much to the interest of the work if each pupil, or the school as a whole, should make a portfolio of sketches of all the species found. With each drawing there should be made on a supplementary sheet a spore print of the species.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 718

Spore prints are another idea for an activity following up the mushroom study. I would only do this activity with older students who truly understand that mushrooms can be poisonous.
Here are some instructions you can download: Mushroom Spore Prints or this blog entry.

You can use the provided notebook page to sketch a mushroom that you observed during your Outdoor Time or you can use it to copy the sketch from page 719 in the Handbook of Nature Study, labeling the different parts of a mushroom.

Amazon.com Widgets

Posted on December 8, 2008 by Barb — 1 Comment

Fungus and Fern Hikes: Our Outdoor Hour Challenge #41

We have been on the lookout for mushrooms and ferns for the last few weeks in anticipation of this challenge. I am overwhelmed with how much I don’t know about mushrooms at this point but I am determined to document the mushrooms and other fungus that we see so that when I have a cold winter day and I want to spend some time with a field guide, I will be able to flip through the photos and hopefully come up with names for them.

I decided that there are so many photos that I would make a slideshow on Flickr.com to share with you. The fungi are from three different places but the majority are from my own yard or from a hike within three miles of my house. The others are from the Calaveras Big Trees State Park.

Mushroom Slideshow– Don’t miss viewing this page with all my fungus images

As we hiked yesterday, I noticed that the boys were catching sight of more and more varieties of mushrooms than ever before. They even spotted some that I didn’t see and directed me to go back to the spot and take a photo. 🙂

This particular hike they were having a good time in the cool fresh air together.

If you look carefully up over the trail where the boys are hiking, you will notice a tree that broke off and is just barely hanging in place. The boys thought they should try to throw rocks at it to see if they could get it to come down but my husband explained that he didn’t think that was a really great idea.

I noticed that I was getting into quite a few sticker type seeds as we walked along.

We hiked back to the top and noticed that the moon was up over the oaks. What a great blue sky, don’t you think?

So I am still getting used to my new little camera but I think I will like it in the long run. It has a better zoom and the viewing screen is much bigger.

Here are the last of the photos for today.

Backside of a fern

Big ferns along the path.

Ferns along the side of a gully that will have a creek running in it once it rains again around here. 🙂

Here is my son’s mushroom diagram for his nature journal. We copied this out of the Handbook of Nature Study, page 719.

This was a great challenge for our family and we never dreamed we would find so many different kinds of mushrooms and other fungi to study.

I encourage you all to give the challenge a try either now or when your weather is cooperating.

Tag: mushrooms