Has anyone found any Ceps this year. I've been looking for mushrooms for 3 years now and never found one! Maybe professional forragers are hoovering them all up before I get there.

I have far more success looking for edible fungi in (1) central Europe (2) Scotland (3) Wales, especially the first, than in southern or eastern England. It does seem that edible fungi are more common in areas of heavier rainfall and in coniferous forest, which is why in the S of England the New Forest is known as a good area for them. But among coniferous forests, it needs to be the more natural forests, not densely packed sitka spruce. But also the small amount of woodland in England and the large population I think means that there it frequently happens that someone else gets to the edible ones first.

I remember back in the mid-80s when I first got an interest for fungi, I used to wander around the local woods (North Downs) and usually come back with something worth eating, including occasionally some nice ceps. I also used to find field mushrooms in the local fields. But then after a while these finds dried up. It was notable that some years the woods would be thickly carpeted with Russulas, and others there was hardly a one, so the weather did make a difference. But when it was carpeted with Russulas, there would be little to eat among them. But when I am wandering the woods in the Czech Rep one finds quite a lot to eat among what is there. Though they do eat a lot of Amanita rubescens there, which personally I would leave behind. There's enough ceps and parasols for me, and they taste nicer.

Though I do wonder if there is something else at play. It used to be the case that in my parents' own back garden - which is large and had a natural woodland area at one end - we could find summer truffles under the big beech, a small bolete I never identified to my satisfaction was prolific in one area (until my parents restored it to lawn), and among the Russulas and milk caps I would usually find some wonderful thing from time to time - Amanita echinocephala a couple of times was the best spot; an albino death cap was spotted only a short distance away. But these sightings became less common as time proceeded, and clearly the garden wasn't being preyed upon, except possibly by deer.

I live in the Chilterns now, and even here I don't find much, though there is quite a lot of woodland. Of course at the moment with a prolonged dry period behind us there isn't much out. If it doesn't rain hard soon, it will probably be too late this year. In Norfolk, with its mainly arable landscape and low rainfall, I wouldn't think that was good foraging.

While out walking around Berkhamsted at the weekend, I did find a cep. Unfortunately some previous passer-by had kicked it to pieces. Such ignorance. In general the ground was dusty-dry and very little was growing. That was the only bolete I saw on the whole walk.

In article ,
echinosum wrote:

echinosum;939431 Wrote:
II live in the Chilterns now, and even here I don't find much, though
there is quite a lot of woodland. Of course at the moment with a
prolonged dry period behind us there isn't much out.
While out walking around Berkhamsted at the weekend, I did find a cep.
Unfortunately some previous passer-by had kicked it to pieces. Such
ignorance. In general the ground was dusty-dry and very little was
growing. That was the only bolete I saw on the whole walk.

It's just the start of the season. Wait for the first sunny day after a
rain.
--
- Billy
Both the House and Senate budget plan would have cut Social Security and Medicare, while cutting taxes on the wealthy.

Kucinich noted that none of the government programs targeted for
elimination or severe cutback in House Republican spending plans
"appeared on the GAO's list of government programs at high risk of
waste, fraud and abuse."
http://www.politifact.com/ohio/state...is-kucinich/re
p-dennis-kucinich-says-gop-budget-cuts-dont-targ/

[W]e have the situation with the deficit and the debt and spending and jobs. And it¹s not that difficult to get out of it. The first thing you do is you get rid of corporate welfare. That¹s hundreds of billions of dollars a year. The second is you tax corporations so that they don¹t get away with no taxation.
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http://www.democracynow.org/2011/7/19/ralph_naders_solution_to_debt_crisis