From time immemorial, loafs were considered a valuable product that was harvested in barrels for the winter. Gifts of the forest were necessarily present on the royal table and all kinds of feasts, and the mushroom was revered as one of the main dishes during the fast. The breast owes its unusual name to the Church Slavic origin from the word “breast”, which meant “bunching”. Indeed, if you find one mushroom in the forest, you will certainly find nearby his whole family. About what mushrooms are edible, when and where to collect them you will learn from this article.

Breast and its types

Breast is an edible mushroom with a broad, pubescent, slightly damp hat.. Outwardly, it can be confused with russula, however, it has several distinctive features. Firstly, his hat is funnel-shaped, dense and weighty. With a break, white juice is released from it, instantly yellowing. The diameter of the cap is from 3 to 20 cm, the cylindrical smooth leg reaches a height of 2-10 cm (the older, the higher), and its thickness can, respectively, be 1-5 cm. When mentioning the described fungus, the first thing to mean is a lump real (lat. Lactárius résimus).

Depending on the region, it is called “white”, “wet”, “raw”. The skin of the fungus is mucous and moist, fawn or creamy. All types of mushrooms have a characteristic mushroom smell, by which they can be recognized from afar.. The pulp is dense and fleshy, and the plates are thick and wide. In "adult" specimens, the leg gradually becomes hollow.

Did you know? The breast contains a large amount of vitamins, and the amount of protein per 100 g "ahead" of beef. Due to the diuretic properties and the ability to actively remove toxins from the body, the use of this species is recommended by nutritionists.

How many nature has created varieties of breasts? There are several types of mushrooms, the main difference of which is the level of edibility - from 1 to 4. The present lust belongs to the highest category, but some species are better not to use.

Edible breasts include:

The most popular species are listed, but also exist - a lump of blue, oak, red-brown, fringe, etc.

When and where do breasts begin to grow

A real chest creates mycorrhiza with a birch. More often this variety can be found in forests with old birch forests, linden, aspen, poplar trees. The area of ​​its growth covers the northern regions of Russia, Ukraine, the Republic of Belarus. It is also distributed in the middle zone of the Russian Federation, Chelyabinsk and Kaliningrad regions, in the middle and southern Volga region, in the Urals, in Siberia.

It does not grow densely, but forms groups where an excellent crop can be harvested from one family. For the northern regions, the harvest season is July - September, and in the more southern areas it appears from August to September.

Experienced mushroom pickers know that mushrooms should be taken to young groves with birches, poplars and aspens.. To find fruiting bodies, you need to look under the carpet of foliage and needles, under which they "hide". Violinist prefers to grow next to beech trees, and aspen mushroom can be found in aspen and poplar stands. Black subspecies “Loves” mixed and coniferous forests; it often grows on clearings and roadsides. In Western Europe, breast also occurs, however, in smaller quantities and as a food product is not consumed.

At what temperature do they grow

The most acceptable temperature for starting fruiting is considered to be +8 ... + 10 ° C above the ground. Most varieties of mushrooms avoid too swampy or, on the contrary, over-dried places, choosing moderately dry areas. It is best to go pick mushrooms after a long drizzling rain, since after a rain the fruit bodies quickly decay. With strong soil moisture, mushrooms sprout in a few days.

Did you know? Once upon a time, the yield of the year “for mushrooms” was determined according to popular belief. If it rained on the Annunciation - wait for the plentiful mushroom season, and if frosts “returned” - to the crop in mushrooms.

How much do they grow after rain

The life cycle of the fungus begins from the germination of spores and ends with complete decay.. First, the spore enters the moist soil (subject to the temperatures mentioned above). Then a mycelium appears from the spore. In winter, its activity stops, but as soon as favorable factors develop in nature, the mycelium will begin to develop again.

In this case, lumps form between the filaments of the mycelium, from which the fruiting body - the fungus - grows. The period from the beginning of growth to biological decay lasts, on average, two weeks, the development of the mycelium itself can stretch for years. As a rule, the breast begins to mature and reach its maximum size on the sixth day, only the hat grows further.

The breast belongs to slowly growing mushrooms, therefore, after warm, drizzling precipitation, during the day it reaches 1.5–3 mm in height. Swiftly "tearing up" this mushroom does not allow a dense and weighty body. It is possible to follow the breasts 5-7 days after the rain, and they reach full maturity by 7-12 days. Aging of the fruiting body and its saturation with toxins occurs after 2 weeks, so it is not recommended to collect overgrown breasts.

When and where to collect

As stated above Mushrooms create mycorrhiza with deciduous trees, giving particular preference to birch and aspen. Creating a "union" with the tree, they exchange moisture and nutrients with it. The first landscape to pay attention to when collecting these fruits is old birch forests and mixed forests.

Important! It takes time to grow mushroom mushrooms, so instead of young forests with thin trees, choose an older planting for a “quiet hunt”.

For different types of fruits, places of growth may vary, but they all love moderately moist surfaces. Mushroom pickers know where mushrooms can appear. Lactation likes to “rest” under a layer of crumbling needles, last year’s leaves or in the grass, so it’s better to arm yourself with a long stick. Real chest “Selects” moderately light areas with the presence of dense grass and shrubs. The dense dark windbreaks, riverbanks, and lakes do not like the described species. Among the satellites, strawberries and ferns are often found.

Black subspecies prefers to grow in bright clearings with moss, grass or leafy litter. When searching for them, you can also go to roadsides, paths, clearings. Yellow chest you will not find in deciduous plantations, because it is inseparable from spruce and fir. This species loves calcareous soil, so it can often be found in the mountains.

Unlike related specimens, the yellow mushroom is resistant to low temperatures and can please mushroom pickers until October (even in the northern regions). Pepper breast “Selects” clay, but well-permeable moisture soil of birch forests and aspen forests. He likes medium-warm conditions, so his schedule is the middle or the end of summer, you can rarely find him in late autumn.

Did you know? The caustic taste of pepper mushroom in Russia was used instead of spices. Raw samples were dried, ground into powder and added to dishes as an analogue of black pepper.

Aspen mushroomas the name implies, you will find under the aspen, as well as under the willow, poplar. This species loves warmth and is common in the southern regions of the Lower Volga. You should start looking for him in July and continue until October.

Breeding

Gruzdi is a popular, tasty and juicy mushroom known for its crunchy properties. Salts are prepared from it, fried, frozen, added to various dishes and pickled. Based on its nutritional value and beneficial properties, every housewife dreams of fruit bodies growing not just somewhere in the forest, but right before her eyes, allowing them to enjoy their taste at any time and surprise guests with fragrant masterpieces. Known methods for growing oyster mushrooms and champignons at home, but not many know about the "taming" of a loaf.

The principle of their cultivation is to lay the mycelium in a special, pre-prepared substrate, and harvest, lasting, on average, for five years. Of course, you can’t grow a mushroom in an apartment, in this case can not do without a garden plot, allowing to create artificial favorable conditions for the growth of the fungus. It takes about a year to develop mycelium and collect the first ovary. This method involves the purchase of a ready-made mycelium, but you can develop it yourself, however this method is more painstaking and complicated.

For growing you will need:

• ready, developed mycelium;
• young deciduous tree (birch, poplar, willow, hazel);
• peat-containing soil;
• sawdust or straw;
• limestone;
• pieces of moss cut in the wild habitats of the breasts;
• fallen leaves.

To prepare the substrate, the prepared soil is mixed with steamed sawdust. Then, holes are made in the soil with a depth of 20 cm (next to the root system of the tree), and the substrate is laid. The mycelium is laid out on top, covered with a thin layer of substrate. The mass is tamped and watered with a lime solution. Wells are covered with compost from leaves and moss. The most favorable months for laying mycelium are from May to September.

Many years ago, people revealed the beneficial properties of breasts and their unique taste. Over the centuries, the spread of these valuable mushrooms has decreased significantly, so many gardeners and mushroom pickers begin to breed them at home. Having tried once a dish from a juicy, crispy mushroom, you will forever become a fan of it, but during the “hunt” it is very easy to stumble on false specimens, so the rules described will help you get on the “right track”.