Chewing spruce (Picea glauca) gum

I read some years ago that hardened spruce and pine resin makes good chewing gum and I decided to check it out for myself.

There's a great youtube video that shows you how to process your own spruce chewing gum, but I like just picking hardened resin off spruce trees in the backyard.

Video link to how to make spruce chewing gum by Countercommie at youtube

I'd say it tastes really strong at first. The hardened resin just crumbles into tiny granules as you crunch on it. But hold it in your mouth for a few seconds, and let the heat from your mouth soften it. After it has soften, chew it slowly and gather it around in your mouth with your tongue. It'll start to have the texture of a stiff, listerine flavoured, chewing gum.

At first I found it a bit bitter, but it's kind of an acquired taste. After 2-3 tries, I actually start to like the flavour - make me think of breathing in a fresh tree scent like you are in the woods. Plus, I notice that my mouth ulcers heals faster (spruce resin is a natural antiseptic, so it makes sense). I have coeliac disease and I get mouth ulcers often from accidental wheat ingestions, and spruce chewing gum tastes so much nicer than the mouth ulcer gels I used.

I look for naturally occuring hardened resin on the trunk of spruce trees, where the trees have previously been injured (pruning, cold, woodpecker, wind damage). The older the resin the darker the colour, and the richer the flavour (I find). Older resin also makes less stiff chewing gum. Not so old resin, light yellow, for example is still chewable, but much stiffer.

Most of the time I can just break the pieces off with my fingernails. Some people use a putty knife to get bigger pieces, but I'd like to think that I can leave the bigger pieces to age more, and harvest it as it becomes more brittle.

this is enough for a nice chew or two! Amber coloured. Smelling very sprucey!

After chewing for 3-4 minutes. You can't tell the difference between it
and a commercial chewing gum except for it's smell.

In case you're not too keen to eat resin straight from the tree, you can also buy it online. Just google "Spruce Chewing Gum" and you'll find links to people who wild craft these tasty, sugarfree, (Ulcer curing!) chewing gum.

Of course, the next thing to try is making spruce needle tea. You can read more about it here. I've chewed birch shoots before and it tastes very wintergreeney. I would imagine it'll make really nice tea. Must remember to try in spring.

Berry Bird Island: Bog Cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccus), Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum), Labrador Tea (Rhododendron tomentosum), Sunburst Lichen (Xanthoria elegans)

Today was relatively warm-ish at 13 deg C with clear skies and no smoke, and the boat hits the water. Off we went to one of the Western Mirage Islands, just 25km ish south of Yellowknife Bay.

The high number of songbirds (mostly blackbirds) is due to the fact the island is not often visited, as landing a craft here is almost impossible, unless you have a Zodiac. Which is good, as this means not many dogs have been to the place and the birds and berries are left well enough alone.

Bog Cranberries (Vaccinium oxycoccus)

Lots of them.

In the mossy beds on the rocky facets

Tinier than the cultivated ones, and oddly sweeter.
The bluish black ones are Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum)

Cranberries and Crowberries.

Labrador Tea (Rhododendron tomentosum)

Mini bushes of berries and Labrador tea huddle together for a plant Selfie....

Very berry - no wonder there's a songbird colony here.

Try not to mistake Bearberry (Arctostaphylos alpina) for Cranberries.
They look somewhat the same to the untrained eye. Bearberry is also known as Uva-ursi,
and the leaves are sometimes smoked in a mixture called Kinnikinnick

Shadow of me on a Rocky Berry Field.

The Captain snoozes

These elegant beauties are Sunburst Lichens (Xanthoria elegans)

They love nitrogen from the bird poop. Shit life for some, glorious ones for others.

They do look like sunburst on the rocks.

Personally, I like plants, fungi, lichens and animals more than humans. I'm just odd that way.

Fungi of Yellowknife

As always, practice care in foraging for wild foods. I did not eat any of the mushrooms I picked close to town due to the mining activity close to the area - I only collect them for identification purposes and taking spore prints to double check species.

When in doubt, DO NOT EAT!

Birch Bolete (Leccinum scabrum)

Leccinum scabrum, sectioned

Lactarius torminosulus (Woolly Milk cap, northern variety)

Light tan gills

Haven't identified this one yet - lost the fungus on the way home, duuh!
Much suspect this to be Boletus pinophilus due to the reticulation on stipe, and the fattened base.

I am still kicking myself for losing this fine specimen.
I blame the mosquitos and blackflies for my incessant flapping about and dropping things in the bush.

Yet another Birch Bolete! Worms love them, too.

Big one!

Taking a break from mushroom hunting.

You need bug shirt here in the summer and autumn.
See that mosquito just over my left shoulder, marring the lake background?

Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) or Arctic Raspberry (Rubus arcticus)

To be honest, it took me a while to distinguish between the various types of wild Rubus in Alberta. I'm pretty certain that this is Salmonberry, from the look of the foliage and where it was growing (next to a creek, under big pine trees). But I may be wrong! Without knowing what the flower looked like, it can be the Arctic Raspberry, considering the freezing cold of the mountains where this thing grow!

Fun with fungi at Kananaskis Country: Agaricus campestris and Suillus luteus

I love rambling in the woods after a good rainfall in the summer, and see my sporulating friends pop out of the ground. Of course, as with any mushroom/fungi listings, I will include these caveats:

DO NOT CONSUME WILD MUSHROOMS UNLESS YOU KNOW YOUR STUFF!!!!

EVEN EXPERIENCED MUSHROOM PICKERS GET POISONED!!!

SOME POISONOUS FUNGI ARE EATEN BY OTHER CRITTERS THAT HAVE ADAPTED TO THE TOXINS-- ANIMAL BITE MARKS DOES NOT MAKE THEM SAFE TO EAT!!

DO NOT CONSUME MUSHROOMS (EVEN EDIBLE ONES) THAT APPEAR IN CONTAMINATED SITES!! FUNGI ACCUMULATES ENVIRONMENTAL TOXINS!!!

Now that is out of the way, let me introduce you to one of the common summer mushrooms that usually dot the open spaces. At first glance you'll think that this cluster of white mushrooms are like the common supermarket ones. You're partially right. The ones in supermarkets are Button Mushroom (Agaricus bisporus), and these are Meadow Mushrooms (Agaricus campestris).

Agaricus campestries cluster on the ground, out in the open.

Nice sized cap, about 12 cm across

Chocolate gills puts this in the Agaricus genus

It's hard to miss the Agaricus spp, they tend to be white (or off-white to tan) coloured caps, with the characteristic chocolate gills. One particular species, Agaricus arvensis (Horse Mushroom), when picked, have a distinctive Aniseed smell to it when picked. Agaricus subrufescens have almond-like smell to it.

Stay clear of Agaricus that stains yellow, as they can be poisonous to a lot of people (some people can eat them without harm, but don't test this on yourself!). Aptly, the Agaricus xanthodermus is also known by the name "The Yellow Stainer". It looks the same as other Agaricus, except for the yellow staining when cut at the base.

Avoid white mushrooms with white gills. They could be the Death Cap (Amanita phalloides), or the Destroying Angel (Amanita virosa). There is a whole genus of white-gilled mushrooms (Russula), but they have different shapes and growth than the Agaricus group.

Suillus luteus - Slippery Jack - on a bed of bearberry ground cover.

The Suillus genus tend to be common in areas that have lots of pine and larches. Some are known generally as "Larch Boletes", although they are less fat than the rest of the more popular Boletes (which includes the Porcini mushroom). There's a reason why they are called Slippery Jacks, the cap have a slimy, slippery feel to it, and are generally peeled off before cooking (some people can be sensitive to the polysaccharides that gives the slimy feel).

Unlike the Agaricus, turning over the cap will display spongy yellow tissue with pores/tubes rather than gills. The Bolete family all have this pore/tube structure under the cap, which is the identifying trait. The Leccinum family also has this pored structure, but with (usually) white underside of the cap, rather that yellow.