first baby pics of the season

[null24]

Oh Yeah boy... It's on.
They are so adorable when young...

EDIT. It hasn't even rained here yet. Park irrigation and cold nights got these going. Hoping for another epic season this year.

EDIT2: OK OK, I admit it. I'm a baby killer. Cut these suckers and ate them, and man, I forgot how strong freshies are. (I know what I said last season about eating freshies after the one that gave me the ghirdia that eventually helped me discover the cancer in my lung, but damn, I'm weak.) Hoo boy.

 

[downwardsfromzero]

So, the amulet worked, then :lol:

 

[null24]

For real. And y'all thought I was being facetious. :thumb_up: :lol:

DFZ- I sampled the fruits and am a little high and edited your post... getting the hang of my new powers still.

 

[Voidmatrix]

DFZ- I sampled the fruits and am a little high and edited your post... getting the hang of my new powers still.

:twisted:

One love

 

[downwardsfromzero]

DFZ- I sampled the fruits and am a little high and edited your post... getting the hang of my new powers still.

I managed to do the same without even being high. My baseline is a bit divergent from normalcy, I think.

Lovely to see the babies, btw.

 

[roninsina]

I spent some several months in your most beautiful and lush, mycologically paradisical neck of the woods at the turn of the millennium, Null. I definitely got some post code envy. May your season be bountiful and joyous!

 

[null24]

Found my biggest patch ever today in a totally new spot. Left maybe 1000 pins and harvested over 100 mostly mature fruits. Still hasn't rained yet. Thank you sprinklers.

 

[roninsina]

Gorgeouuuuuus! Was saying that like Oprah:lol:

 

[infinitynlove]

hey hull

have you ever experienced any wood lovers paralysis from them?

I worry about taking wavey caps due to that issue

 

[null24]

Not as seuere as some but i usually dose pretty low. Lost use of my hands. WLP is very real. Another reason to give there little things respect.

Personally I love the energetic feeling of cyans and prefer them over cubes.

 

[Jagube]

Nice!

I have a garden patch of cyans, planted last year, but it hasn't fruited yet.
When I get hold of some, I'll be curious to see if a cation resin water filter removes the compound responsible for the WLP effect (aeruginascin?), as someone has suggested it might in one of the WLP threads.

 

[downwardsfromzero]

Nice!

I have a garden patch of cyans, planted last year, but it hasn't fruited yet.
When I get hold of some, I'll be curious to see if a cation resin water filter removes the compound responsible for the WLP effect (aeruginascin?), as someone has suggested it might in one of the WLP threads.

I never had a problem with cyans and WLP although there may be a difference between European cyans and North American ones.

You may have to wait another year before you get to test this out, woodlovers have consistently taken a minimum of 2 years to get fruiting IME.

 

[null24]

Nice!

I have a garden patch of cyans, planted last year, but it hasn't fruited yet.
When I get hold of some, I'll be curious to see if a cation resin water filter removes the compound responsible for the WLP effect (aeruginascin?), as someone has suggested it might in one of the WLP threads.

How?

DFZ, I wonder. Didn't "they" recently find a genetic difference between US and Euro cyans? I seem to recall reading that.

And yeah WLP is definitely a thing. I have had small reactions where I lost use of my hands, but I take pretty low doses because I am very sensitive to psilo. Cyans around here vary wildly in potency and some seem to give WLP moreso than others...

While I'm at it, more pron. Same patch, different day. Checking on my babies today to make sure they are still there. We have rain all week, and I have a playdate Saturday to go pickin'.

 

[dreamer042]

Yum yum yum yum yum :want:

 

[downwardsfromzero]

Nice!

I have a garden patch of cyans, planted last year, but it hasn't fruited yet.
When I get hold of some, I'll be curious to see if a cation resin water filter removes the compound responsible for the WLP effect (aeruginascin?), as someone has suggested it might in one of the WLP threads.

How?

Aeruginascin is perforce a cation [Edit: ignoring the phosphate group, which of course makes it a zwitterion]. Its quaternary amine structure means a positive charge is locked into the molecule. Thus, an ion exchange resin with negatively charged groups - typically, a sulfonated resin - will attract the positively charged aeruginascin molecules and separate them from the rest of the solution/mushroom brew. It would be necessary to adjust the pH of the brew upwards to ensure that a lower proportion of the psilocin, baeocystin or norbaeocystin molecules are protonated for this to operate most effectively. Consequently, it would be desirable to perform this separation under an inert atmosphere as high pH increases the rate of oxidation of the mushroom alkaloids. Keeping illumination to an absolute minimum is also strongly recommended.

DFZ, I wonder. Didn't "they" recently find a genetic difference between US and Euro cyans? I seem to recall reading that.

That could well be the case. Significant differences at a microscopic level have been known for several decades. I'll take a look for these genetic studies, thanks for reminding me about that side of things.

And yeah WLP is definitely a thing. I have had small reactions where I lost use of my hands, but I take pretty low doses because I am very sensitive to psilo. Cyans around here vary wildly in potency and some seem to give WLP moreso than others...

Clearly, I don't doubt the veracity of WLP... it's more a sense of relief not to have experienced it (although I do wonder if on occasion I was tripping so hard that I didn't notice not being able to stand up as being a function of neuromuscular blockade rather than simply being utterly overwhelmed on the mental level).

There is the question, relating to this variability in effect, of whether Euro cyan genetics ever get found in the US, or whether the variability is environmentally determined - and furthermore, whether Euro cyans grown under US conditions would produce more aeruginascin. Come to think of it, I've never looked for reports of Euro cyan WLP versus US cyan s so there's plenty of angles for research (and onlly so many hours in the day).

While I'm at it, more pron. Same patch, different day. Checking on my babies today to make sure they are still there. We have rain all week, and I have a playdate Saturday to go pickin'.

More pics always welcome

 

[null24]

Aeruginascin is perforce a cation. Its quaternary amine structure means a positive charge is locked into the molecule. Thus, an ion exchange resin with negatively charged groups - typically, a sulfonated resin - will attract the positively charged aeruginascin molecules and separate them from the rest of the solution/mushroom brew. It would be necessary to adjust the pH of the brew upwards to ensure that a lower proportion of the psilocin, baeocystin or norbaeocystin molecules are protonated for this to operate most effectively. Consequently, it would be desirable to perform this separation under an inert atmosphere as high pH increases the rate of oxidation of the mushroom alkaloids. Keeping illumination to an absolute minimum is also strongly recommended.

Uhh, can you dumb that down a little for me? I was thinking you meant using it in some cultivation technique, but making a tea makes more sense. This sounds like a worthwhile experiment. I enjoy being outside and the cold seems to make WLP worse. How does one achieve an inert atmosphere? I typically brew tea right before consuming so oxidation is not a huge concern there. The ones I pick often get really bruised up in the bag during transport anyway...

And dreamer= they actually are quite tasty, with an almost minty bitter taste when fresh. Yummy indeed in more than one way!

 

[downwardsfromzero]

Using a bag during picking is something to be avoided. Fortunately, nowadays it's possible to look quite normal while wandering around carrying a large coffee cup... A good basket is something of a joy but you can always periodically decant from your coffee cup into a plastic food tub or five.

It seems another factor that may have affected my experiences with cyans is that they were never exposed to frost, but having just typed this I realise that I misread your comment about the cold making WLP worse. Nonetheless, there could be environmental factors that influence aeruginascin production and maybe exposure to low temperatures could be included in that. We'd need to corroborate as much of the data as possible on WLP and the collection conditions in order to throw more light on this question.

Dumbed down version of proposed aeruginascin removal method:

*make mushroom brew, perhaps using distilled water (to minimise content of other cations)
*under minimal light levels, prepare an argon line to purge the container with inert gas
*adjust pH to 8.9 (OK, that's something of a guess) using conc ammonia
*pour the alkaline solution through a column of, e.g., sulfonated styrene beads, preferably in the dark and using inert atmosphere
*ensure the collection flask under the column is pre-dosed with correct amount of ascorbic acid calculated as per the amount of ammonia previously added. Keep dark and use an inert atmosphere
*hopefully this will be suitable to drink as is, if everything was food grade

even simpler version:

*make brew
*add a dash of ammonia
*stir in acidic resin beads
*strain beads out
*add ascorbic acid
*drink

they actually are quite tasty, with an almost minty bitter taste when fresh. Yummy indeed in more than one way!

Cyans go really well in miso soup - it's quite dangerously tasty that way.

 

[null24]

had a wonderful day hunting yesterday. Took a few folks I respect for their appreciation for the sanctity of nature and the experience within to the pin spot, a couple experienced hunters and a couple who wanted to learn. We went out to the park but alas the pins are still to young to harvest. At least they are still there. We were talking and laughing and then a total stranger beckoned us over to where he and his partner had just found a massive flush of giant mature fruits hidden under a mass of leaves. The kind that are so wavy they turned inside out. Damn potent too. There were 7 of us in total including the kind strangers and we all went home soaking wet and happy with a nice clutch of 12-20 fruits each. That is the spirit.

In my experience mushroom hunters seem to either be really greedy or really generous. I guess that is just human though. :?:

There are some good folks out there willing to share and be kind, and it was a pleasure being reminded of that. I was too excited and giddy and spaced taking pictures of them, but I am going back tomorrow after a job interview to check under all the leaves.

I love this time of year. Before I started this hobby, the clouds and rain would depress me, now I get excited by rainy days. And it has been POURING for the last 4 days straight- it is on, my friends!!!

Sorry for the lack of pron in this post, I'll make up for it.

DFZ- thank you for the simplified TEK, however I think that kind of sophistication is out of my reach... At the same, I want to know how this works out for you, people like you are the ones doing some important stuff around this topic. WLP sucks.

I don't know about cold being an environmental factor, the temps here are pretty steady with 60F days and 40F (ish) nights. The ones that gave me the worst grow around grasses, I don't know if that is a false correlation though. My hunch is that the substrate has to have something to do with it- what is in the soil perhaps that the mycelium grows in during the months it isn't fruiting or something. I wonder if some kind of soil test is available that could determine the different variables in different locations. Haven't experienced it this year, but I am just micro and threshold dosing right now. I will take notes and pics of surrounding vegetation in my various spots and post later, maybe that could be a good data source.

 

[null24]

Here's a nice little bouquet for y'all...

Season is shaping up nicely. I doubts but they seem to be unfounded. Woot!

 

[null24]

Here's a nice little bouquet for y'all...

Season is shaping up nicely. I doubts but they seem to be unfounded. Woot!