Liberty cap season question

[ommani]

I'm a bit more keen on finding a huge amount of libs... And obviously the amanitas are not for a single experience :⁠-⁠) they're just a stock for supportive use until the next season. Just in a few hours I picked these, and it is past the peak season of amanitas... I am very grateful.

I've not resonated with the concept of microdosing since the beginning, but had been giving amanitas the benefit of the doubt. Now after some experiments, I can say microdosing with amanitas is not an exception; it's not for me. Frequent use if done respectfully and consciously I can understand, but a set automatic routine never benefits me.

I don't know how the amanita journey will unfold for me. All I know is that it's presence in my life is a beneficial one and I am comfortable with low doses. Going for a "trip" with a high dose? It's not on my agenda, but we'll see.

Microdosing in a systematic/ongoing way doesn’t work well for me, either, however I regularly take microdoses of Amanita as a sleep aid. I usually take around 300-500mg dried Amanitas, steeped in tea, which typically works pretty well for me. The most I’ve taken has been around 1-2g, which starts to feel pretty heavy, in my experience, and makes it even harder than usual to get out of bed in the morning. What is your low dose range, and what kinds of effects do you experience/aim for?

Nice find with the liberty caps, btw!

 

[Prima Materia]

Another quick question for the mushroom aficionados: is dehydrator drying sufficient for vacuum packing and storing, or is a desiccant period necessary? And what temperature is optimum for dehydrator drying?

What I do is to dry them until cracker dry and then store them in glass jars with silica gel inside. This way they will retain their original potency for at least 1 year in my experience. Supposedly the friend here is psilocybin which is much more stable than psilocin. The OH group gets oxidised easily.

If you want to preserve them for longer you should vacuum and freeze them I believe if the mushrooms are cracker dry they should be good for vacuuming and freezing. Maybe someone else with more experience can add something more.

 

[doubledog]

Libs are small mushrooms, dehydrator should be enough, then store it in glass jar with desiccant. Libs retain their potency much better than woodlovers ime.

 

[dithyramb]

Just a few more today, unfortunately. Unfortunately, the previously forecast intense storms starting yesterday did not manifest. I perhaps hit the same problem as with the previous place here. I may go home with just a few doses, as waiting another 3-4 days is very challenging...

Thanks for the pointers, @Prima Materia ria and @doubledog.

The fact that liberty caps have almost no psilocin is probably a factor in them keeping better when stored.

 

[doubledog]

I totally understand your frustration. My last trip for libs ended very similar. I also need to travel hundreds of kilometers and then go up to the mountains to possibly find some. So it's a kind of lottery. Unless I find some closer area I just gave up on them.
I would love to forage more for libs, but woodlovers are much more accessible to me.

 

[dithyramb]

I totally understand your frustration. My last trip for libs ended very similar. I also need to travel hundreds of kilometers and then go up to the mountains to possibly find some. So it's a kind of lottery. Unless I find some closer area I just gave up on them.
I would love to forage more for libs, but woodlovers are much more accessible to me.

I still haven't lost hope for the possibility of perfecting the harvest efficiency in the long term, but I can't aim for it as of yet. All these lib photos from Europe (mostly UK) start emerging on social media starting on August. Perhaps going after a September flush would be better, who knows... The problem with October is that it has a long dry period over here... When the late October rains come in finally, it's just a few days before the frost kicks in at these high elevations...

By woodlovers, I assume you mean something from the serbica/bohemica/arcana complex? How would you express the experiential differences between liberty caps and the woodlovers you find?

 

[doubledog]

I still haven't lost hope for the possibility of perfecting the harvest efficiency in the long term, but I can't aim for it as of yet. All these lib photos from Europe (mostly UK) start emerging on social media starting on August. Perhaps going after a September flush would be better, who knows... The problem with October is that it has a long dry period over here... When the late October rains come in finally, it's just a few days before the frost kicks in at these high elevations...

Without living close it's very difficult to be sucessful consistently over the years. Ime you need to go forage few times within high season to really catch the right conditions. Difficult if you need to travel longer distances.

By woodlovers, I assume you mean something from the serbica/bohemica/arcana complex? How would you express the experiential differences between liberty caps and the woodlovers you find?

Yes, that's the species I am finding. Libs feel to me more emotional, less chaotic, calmer, visions are less ornamental. But I do not have much experience with them.
Woodlovers are slightly similar to chali, more intense, visions are closer in style to dmt, at least the best ones I know.
It's still a group of species/strains so pretty diverse, some are not so great.
All are better fresh, but difference between fresh and dried is bigger in woodlovers.

 

[dithyramb]

Thanks. Libs sound like the preferable one for me from your description.

Speaking of strains, there are no designated lib strains afaik. The ones I found growing in the first place (first photo) and in the second place (other photos) are obviously different strains. The morphology has differences, the stem being the most obvious detail, being longer in the first strain, adapted to longer grass. I only have two doses of strain 1 and four doses of strain 2 this year. I'll try to compare them and report.

Yes, I have given up for this year and travelled back home... At least I have a huge amanita harvest, and that will be the main new integration for me this year.

 

[blig-blug]

About dehydration: after the dehydrator, I place them in a jar with a teabag (or similar) filled with calcium chloride. It dehydrates them much faster than silica gel, and keeps them "cracker dry". It's also cheaper, at least for me, and also food safe if you get it food grade.

 

[dithyramb]

Btw, I always see a lot of panaeolus on these hunts, and always wonder about their possible magic. The conventional wisdom is that some of these species may contain psilocybin/psilocin, but it's not consistent, with the exception of cinctulus.

I found a lot of these huge ones in the second region...

... And just now identified it as Panaeolus semiovatus (huge size, and the only panaeolus species to have a ring)

... And just now found out that samples analyzed of this species found in Turkey actually tested positive for both psilocybin (%0.11) and psilocin (%0.14)... There is certainly a significant loss with drying if it is a psilocin dominant species, and I suspect a lot of panaeolus has some sort of enzymatic degradation causing loss of almost all actives when dried. So this was actually legitimate medicine if used fresh...

... Doh!