Summer Oyster

There are many different varieties of oyster mushrooms but the one that we mostly find and consume here is the one known as the summer oyster, which grows from early summer until late autumn. We had found this species of mushroom only sporadically, one or two at a time, until early in the summer of 2021 when we just happened to be in the right place at the right time and found them growing in abundance on ash tree after ash tree either side of a small stream that trickles down a shallow valley from the top of our hill. We couldn’t believe that we’d missed this bounty in previous years, there were just so many of them! They were exclusively growing on dead or dying ash trees and each tree had numerous clumps on them, some growing so high up that Steve had to get creative and design us an extendable cutting tool so that we could harvest even the ones that were growing up to 7 metres high up on the trunk. We went out on three different trips to collect them all and came back with baskets and buckets overflowing.

Identifying Summer Oyster Mushrooms

Here in Eastern US summer oysters grow on dead or dying hardwood trees, usually ash trees where we live. They are saprotrophic, meaning that they decompose dead wood, and are very beneficial to the health of the forest as they return valuable nutrients and minerals back into the ecosystem for other organisms to use. They are pale in colour, ranging from white to off-white, yellowing with age. They mostly grow in clumps, in shelf-like formations, and the caps can range in size from 5 cm to 20 cm in width. The caps are small and convex when young and flatten out as they grow, resembling oyster shells, hence their name. They have short stipes (stems) that are off-set from the centre of the cap. The gills are white and decurrent, running from the caps down the stipe. The mushroom itself is soft and fleshy , making it easy to harvest with a sharp knife. Although beware of stowaways when picking them as bugs seem to love them too and you’ll find many hiding out in between the gills.

These were the first mushroom foraging trips that our new pup, Jake, came along on and he proved himself a great little “helper”! He patiently waited at every tree for us to gather our shrooms, found lots of interesting things in the forest to keep himself busy with and stayed close by. It would be great one day to see if we can teach him to actually find the mushrooms for us with some motivational target training, I think he would be a natural!

We found so many of these beauties that cleaning them takes a bit of time, what with the bugs and forest debris that find their way in between the gills. It’s a bit of a process but we find dipping them quickly in a bowl of water or wiping them off with a damp cloth, cutting off all the not-so-nice bits and slicing them up ready to sauté them for the freezer is the quickest way to deal with them. Not a bad day to spend an hour or so outside on the deck on a lovely summer day!

Preparing for storage in freezer

If, like us, you find many more than you’d need for that night’s dinner the good news is that they keep really well in the freezer. Give them a good clean first, slice them up and then dry sauté them until all the moisture has come out of them and evaporated out of the pan. If you like, you can season with some salt and pepper as you cook them. Cool them on some trays lined with paper towels to soak up any moisture that is left and them fill zip lock bags with meal sized portions. Suck out all the air with a straw before sealing, label the bags, including date they were harvested and you can store them in the freezer for a year or two and use them as you need them.

Recipe ideas

Even if you aren’t lucky enough to find oysters growing in the wild chances are you will find them at your local supermarket. Apart from your regular button mushrooms oyster mushrooms are the most common cultivated mushroom out there and can be found fresh, dried or marinated in jars at many food markets. The whole fun of it for us is to forage for them but if you are craving an oyster meal and they are out of season where you live then by all means go see if you can find them at the store!

You can use oysters in lots of different ways, from adding them to a stir fry to breaded and fried to creamy mushroom soup. We really like them in ramen soup with some bok choy, a simple and quick meal you can whip up in minutes that will fill your belly and warm you up on a cold winter’s day. Check out the recipe below:

Oyster Ramen Soup