«We are not losing hope,» says Cristina, confident that the rain and temperatures will allow the mushroom season to be saved, after seeing how the fires of last summer in this hard-hit area of the province did not affect her harvesting area.
In memory, the also «late» 2003-2004 season was «quite bad,» to the point of having to almost cancel mycological events in Salamanca because there were no mushrooms or fungi to show, recalls Juan Manuel Velasco.
Higher Prices
Mushrooms, cardoon mushrooms, parasol mushrooms, chanterelles… The most typical of meadows are the first ones expected to become widespread this season, although without large productions.
And this will be noticed not only by enthusiasts who go out into the mountains, but also by lovers of mycological gastronomy.
In greengrocers, it is rare to find these products, and when they arrive, Velasco ventures, their price will be higher.
It is noticeable in the issuance of permits in regulated mushroom areas.
Even, Roberto trusts, if the thermometers remain above zero degrees, it could be even «good» for the chanterelle (Lactarius deliciosus) in the flat pine areas of Valladolid and Segovia, where the season can be extended until well into December.
For that date, they also plan their street events in the Charra capital, where they have managed to gather 300 species.
«Now the prospects are better,» adds the also vice president of the Lazarillo association of Salamanca, who at the mycological events held in the province «we didn't see a single mushroom» when in other years at this time they already found a variety.
With one eye on the sky and the other on the ground.
«Even to collect nothing,» which demonstrates the «awareness» of the regulated use of the forest, they value from the Mycology Program of Castilla y León, promoted by the Junta, provincial councils and more than 320 municipalities, which seeks to optimize the management and valuation of the mycological resource, with more than 300,000 hectares included in it.
«September, either you take the bridges or the fountains dry up,» points out, drawing on popular sayings, the PhD in Botany and member of the Federation of Mycological Associations of Castilla y León, José Manuel Velasco.
But with raw material to feed its catalog of fresh, frozen, dehydrated or preserved mushrooms, between little and nothing, which affects the fact that the usual seasonal contracts have not been signed.
This is how mushroom enthusiasts are these days, since, after seeing how the rains arrived well into October, they have been able to lower their gaze in search of the first fruiting bodies in the form of mushrooms and fungi.
There are points in the provinces of Salamanca and Zamora where «there are already fruiting bodies, even of Boletus edulis – a species that usually resists more».
«It has reactivated with the rains,» points out Rubio.
This is what they are currently harvesting in Hondesa (Hongos de Sanabria), one of the companies dedicated to the commercialization of mushrooms in Castilla y León – where these products even have a quality seal –.
To the point that they have «doubled».
There are areas further south, like Gredos, where «it is resisting».
Yes, but the harvest will be scattered throughout such an extensive and varied territory as Castilla y León.
Up to 40 euros per kilo of Boletus or 20 for chanterelles, due to the lower production.
They are maintained because they also dedicate themselves to chestnuts.
Free from fire, but without production
«Minimum quantities. This week it is already going at a «more typical» rhythm after a «stalled» start to autumn».
He wants the support of the administrations to add attractions that compensate for a «lost» summer.
«Although short and late, we hope there will be a season,» they stress from Micocyl, although not all over the Community will sprout equally.
And this year, he adds, has been the one without a single drop of rain for months.
In fact, in the Segovian mountains, November began with enthusiasts showing off their first 'catches' of this prized orange mushroom.
Free from fire, but without production
«Minimum quantities. This week it is already going at a «more typical» rhythm after a «stalled» start to autumn».
He wants the support of the administrations to add attractions that compensate for a «lost» summer.
«Although short and late, we hope there will be a season,» they stress from Micocyl, although not all over the Community will sprout equally.
And this year, he adds, has been the one without a single drop of rain for months.
In fact, in the Segovian mountains, November began with enthusiasts showing off their first 'catches' of this prized orange mushroom.
They are «aware» that they depend on the weather «and that there are good and bad years».
The positive part is that the arrival of the long-awaited rains is accompanied by «not cold temperatures», so that «while it does not freeze, they will begin to appear little by little».
And he does the math: since it rains, the mycelium takes about «ten to fifteen days» to wake up, so for the next weekend they trust that «there will be mushrooms».
Although it is «not» a good season, it is «enough to get by».
Castilla y León has a great diversity of wild mushrooms.
But, he adds, last Monday, at their weekly meeting, they managed to gather «30 species».
Although not all species are harvested and the production is not the same every year, Micocyl's data estimate that 31,500 tons of mushrooms can occur, of which only 14% is exploited, which proves the «enormous potential» of this sector, which is increasingly popular, with more and more mushroom-related enthusiasts and activities.
Source ABC
Because, although «late», the autumn season – the main one, although not the only one of the year – is already here.
So they already assumed, as they have verified, that «October has been very bad».
This year, «I am content with 150 or 200,» says Velasco.
And if 2024 «was brutal,» as Roberto Rubio also recalls with a touch of emotion in his voice, the 2025 «will not be a great season».
No matter how much it fruits, it «has been delayed a lot».
«Not even to cover expenses».
More than 2,700 cataloged species that sprout in the 4.5 million hectares considered productive, of which 1.5 million are forests considered «of high aptitude».
«People are eager to go out with the basket,» he adds.
