Like many types of fruit and vegetables, edible mushrooms such as champignons are now available in stores all year round. Chanterelles, on the other hand, are only available in a limited season as they have not yet been grown commercially and can therefore only be collected in nature.
When is the chanterelle season?
The chanterelle season usually starts in mid-June and lasts until September. The best collection times are in warm, humid weather, especially after thunderstorms. You can find the tasty mushrooms in sparse forests and near spruce, fir, beech and pine trees.
The influencing factor of the weather
Like all mushrooms, chanterelles' appearance depends very much on the weather in a region. This means that the golden yellow fruit bodies grow strongly, especially in hot and humid weather and after rainy days. Depending on the temperature structure in a weather period, the possible collection season can be moved forward or back by around four to six weeks.
Find chanterelles in summer and fall
The chanterelles, also known as egg sponges, can usually be found in sparse forests from mid-June. However, the heat-loving fungi can become visible on mossy surfaces as early as the end of May after a warm, humid spring. The taste of the early specimens is usually not comparable to the later arrivals in midsummer and autumn.
Collection tours after hot thunderstorm days
The most successful finds of very tasty chanterelles can usually be made from July to September. Then the gold of the forest shoots out of the ground within a very short time after hot, humid thunderstorms. Since the season for chanterelles extends into autumn, they are very common regionally as an accompaniment to game dishes.
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In order to find a larger quantity of chanterelles, you should be aware of the special growing conditions of this type of mushroom. Since chanterelles live in a symbiosis with different tree species, they are usually only found near the roots of the following tree species:
- Spruce
- Fir tree
- Common Beech
- Pine
Extensive populations of chanterelles can therefore be suspected specifically in forest areas where there are flat root extensions of these tree species on the surface of the earth. Here you can sometimes even discover a witch's circle made of chanterelles.
Tips & Tricks
Beginners should never rely solely on a mushroom book when identifying edible mushrooms. Instead, ask experienced mushroom pickers for advice if you are unsure. The deceptively similar looking false chanterelle can cause stomach and intestinal problems if consumed even in cooked form.
