The Volgograd region does not shine with the variety and beauty of the landscape, since steppe and semi-desert landscapes are developed here. In this regard, a program was developed for artificial landscaping of the area in order to prevent soil erosion caused by dry winds.
Forest plantations in the Volgograd region
The weather in the Volgograd region is mostly clear and dry, which is not surprising in the conditions of a very arid climate, therefore weathering of the upper soil layer is a real disaster for farmland.
Today, 400 hectares of forests grow in the region under natural conditions along the banks of the Volga, Don, Khopra and in beams. The floodplain forests of the Volgograd region are mainly represented by oak, black poplar and woody-shrubby vegetation.
In addition, over the past 60 years, work has been carried out on the artificial plantation of forests, whose function was to protect the fields from the dry winds. Not all of them were successful, since the composition of the soil and the species of trees and shrubs suitable for it were not always taken into account.
But there were positive results, thanks to which more than 200, 000 hectares of artificial green zones grow in the region today, some of which are soil protection against erosion, and some are recreational areas for the local population.
Are mushrooms a threat to life?
By the number of sunny days in a year, warm spring and hot summer, these places are similar to Crimea, although short and cold winters remind us that this is the southeast of the Russian Plain. In summer, the temperature reaches 38-45 ° C, thanks to the masses of hot air from Kazakhstan, and there is a sharp lack of precipitation.
Although the weather in the Volgograd region is arid in summer, thanks to new forests people got the opportunity to pick mushrooms. The only problem they may have is the risk that, in the absence of rain, even edible mushrooms can be life threatening.
This is due to their accumulation of toxic substances during the drought period, therefore, as soon as it rains, and they appear en masse from underground or on tree trunks, some of them can become as poisonous as grebes or fly agaric.
Edible mushrooms of the Volgograd region should be collected very carefully and only with knowledge of this matter or accompanied by experienced mushroom pickers who recognize the danger.
The mushroom picking championship held in the region encourages people to “quiet hunt”, which, in turn, obliges its participants to understand them well. This gambling competition among the local population increases the number of professional mushroom pickers.
Spring mushrooms
Edible mushrooms of the Volgograd region can be divided according to the time of harvesting into spring, summer and autumn species, therefore the most passionate “hunters” devote their entire warm season to their favorite business. So, in the spring, mushroom pickers expect:
- Chanterelles that are easy to spot in young May grass due to their color ranging from light yellow to orange. They appear first and, as it were, open the "hunting" season. Chanterelles are difficult to confuse with other mushrooms, as they have large hats with wavy edges, slightly pressed in the middle. You can meet them both in the pine-spruce and deciduous forests that grow in the Uryupinsky, Olkhovsky and Chernyshkovsky districts.
- Behind the chanterelles, dung beetles appear from under the ground. Depending on age, they can have a white hat (in young people), pink (in mature ones) or black (in old ones). Only young mushrooms are suitable for food, which are meaty and very tasty, but they cannot be prepared for the future. Harvest should be in May near compost pits, in the fields and near vegetable gardens. Most often found in Surovikinsky, Chernyshkovsky and Alekseevsky areas.
Mushroom mushrooms also appear in May, when the whole earth begins to turn green and bloom. They are easy to distinguish among the grass, as they have wide yellow-brown or reddish hats that sit tight on a cylindrical leg, which, as it grows, can stretch up to 20 cm in height. Mushrooms are found in aspen forests of Kletsky district.
Knowing the schedule of each species, you can plan a route in advance and go to the place where mushrooms are harvested in the Volgograd region in May.
Mushrooms in early summer
If the summer was not too dry, then the whole Volgograd region becomes the place of mushroom harvest. Mushrooms at this time grow in large numbers, so experienced mushroom pickers and ordinary amateurs come for them. The latter, unfortunately, sometimes become victims of their inexperience and greed. According to doctors of the region, the majority of patients who received signs of poisoning either mistakenly eat poisonous mushrooms or incorrectly cooked edible ones.
Therefore, before eating them, you should study the mushrooms of the Volgograd region. Edible and poisonous are often very similar to each other, and if doubts arise, it is better not to cook them at all. In the first half of summer mushroom pickers expect:
Porcini mushrooms that appear in early June. They are easily recognizable by the large hat, which in some specimens can reach 40 cm in diameter. When the tubes of the porcini mushroom under the hat acquire an olive or yellowish color, it means that it is ripe and can be eaten. The color of the cap of the white mushroom varies from light brown to reddish-brown, and the leg is up to 25 cm in diameter. Massively they grow in oak trees, birch and pine forests of the Kumylzhensky, Alekseevsky and Gorodishchensky districts.
- Champignons are waiting for their harvest at the end of June. This is the most common species that pleases mushroom pickers Volgograd region. Champignon mushrooms have excellent taste and are found not only in spruce forests, but also in meadows, pastures, in Shakinsky oak groves and in “Tsimlyansk sands” of the Chernyshkovsky district.
- The end of June and July is a favorable time for oil plants, which most often grow in the pine forests of the Rudnyansky, Novoanninsky, Olkhovsky and Zhirnovsky districts.
A giant raincoat is less common, with which, by the way, one should be careful. It is edible only in white, therefore, when meeting with a brown specimen, it should be bypassed.
What mushroom pickers collect in July and August
The second half of the summer is not a reason to stay at home, as this period meets mushroom lovers with very interesting representatives:
- Mushrooms are large mushrooms with a hat in the middle of which there is a funnel. They are hard to miss. Although Volgograd Oblast is rich in cargo yield, these mushrooms should be harvested when they are in the ripening stage. And when rusty spots appear on the light hat of the breasts, it is better not to touch them. They are found in pine, birch and aspen forests of the Trestostrovskaya village, on Lebyazhya Polyana.
- In August, mushroom pickers are waiting for mushrooms, which grow in the mosses of pine forests near the village of Kletskaya. They have brown hats that make it easy to determine their age - cracks indicate that the mushroom is mature. It is possible to determine that this is a flywheel by slice on the pulp, since it is blue.
Here are the mushrooms that grow in the Volgograd region in the summer. By the way, it is not always necessary to wait for the rains to collect a good crop. In beams and floodplain forests, where the soil is moist, they appear en masse without additional precipitation.
Autumn mushrooms
In autumn, mushroom pickers are limited by the small number of species that the Volgograd region offers. Mushrooms appearing in late August and September:
Ryadovka poplar (clerk). It has a semicircular hat of a brown or reddish hue, which sits firmly on a cylindrical leg. It occurs in forests where poplars predominate. In the Volgograd region these are Svetloyarsky, Olkhovsky, Rudnyansky districts.
- Autumn mushrooms, which can be found in large numbers on tree stumps and trunks, mainly on birches in Shakinsky oak groves, Chernyshkovsky and Surovikinsky districts.
- Greenfinchs are delicious yellowish mushrooms with a semicircular hat in young and flat in mature species. They grow in pine forests of the Kalachevsky district.
Here such a crop offers mushroom pickers Volgograd region. Mushrooms grow in almost all forest belts of the region, but there are special places that every fan of quiet hunting knows. and in may.
The best mushroom places in the Volgograd region
The most popular among mushroom pickers are:
- The territory of the Tsimlyansk reservoir, where humid lowlands with pine and deciduous forests predominate.
- Volga-Akhtuba floodplain up to Zubarevka.
- Islands Hungry, Money, Sarpinsky on the Volga.
- Pastures and meadows along the Volgograd reservoir
Experienced mushroom pickers have trails in these places and have their own hidden glades.
Poisonous mushrooms of the Volgograd region
False champignons are the greatest danger for novice mushroom pickers. You can distinguish them from real ones only by an unpleasant odor, since few people are alarmed by changing the color of the cut from grayish to yellow.
Amanita and pale toadstools are rare, but ignorance of the shelf life of edible mushrooms can also lead to poisoning.
For example, tinder fungi, which are often found on tree trunks, are edible only in youth, and only an experienced mushroom picker can determine their age.
