September 23, 2022
What a year it’s been for puffballs! The large ball-shaped mushrooms are popping up all over. Their preference for “well fertilized” fields means that, though they look totally out of place in our pasture, they are very much at home.
As a “giant puffball” matures, the inside of it turns from pure white to off white, to tan, to black. The ones that are still pristine white on the inside are edible - and delectable. Our favorite recipe uses thick puffball slices grilled and topped with tomato sauce and pizza toppings. Healthy and sinful – what’s not to love?
A mature puffball has trillions of spores but only a couple of those spores will likely ever become a mushroom. This epically low germination rate is probably a good thing because if all those spores germinated, each puffball would reproduce in volume equal to planet earth - that’s a lot of puffball pizza!
When I was a kid, my mom got a call from a neighbor who had one growing by the stone wall near her driveway. She said, “one of your children might like to see it before it goes by” - so my mom and I walked over and not only did I get to see it, but the neighbor let me step on it to see what happened. It was impressive! I’d never seen one that my older brothers hadn’t gotten to first - flattened like a pancake and all puffed out. My mom was the youngest of 8 and knew what older brothers were like, so I’m sure she reveled in my joy at being able to jump on it over and over again to my heart’s content. Every pounce eliciting an inky black cloud of spores puffing out of the top. The scientific name for the puffball is Lycoperdon. “Lyco” is Greek for “wolf” and “perdon” means to “pass wind”. (I’m still confused about the "farting wolf" reference - I mean really, why a wolf?)
30 years later the same neighbor called because her garage door was stuck, and she couldn’t get her car out. I was visiting my mom, so we headed over there again. When I fixed the door, she was so relieved she tried to give me some cash. I told her I was repaying her for that amazing puffball she shared with me so many years ago. When it was clear she didn’t remember that which for me was unforgettable, I said loud enough that my mom was certain to hear - “besides if I do something nice for someone my mom says I don’t have to go to church for a week – and I’ve got a lot of weeks to make up for.” My mom raised her eyebrows and nodded in agreement. “She certainly does.”
We left Mrs. Cady there happily waving goodbye to us from the driveway, and as we went past the stone wall I said, “that really was an amazing puffball.”
“Yup” my mom agreed - “and you got it all to yourself”.