Puff Ball

[RustyDHart]

I thought I'd share this photo.... I found this Puff Ball and a couple of other biggies in one of my sheep yards.....it was covered with slugs and snails..(they made the holes)...it looks almost like white Swiss cheese. I thought it was kind of neat and I didn't know where to post it.....I did post it on the Fuschia thread as well....this photo was with my Flower photos....(?????)...for some reason. Anyway,.....I love eating them when they are fresh and white inside....not anywhere near this size though. I can't wait to start picking Morel mushrooms in the Spring....yum! Oh...and please pay no attention to my old holy t-shirt I was wearing....I had been working at the farmyard and wasn't quite ready for a "GQ shoot"....

 

[lesa]

Holy puff ball!! That is the biggest one I have seen! I find small ones now and then. I tried eating one, and won't need to have another! Luckily, I have a friend who loves them...

 

[jojo54]

Holy puffball, Batman! That's one huge baby!

 

[ninnymary]

O.K....what is a puff ball?

Mary

 

[Southern Gardener]

O.K....what is a puff ball?

Mary

Yes, do tell!

 

[The Mama Chicken]

It's an edible mushroom. I've never seen one in person but I've read about them.

 

[Wisher1000]

We have puff balls but they don't look like that. Ours are grayish brown and have a tough skin on the outside and a dark brown powder inside. When you step on them they "puff" the powder out a hole in the top. Is this what they look like when they are young? How do you eat them?

 

[RustyDHart]

They are a type of edible Fungus.....usually about the size of a Soft Ball or smaller....this one weighed about 5 1/2 lbs..... you have to pick them when they are still white inside and not turning yellow...then they're too far gone.

 

[Wisher1000]

Ha, ha, ha ... as my DH says, be more specific! Do you eat them raw, fried, sauteed, how?

 

[RustyDHart]

Wisher, you are correct....young ones are white and when they mature they turn grey and dry out and produce tons of smokey spores. When you step on them they make a cloudy dust storm dropping new spores all over the place.