This Week's Woodland Grocery Specials

 Honey mushrooms are a choice edible. These mushrooms are similar in flavor to a button mushroom. They pop up en mass after fall rains, but you need to find them quick before the bugs get them.     Abortive entolomas are another delicious fall mushroom. Want to learn more about mushrooms? Check out Mushroom Days this weekend.    Now is the time to gather wild ginger and other roots. When the above ground parts die back for the winter, the plant stores all of its nutrients and starches in its roots. So the below ground parts are at their peak.     Some people say that chickory is a coffee substitute. Chickory has no caffeine, so in my opinion it is a terrible coffee substitute. However, adding roasted chickory to your regular coffee beans will give you a smooth, mild, and delicious drink.     Ground beans, also known as hog peanut, are an interesting plant to work with. The fruits contain seeds similar to peas or beans, as one name suggests. The plants also produce an abundance of small starchy tubers just below the soil: the "peanuts" in their alternate name.     We are at the end of puffball season. If you are lucky enough to find a log covered in small puffballs, sautee them up and serve them with spaghetti sauce. The mushrooms are a delicious, high protein pasta substitute.