Unusually warm weather and wet spring trigger early mushroom season in Denmark
At first glance, the forest floor appears to be the usual palette of green and brown. However, a closer look reveals that this season’s mushrooms have made their appearance, and at a rapid pace. The unusually wet April and one of the warmest Mays ever recorded have resulted in an explosion of mushrooms in several locations, marking an unusually early start to the season.
The yellow chanterelles could already be gathered three to four weeks ago, surprising seasoned mushroom expert Vibeke Albinus from Husby on the Jutland West Coast. She commented, “It’s very unusual. I don’t know how far back we have to go for it to have been like this, but this year it is certainly ideal.”
The ‘Mushroom Life’ Facebook group, with over 40,000 members across Denmark, is full of pictures of mushrooms from all over the country. “There are many of them this year, and it’s simply because we’ve had such a wet spring, and the temperature has been right in the correct periods, so it has been a treat for the mushrooms.”
The early season has also been noted by the Poison Line, which has already received the season’s first calls about potential mushroom poisonings. Anja Huusom, the leading doctor at the Poison Line, explains that it’s not the experienced mushroom hunters who are calling. Instead, it’s ordinary Danes who take a spontaneous walk in the forest, or children who have taken a bite of a mushroom in the garden, where parents call to ask if they should do anything.