Mushroom season could last weeks longer with ‘generous’ rainfall

This weekend's rains could help the mushroom season last some weeks longer, especially in Central Catalonia, low altitudes of the Pyrenees, and more coastal areas. 

Juan Martínez de Aragón, a researcher at the Center for Forestry Science and Technology of Catalonia (CTFC) and an expert on mushrooms, explained to the Catalan News Agency that in order to compensate for the drought in October, "generous" rainfall of between 20-30 litres per m2 would be needed. 

Where the rain will no longer have an effect will be in the high areas of the Pyrenees. “Even though it’s raining a lot now, the cold that is to come will prevent [mushrooms] from growing,” he said.

The September rains in Catalonia, which saw levels above the usual average for the month, increased the production of mushrooms, especially the ‘rovelló’ and ‘pinetell’ types. The drought in October, however, has led to a decrease.

Juan Martínez de Aragón rules out an "explosion" of mushroom hunting as seen in September, but coastal areas, central Catalonia and the lowlands of the Pyrenees could see a small boom in production. 

"It will take about 10 or 15 days for the mushrooms to come out again," he says, as long as the rain has been at least 20 litres per m2.

Still, he predicts that the mushroom season “won’t be extraordinary” like those seen in 2014 or 2018. At best, and only if the rain falls, it will be a “good” season because of the October drought.

During 2020’s mushroom season, Catalan News went foraging for 'rovellons', 'camagrocs' and 'trompetes' de la mort as we did a deep-dive on the autumnal treats. 

You can listen to episode three of our podcast Filling the Sink on the topic of mushroom hunting below.