Too late for dinner

There are still few fungi in the woods around here, but I'm finding some nice waxcaps in the meadows and this morning I came across this surprise - a small field with around ten Giant Puffballs dotted across it. This was the best group - the larger one being about 35cm across. This is one of the best species of fungus to eat, when young, white, smooth and firm. Sadly, I discovered these too late; the outer skin was turning brown and some were already disintegrating into a brown powdery mess, a process that releases the spores.

It must be over 10 years since I saw a group of Giant Puffballs like this. The next field was full of sheep and it reminded me of the story I was told as a child of a field with such large puffballs that the farmer mistook them for sheep!