Connecticut Mushrooms Growing As Big As Small Dogs This Year

2025 appears to be a good year for mushrooms in Connecticut, I've found more Connecticut-grown mushrooms in grocery stores and farmer's markets than ever before this year, and look at the size of some of the ones growing out there in the wild.

I've only seen one chicken of the woods in the wild over the past couple of years, but the average white mushrooms along the Naugatuck River in Torrington are growing to be just about as big as my 7 pound chihuahua. I found a patch of 5-6 of them today and took the photo you see above for scale. Ok, maybe they're not as big as my little guy overall, but they were just as big as his body. Here's another shot without doggie -

We've had ideal weather in Connecticut for mushroom growth according to itsmushroom.com, mushrooms thrive in humid, cool, dark environments with an average temperature of 55-60 degrees. I'm not a meteorologist, but that accurately describes our weather eight months out of an average year. Rich soil also helps growth, as does damp substrate, again, damp substrate is a perfect description of life in Connecticut.

The Biggest Mushroom News of 2025 Came From Hartford

Connecticut joined a few other brave states this Summer when the Connecticut House of Representatives passed Bill 7065 - decriminalizing small amounts of psilocybin. This reduced the penalty for possessing less than half an ounce of shrooms to a $150 fine for first offenders. Funny, I have noticed that more compliments on my tie-dies recently.