The Beards have gathered about four bucketfuls of mushrooms so far.

Mushrooms are blossoming months early this year.

The potassium filled fungus, which is about 90 per cent water and doesn't need sunlight to grow, traditionally sprouts during autumn. So, this summer in parts of New Zealand where La Nina has produced intense rain, and not too much of the golden stuff, there has been a proliferation of the spongy vitamin filled food popping up.

Taranaki resident Helen Beard has already picked three or four bucketfuls, after the savoury product starting to appear at the start of summer.

SIMON O'CONNOR/STUFF Helen Beard says the mushrooms are out much earlier than usual.

"They just come up in a day," she said. "We've had quite a few so far.

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"I love collecting them, going for the walk. It's quite good coming home from work and going pottering through the paddocks."

SIMON O'CONNOR/STUFF Helen Beard lives just north of Urenui, in Taranaki, and has been gathering heaps of mushrooms this season.

She and her husband are not fans of the fungi themselves but she gives them away to family or cooks them up and gives to families through her work at the hospital.

"They're just so nice and fresh and clean.

"It's just been a different season for everything. Even when we didn't have any rain for quite some time we'd have the moisture, having dew in the mornings."

SIMON O'CONNOR/STUFF Mushrooms are sprouting a season earlier than usual.

Vikki Bazely, who lives in Taranaki's Uruti Valley, had picked about 30 in January alone.

"We might get a few at the end of March, but April's when we usually get them," she said.

"Some years it's really sporadic; some years we'll get six or seven bucketfuls."

WITT WITT chef Angela Ferguson's fried field mushrooms with lemon, thyme and cherry tomatoes.

She thought the wet winter followed by the hot muggy summer may have brought the fungi out early.

"The only thing is it does mean the spore count is up for facial eczema."

Tim Thornewell of Gourmet Mushrooms, which produces DIY kits for growing your own mushrooms, had seen field mushrooms sprouting much earlier than usual in Whangarei.

"It's normally March or even April," he said. "Normally of course we don't get a lot of rain and the soil doesn't actually retain the moisture - it evaporates pretty quickly."

Landcare Research lead researcher Bevan Weir said autumn usually had the prime conditions for mushroom appearance, which were warmth and moisture, but he had seen a few while he was in Dunedin last week.

"Fourteen days ago they had 100mls of rain come through," he said.

It was too soon to say the early mushrooms were something to do with climate change, he said.

He said mushrooms are growing year-round underground and the "fruiting body" is seen when they go to seed under the right conditions.

"That little mushroom we see peeking out the top is literally the tip of the iceberg. Those tiny little threads, they're there the whole time so they're just waiting for the right kind of temperature to produce that fruiting body."

Fellow lead researcher Peter Buchanan said to make sure you knew what you were doing if you planned to eat them, particularly if picking them out of season.

"If you're picking them out of season they may be different," he said. "It's something that people need to be familiar and confident of, and not to place themselves at risk.

"Edible mushrooms that are growing under trees may not be the same that's growing out in open grassland. Where something is growing can also be very important."

Need an idea to use up those field mushrooms? Try this recipe from WITT trades faculty Leader Angela Ferguson, NZ Chefs Taranaki Branch President.

"This dish is perfect for a quick brunch or lunch dish and is delicious served with a poached egg on top. I often finish my fried mushrooms with thyme and lemon. It really enhances the flavour of mushrooms," she said.

Fried Field Mushrooms with Lemon, Thyme and Cherry Tomatoes

Recipe for four

8 large field mushrooms

12 cherry tomatoes

6 sprigs of fresh thyme

1 lemon

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

25g butter

salt and cracked pepper to taste

4 Pieces of your favourite bread

1. Slice the mushrooms and cut the cherry tomatoes in half.

2. Chop the thyme, leaving 4 small sprigs for garnish.

3. Zest the lemon and reserve the juice for the end.

4. Heat the oil in a frying pan, when hot add the butter and melt, toss through the mushrooms and lightly fry.

5. Add the cherry tomatoes, chopped thyme, lemon zest and salt and pepper and toss in the pan to heat through the tomatoes.

6. Squeeze on the juice of a lemon, do a final toss and serve on your favourite toasted bread.

Looking for other ideas? Try your mushrooms in an omelette, frittata, risotto, grilled on the BBQ with garlic butter,

creamed on toast, in a sauce on BBQ steak, stuffed, in a salad or picked.