Hunting for Mushrooms in Morel Season

[Janedujour]

My 79 year old mom was a member of the mycological society here in CT until recently. She just can't do the long walks anymore.

Growing up in Wisconsin, we were always foraging for mushrooms and one Mother's Day I came upon a great find of beautiful morels and picked them for my mom. She was thrilled! I haven't had them for years but they are the best.

My son is now used to his grandmother suddenly pulling off the side of the road to examine and pick mushroom clumps growing on stumps or in the grass

If she finds morels one day, I'll leave work immediately!

[thursdaynext]

Janedujour- How about "wild" asparagus along the roadside? Another tasty treat this time of year!

[DameD]

Anyone from BC, Canada.. have you started hunting yet??? I have a place that i gotten from my great uncle and but i don't know when to start. And oooh i would love to have some with some butter and fresh thyme. YUM!! the place is by the river.. does that sound right?

[paul o' vendange]

Any Yoopers - how's the harvest?

[mnebergall]

I travel from DC to Missouri tomorrow morning for turkey and 'shroom huntin' for the weekend. I wiull try to send pictures.

(Edited to add: "Assuming I convert the process from one of "hunting" to one of "finding.")

Edited April 21, 2004 by mnebergall (log)

[endless autumn]

Just got back from the Pyrenees where despite intermittent snow flurries, the morels are out in force.

I am hampered by colourblindness which extends from reddy-browns to greeny-browns, thus making it almost impossible for me to pick out morels but I found a few decent sized specimens (morchella esculenta, the round variety) beneath the apple tree in our back garden.

Our generous neighbours (who have lived in the village for the entirety of their 80 years) are somewhat more successful, however. In one morning they found six pounds of mushrooms - both elata (conical) and esculenta (round). They gave us a few to bump up our catch and we had them in a rich madeira sauce with veal kidneys.

Though they like morels, the Catalans in the village prefer St George's mushrooms, which to me seems rather bizarre.

[DCMark]

I was in France over Easter and went Morel hunting for the first time with my wife's parents. We went to the wood behind their house in Saint-Sulpice-des-Rivoires in Isere. This small town is near Voiron and about mid-way between Grenoble and Lyon.

We found about 20 that day and enjoyed them with pigeon at night.

I am hoping to find some in Virginia this weekend.

Here are some pics. Enjoy

[Knicke]

Lovely!

[alacarte]

I'm so impressed by you morel-hunters. Very brave. Thought of this thread when I read the following in the "newsletter" produced by Chez Sophie restaurant in upstate NY. "Paul" refers to Paul Parker, the chef of Chez Sophie.

Paul is expecting a shipment of bluefoot and morel mushrooms this

weekend, which he plans to use to make a special sauce for veal chop.

A bluefoot is the cultivated form of the Blewitt mushroom, with larger, denser flesh than its wild cousin. Blewitts are found alone or in small clusters near leaves, pine duff, compost piles, old wood chips or  sawdust, and on lawns under pine trees. Morels are conical, hive-like mushrooms found in moist areas, around dying or dead Elm, Sycamore and Ash trees, and in old apple orchards.

By the way, a sense of accuracy and self preservation leads us to refer

to farmed mushrooms as "exotic" rather than "wild." The governmental

powers frown upon the use of true wild mushrooms by restaurants because they

tend not to trust the chefs of most establishments to be able to tell a chanterelle from a shoe.

The newsletter also has a list of mushroom-related links this week.

[beegew]

The only thing I've got here in the Panhandle is a big bag of dried 'jumbo' morels. All this talk of long walks, damp woods and rotting trees has me misty for the homestead of my youth.

[steverino]

They're poppin' here in Southeastern MI.

My wife, sister-in-law, mom-in-law have pulled in 150 or so, some 4 - 5 inches tall in the last 2 days!

I'm hoping to get out tomorrow morning - will post results.

Happy hunting!

[cdabney]

I set out early this morning,bug spray, water and a sack in hand. I researched the needed habitat and weather conditions, located a seemingly great spot and went there. What did I find? Nothing.Zip.Zilch. Unless you include all the ticks I found upon my return home. Any morel hunters out there with any tips?

[SheenaGreena]

be weary of the false morel!

please be careful

[cdabney]

be weary of the false morel!

please be careful

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Thanks for the concern. I've found them in the past but can't seem to locate any this year.

[hummingbirdkiss]

I have been hunting wild mushrooms most of my life ..there is no such thing as ideal conditions and the perfect spot!

morels love pine trees and forest fires ..short of that it is always a wonderful surprise when I find them!!!

Next week is my week for a trip to pick

[BarbaraY]

Some years are good here and some not so good. A lot depends on the weather conditions. Warm days and cool nights like we're having right now but we don't get them until April/May.

Yes, forest fires bring them out and we (fortunately) didn't have any last season.

[Magictofu]

I have been hunting wild mushrooms most of my life ..there is no such thing as ideal conditions and the perfect spot! 

morels love pine trees and forest fires ..short of that it is always a wonderful surprise when I find them!!!

Next week is my week for a trip to pick

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I have a different experience, especially with morels... when they grow in one spot one year, they will be there the next... which is good because I know a few spots offering over 100 morels per year.

[hummingbirdkiss]

I have been hunting wild mushrooms most of my life ..there is no such thing as ideal conditions and the perfect spot! 

morels love pine trees and forest fires ..short of that it is always a wonderful surprise when I find them!!!

Next week is my week for a trip to pick

←

I have a different experience, especially with morels... when they grow in one spot one year, they will be there the next... which is good because I know a few spots offering over 100 morels per year.

←

shhhhhh it is most important to confuse people in the world of mushroom hunting

[hummingbirdkiss]

kidding above ..in most areas I know that is true ..East of our mountains people seem to have good luck with having consistant patches ...sadly around here ...you can find them but it is not at all predictable ...

I am passionate about hunting mushrooms!!! there is just so much to constantly learn ..and nothing to me tastes as wonderful as eating wild mushrooms ..but you do have to know what you are doing because death or near death can occur

I have a pic of last years basket of morrels if you want to see them?

Edited April 4, 2007 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[hummingbirdkiss]

I have no shame ...I love these mushrooms very much!!!

[Magictofu]

kidding above ..in most areas I know that is true ..East of our mountains people seem to have good luck with having consistant patches ...sadly around here ...you can find them but it is not at all predictable ...

I am passionate about hunting mushrooms!!! there is just so much to constantly learn ..and nothing to me tastes as wonderful as eating wild mushrooms ..but you do have to know what you are doing because death or near death can occur

I have a pic of last years basket  of morrels if you want to see them?

←

I understand and share your passion. I consider myself quite lucky because I have been able to find reliable patches for almost all kinds of mushrooms... with the exception of matsutake (pine mushroom). I know they grow around here but had no luck... this is for a different season though.

And by the way, I'd love to see what's in your baskets!

[Kent D]

The Wichita Eagle newspaper featured articles on morel hunting, as it has evidently been a productive weather year for mushrooms. At least until the artic blast came through this afternoon, dropping us below freezing. Do mushrooms freeze well?

go get 'em.

One person was quoted as saying that he and a friend collected 6 trash-bags full of morels, so I would imagine there are some very productive areas in rural Kansas.

[hummingbirdkiss]

I love grilled Matsutake!! that is the most wonderuf textured mushroom!!! and that smell of them like cinamon red hots!!!

I posted my morel basket above...I have more pics of mushrooms I have found someplace ..but this is the only morel pic I have currently..I have never found huge reliable patches of them as I said on this side of our mountains ..I do however find them in burned out areas ..one time I had a giant morel in my yard after dumping charred wood in the back of my garden the following spring it popped up and it was about 9 inches high!!! I could not believe my eyes when I saw it there!!!

...right now here we can pick morels if we can find them ...sometimes we can find a patch of shaggy manes..oyster mushrooms in the woods (I need to go and check the usual spot now actually) this time of year.....and in a month or so the prince will appear for a short visit..yummy almondy smelling mushroom.....then the giant puff balls ..those are great!!!..pretty much in my area if you are prudent you can find some kind of mushroom to eat or just to look at all times of the year!!!

[hummingbirdkiss]

sadly I have to postpone my trip east of the mt's for another week..we are short staffed at work and I have to work extra instead of having fun...but the following week I will go ...it should still be good..if not a couple of days wandering around in the pine forests is very therapeutic I think!!!

[coquus]

I haven't been able to find any more than singled out eschulenta, most often those were buggy. Still hoping to find some patches, one of my customers at the old place had some land that was killer and brought them in on the regular, but around here thirty miles north or south might as well be travelling to another state mushroom wise because of the various overlapping geology of this area, and I'm not entirely sure where he lived, otherwise I'd be tempted to sneak out there.