Morel Foraging
After 3 days of searching I finally came across my prey. I figured it best to go unprepared today since going with a harvest bag didn’t work the last two days. I was right, I needed a bag today.
Morels can be hard to find at times. Take this one for example, hiding in plain sight, camouflaged by last year’s old grass.
I found a good group of them growing around an old dead Elm tree. Once you spot the first one a close look usually revels several more. The trick is to see that first one. A good place to look is by old apple trees and dead Elms. But they really can be found almost anywhere. I’ve found them in shady maple woods, lawns, open areas in pine woods and in my friend’s harvest basket. But my best hunting has always been around old dead Elms in open grassy areas.
This little one emerged at the edge of some bark and was bent over by the effort.
Yellow Morel – Morchella esculenta
Morels of any type are considered choice eating. (not by me) They are spring mushrooms often timing their appearance with the fist Lilac blooms. While they are fairly small some grow to considerable size and are sometimes referred to as M. deliciosa. Whether or not the later and larger ones are actually a different species is something the experts can debate over.
Something has been eating this mushroom – It may very well be inside now.
Regardless of the size (or name) make sure you check them carefully before eating. Humans are not the only ones who like Morels in their diet. Slugs and insects are very often part of the harvest.
Beware: False Morels can look similar but they have a wrinkled look without the distinct ridges and pits of the true morels. Another big difference is how the cap attaches to the stem. False morels have a head that hangs over the stalk like a skirt while true morels have the cap / head attached at the lower end. False Morels are dangerous unless you can positively ID them. While some are edible others are Poisonous and some deadly so.
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May 13th, 2009 at 7:46 am
Sort of funny. You’ve found them in shady maple woods, lawns, open areas in pine woods and in your friend’s harvest basket.
But I have found them in your website. So easily, no sweat.
May 13th, 2009 at 8:10 am
Very interesting and informative wiseacre. I love mushrooms but I’ll just keep getting them at the supermarket.
This might be a goofy question but o’well . . . I’ve read that when mushrooms grow in your grass that’s a sign of good nutrients in your lawn – do you know anything about that? Just curious, we find them in ours in the winter and our lawn isn’t that great so it didn’t make sense to me.
May 13th, 2009 at 8:21 am
I know lots of folks love these shrooms, but I just can’t get past the look of them. Like RG, I’ll stick with the grocery variety.
May 13th, 2009 at 8:33 am
MY husband found his first 4 shopping bags of them yesterday. Last year, he and a friend picked 100 gallons, sure wish I had pictures of that now. They were so prevalent after all the fires we had the year before. Good luck, I don’t enjoy eating them much either.
May 13th, 2009 at 8:50 am
I did happen upon a morel in my lawn, but it was too late as I was mowing. I guess now you could say I’m imMOREL! Ha ha!
May 13th, 2009 at 9:46 am
Sounds like I’m in the minority – I love morels, I crave morels. I have no morels. But I’m looking!
May 13th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
They kinda look like a brain(-:
Not into mushrooms to eat but it is intersting to see them growing! Thanks for sharing!
cindee,
Yep, they should have used a pic of a Morel in that anti-drug ad instead of a fried egg.
This is you brain. This is your brain on drugs.
May 13th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
You’re killing me! All that bounty and you don’t like eating them? I never liked mushrooms till I found my first Chicken of the Woods…in Central Park. Since then I’ve been a convert. I have a big foraging weekend planned, and while I fear it may be to late for morels, I’ll keep my eyes peeled. Wish me luck.
May 13th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
I think these are the ones I saw on TV once where people here in Michigan hunt for them to make money. The kind I saw were supposedly worth a lot and also easy to find.
May 30th, 2009 at 11:36 pm
I’ve loved mushrooms ever since I can remember… if not before! I very distinctly remember my first morel. I was 7 or 8 years old. I probably wouldn’t have remembered that night at dad’s friend’s northern Wisconsin home, BUT for the morels. {I taste the morel. My focus is quickly zoomed in and the table grows longer, more distended and eventually totally obscured; until, it’s only me and the taste and texture of that wonderful new mushroom!)
Sounds dramatic? It impacted me for life! Think of you’re singular food experiences! I have 2 others: tasting real, homemade, genuine mayonaisse in Paris; and, sucking on spiny lobster fresh off the beach in a no-road-in rinky-dink “village” in Mexico.
To each their own, hey? I hate ketchup!
June 1st, 2009 at 6:13 am
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