Morel Mushrooms

[Maurice Mcmurry]

We have been hearing stories about whole pickup loads of Morel mushrooms being found. B.I.L. just dropped off a few of the 80 that my sister and the niece and nephews found in 1 hour of looking. I seldom find any despite being in the woods as often as possible. It has been the most bountiful spring for mushrooms I can remember hearing about. I will look again this weekend. Have any others found any?

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[Ken Fitzgerald]

The 4th year after we moved from Illinois to Idaho, I hooked up with a guy and elk hunted with him. The next spring, he called to invite my wife and I to go mushroom hunting with he and his wife. When we returned home, the wife soaked the morels in salt water in two buckets overnight. The next day as she par-fryed them she had the entire kitchen counter covered with wax paper holding the sliced morels and I caught her muttering to herself "Now this place feels like home!" We enjoy morels! We are just coming into our normal late spring/early summer weather than brings out the morels.

[Christopher Herzog]

We have the last of this year's haul in a bowl in the fridge. Been a poor hunting season this year. Too dry early and wet but cold late.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

We have the last of this year's haul in a bowl in the fridge. Been a poor hunting season this year. Too dry early and wet but cold late.

We have had just the opposite. I am not a dedicated enough hunter to know what makes for a good season. A friend who was a very knowledgable Mycologist dabbled in domesticating Morels with no luck.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Ohhhh....you're killing me. Lived for many years in Michigan. Fresh morels would make me forget my Vidalia onions.

[Ronald Blue]

Same here as Christopher mentioned. Veteran hunters that usually find lot's if they are there are having very limited success. Conditions haven't been favorable this year for them. Perfect example was the horrendous big pile up on the interstate yesterday because of high winds and heavy dust conditions. Conditions vary widely across the region but I'm unaware of anyone making hitting the "mother lode" this year in morels. Enough for a mess or two and that's it.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Tonight to eat them... Sauté in butter and pile them on a tiny steak along with a big baguette is what we are going to try.

[roger wiegand]

A few years ago we got a load of mulch that was host to them. Big crop one year, dwindling the succeeding couple until they were gone. I would have thought the area where they came up would be favorable, but I guess not. Only see one rarely when walking through the woods. I tend to leave them in hope's they will prosper and proliferate. Dozens of other kinds of mushrooms, but very few morels. I do keep an eye out for green elf cup mushrooms as there is often beautiful blue spalting in the wood they grow on.

[Bradley Gray]

We always find some but not a good year here. Cold and dry. Now the greenery is making the search more difficult.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Ours had gotten a little past their prime and were not as tasty as I anticipated. Rogers load of mulch story sounds a lot like Dr. Calvert's experiences with trying to propagate them, tiny success that diminished to nothing. I helped him with his apparatus for growing Pleurotus and keep thinking about giving that a try. Shiitake farming is intriguing as well.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

My paternal grandfather had a truck farm on some land he leased in southern Illinois. I can remember my Dad taking me morel hunting there in the early 50's in the rain. We found a lot of mushrooms that day. We have some in the freezer awaiting the daughter's visit to be reconstituted.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Southern Illinois seems like it would be prime territory. We had a family meet-up in the Shawnee National forrest during Covid. It is a a very memorable part of the country.