Secret Morel Enclave Found

Living undisturbed for lo' these many years, a mushroom colony has been discovered at an undisclosed location near the Grand River. No GPS coordinates were given.

It would be nice if I could say that my superior fungi-spotting skills came into play. Everything I thought I knew about finding morels was apparently wrong. We had rare snows on May 2 and 3, which left slushy snow on the ground. The river came up, so I hiked back to where the land was gradually sinking to see how far down it had gone. Right on the path was the first morel.

Always before, I thought it was steamy hot days in spring that brought out the morels. Right after a late snow was not when I started looking. My son Chris had been telling me of finds down by Kansas City.

Having  found one, I was on a hunt. Since I didn't have a mesh bag along to capture any, I wound up using my windbreaker for an apron and carrying the five back for dinner.

The next day, I found all of these in the same area.

 The days got warmer and the undergrowth got drier until that seemed the end of them.

Chris told me they were still being found. After a morning rain, I went back down to the spot. I  got another mess of them for dinner, six biggies.

What I've learned about morels is they are not everywhere. Looking harder in the wrong spots doesn't help and makes my eyes bug out. Now that the  morel hideout has been found, that's where I'll  look in the future. People refer to it as their Hot Spot, or their Sweet Spot. I'm calling mine the Remote  Morel Settlement. I know where they live.

There was even another one in the yard where I found one last year. I added it to the bag of  more biggies I found yesterday morning.

I don't know how fast mushrooms mushroom up out of the ground. Is it like a rocket leaving the launch pad or somewhat slower? It was raining slightly on my morning hunt. Then the sun came out. There weren't any more, but I did find some in another spot, where I cut wood last winter.

The morel season doesn't last long, so I feel obliged to stuff myself  with those tasty morsels. This is the first time ever that I've found more than I can eat, making up for the years without a one. This 7 inch one was practically a meal in itself.

Looking for morels is the same kind of searching that I do when looking for a puzzle piece. It's just a glazed-over staring, thinking about something else, until the right brain finds the missing pattern and elbows the left brain, "Here is is!"

The Call of the Wild Morel

It began much earlier this year. Normally, the search parties don't go out in force until next month. Unseasonably warm days following a soaking rain have seen hunters popping up all over the woods. Their incredibly elusive prey: morel mushrooms.

Fried morels are our reward for long walks in the woods and days of staring intently at gray-brown leaves. That's if we are lucky.

Random Reinforcement

After moving here, I looked for three seasons without seeing a one. Last spring, I was blessed with two small morels, proof that they are here. Actually, they are everywhere, just not where I happen to be looking.

At the farm, I thought there weren't any until one day I found my first big tan ones. After that, I was called out regularly during the weeks of springtime when they might be found. Once, I returned empty-handed after traipsing all over the woods in a light drizzle. Glancing out the kitchen window, I spied a big mess of them in the grass at the edge of the wood.

Nature Has a Plan

I believe morels are Nature's way of getting people out into the woods, folks who otherwise might never set foot there. Although I'm in the woods all winter, morels give me a new purpose, plus an appetite that may or may not be satisfied.

Some years, I've been able to gorge for days on skillets of the delicacies, cooked in crushed cracker crumbs and served with a cold Miller Genuine Draft beer. It's Heaven.

Morels must be the most well-camouflaged mushrooms in the world. I've looked right at some and not even seen them at first. Sometimes, even a brown leaf that might be a morel is enough to quicken my ordinarily slow heartbeat.

In morel season, I keep an old onion mesh bag in my jeans back pocket at all times. Morels must be carried so as to allow their spores to fall out on the inevitably long walk back home.

Checking the May Apples

Morel time is often heralded by the blossoming of the May Apple colony. When I hiked up the hill to see what state they were in, I found they had only come up a few days ago. Their little umbrellas were just being set up to shade the white flowers that would bloom beneath them.

For a Limited Time Only

This is it, early spring, the only season these tasty morel morsels are on the menu. Some years, it's too dry; then few are found.

Even when we don't find dinner, we all can get a chance to see the wildflowers, like these Shooting Stars I came across yesterday.

Also these Spring Beauties

Yesterday, there wasn't that smell of humus that makes me sure it's coming from the mushrooms themselves. Oh, well, there are many more days when I can abandon my gardening and head out for another quick look. The little look around usually winds up taking hours and covering quite a bit of territory.

I don't think it's raining too hard.