Sunday, May 3, 2009

Morel Mushroom Hunting!!

It was an absolutely PERFECT day outside today.... I spent ALL of it just wandering around in the woods by myself, smelling little flowers, listening to woodpeckers, swatting at buzzing bees, watching squirrels, and admiring every little living aspect of nature that I found. I have lived here basically my entire life and I feel as though I am now just finally starting to appreciate the tiny things that make this area what it is.

Today was my very 1st successful Morel mushroom hunting day of 2009!! They all blended in really well with the leaves, so sometimes I would just stop to sit down on the ground for several minutes and look around until I spotted one. Every time I found one was pretty exciting...

I pinched each one off at the base, leaving a little bit of the stem behind so that perhaps more Morels will appear back in the same spot. I collected them in a mesh-type orange bag so that they would stay fresh while I was picking and also so the spores would fall back on the ground to eventually create more.

After I was done picking them for the day, I cut them all in half, lengthwise, and soaked them in salt water to kill off anything bad.. and tomorrow I'm gonna fry myself up some mushrooms and go out lookin' for more!

Here, instead of telling you more about it, I will just let you re-live this beautiful day with me, in photos:




My 1st two morel discoveries:




In case you aren't familiar with the difference between a real Morel and fake one, the stem on a real Morel is actually connected to the base of the mushroom:


Fake Morels (aka: caps) are just that - Caps that can be plucked right off ! (the base of the shroom isn't connected to the stem). The caps I found also weren't as dark of a color, and they were shorter & fatter:


The biggest Morel I found was also the last one that I found. It was 3 inches tall and I can't wait to eat it :)


The final count of a long day's hunt is... 18!!! I'm gonna fry 'em up for a yummy lunch tomorrow:


14 comments:

Over the Cubicle Wall said...

Very nice pictures! Spring is a great time of year, and morels are a great treat.

MsBelinda said...

Thank you for the lesson on the morels. You look so happy in your picture. By the way did you dye your hair a darker shade?

Maxcactus said...

I love being in forests this time of the year. The lighting is good because the foliage is not so thick and best of all no bugs.

FALIA REVIEWS: said...

OTCW - thanks! yes, i just love eating Morels, I sure wish they were around all year.

MsBelinda - hi! Nope, I have actually never dyed my hair. I've always been too much of a chicken to do that. It is the natural color that it has always been, although sometimes the sun lightens it a hint. I often wish it was a little darker, but I never wish that enough to actually dye it. lol.

Maxcactus - Exactly! Easy to see everything and no bugs, just bees. Very relaxing.

Frugal Canadian Hermit said...

I wish we had morels up here. I'm going to keep my eyes open for them just in case. They sure do look tastey. Nice picures Sonja.

xamox said...

Very cool blog. I randomly stumbled across it. Where in northern michigan? I grew up near mesick where they have the mushroom festival every year. Have you looked at MRE's as a food source? They are very compact and probably quite cost effective. If you haven't ventured into the Upper Peninsula I suggest you make that trek this summer, some very awesome places up there, unlike anything you will come across in the lower peninsula.

cw said...

just a thought...if you are ever in search of free food in an urban setting? many of the large car dealerships have free BBQ or snackbars on saturdays...not to mention free coffee and donuts...

FALIA REVIEWS: said...

FCHermit - Hmm. Maybe there are some up there? They really are tasty. They are my favorite mushrooms of all time.

xamox - ah, yup, I've been to Mesick before, It's only a hop skip and jump away. Yes, I've definitely thought about MRE's as a good food source, thanks for the suggestion. If I can find a good deal, they are only 5.00 per meal and very convenient. Also, I agree, the U.P. is BEAUTIFUL. Just stunning in the summertime. Thanks for the comment!

cw - interesting! never thought of that before :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for reminding me to go out and look for morels!
I found a hot spot and picked 37! I've never found more than 3 or 4.
Thanks to you I'll be making many batches of cream of mushroom soup.

Alex

Anonymous said...

P.S. I did leave some to reproduce.
I got to them a bit late so they had already released their spores as well. So next year they should be back. It's gonna rain tonight so I'm going back in several days :-) Alex

Anonymous said...

P.S. I did leave some to reproduce.
I got to them a bit late too so the ones I took had the chance to release their spores.
It's gonna rain tonight so I'm going back in several days :-) Alex

FALIA REVIEWS: said...

Alex - awesome! glad you found some! I never had a chance to make it out looking this year. I'm bummed about it.

Gregory Padilla said...

Careful foraging out there. I know a man who was a US Air Force Survival School instructor with over 30 years of foraging experience who accidentally poisoned his neighbor with mushrooms. The neighbor lived, thankfully.

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