A Morel of a Good Time

First posted on 04-21-2011

Last season, dry weather conditions played havoc with those of us who searched the forest floor hoping to find succulent morel mushrooms. The thought of a tasty batch cooked in butter or breaded and fried is enough to keep spirits high even when pickings are slim. Last season, I only found one morel and it was in poor shape. But that was last year.

This year, the weather as well as my own calendar were much more cooperative. I had enough time to travel south and seek the wily morel at my favorite spot, a location which must remain undisclosed for even an otherwise sociable ‘shroomer would not consider divulging the location of a favored hunting ground.

Three of us gathered fungus this year as dogwoods bloomed full and white, and mayflowers spread their leaves like umbrellas far below a canopy of trees. Those are the signs I look for when it’s morel time here in the Ozarks. That and some nice rain, a warm day or two, and the right spot.

Our efforts yielded a total of 202 morel mushrooms this season. Quite an impressive haul for us. As poor as the conditions were last year, they were phenomenally improved this year. Morels raised their heads above the ground in great patches nearly everywhere we looked. It was like an Easter egg hunt rigged in our favor.

The patch I hunt is secluded, but not so much that other visitors don’t stop by. Remnants from a campfire not two days old were present, and an old road winds just a hundred yards away. In other seasons when I’ve been able to hit the spot at the right time, morels were easy to find, which tells me that people who come by only do so to camp, fish and maybe drink a few beers. They tend to leave the fungi to others.

It took me nearly three hours to clean those mushrooms and remove all the ants and tiny worms that had occupied the interior walls or exterior crevices of the find. There were enough this year that I used my food dehydrator to shrivel the bulk of them for easier storage.

If a morel search is in your immediate future, be sure you know what you’re picking. Get someone who knows mushrooms to positively identify one for you so you won’t be in danger of consuming a poisonous variety. Around the Ozarks, only false morels look similar to the unique cone-shaped, furrowed domes of true morels, but it’s always best to be sure.

Carry along a mesh sack from oranges or onions so that the spores from these mushrooms can escape and re-populate the forest. And do watch out for snakes. They are moving now and, although we saw none this year, we saw a copperhead and a large black snake two years ago. Once your eyes are tuned to see morels, they can become oblivious to snakes. You certainly don’t want to spot a slithering reptile at the last second, just before reaching down to pluck a mushroom.

Not every morel season is as good as this one was and I know that, next year, I may find just one twisted, leathery morel for all my efforts. But that’s next year. This year, I’m a happy ‘shroomer.