April 28, 2023
Some people say, “it’s when oak leaves are the size of a squirrel’s ear,” others say “it’s when the lilacs bloom”. Some suggest you “add the nighttime temperature to the daytime temperature and divide by 2 and once the average is above 50 you are good to go.” Personally, I wait 10 days after a good soaking rain, once the nighttime temperatures are reliably above 40 degrees. Whatever cue you choose – now is the time to start looking for morel mushrooms.
There is something special about the quest for morels. Partly because they are so elusive, but also, they are the official start of mushroom hunting season and are therefore harbingers of the foraging bounty to come.
I can spot most mushrooms while walking at a leisurely clip through the woods. The unmistakable orange colored “chicken of the woods” shrieks to be noticed - and the other worldliness of the giant puffball calls plenty of attention upon itself. They’d be hard to miss. Morels, though, are very shy - that’s part of their allure. When they first appear, they gently lift the leaves on the forest floor as if to see if it’s safe enough to venture out. When they do come out, they come relatively quickly, and they don’t stick around very long. For the few days that they are indeed fully above ground, they do their very best to blend in. Though their tawny color works well to camouflage them from humans - bears, deer and squirrels can simply sniff them out and devour them in passing.
Morel hunting, more so than any other mushroom quest, requires paying attention to detail, walking slowly and actually searching. In the forest, morels gravitate towards sycamores, ash, elms, and black cherry trees, so that’s where I focus my search. Maybe it’s because it takes such concentration that it is so zen inducing. If I’m going to have any success at all, I have to forget about everything else that might be occupying my mind and focus exclusively on the trees and forest floor. If I am not specifically seeking them - it’s unlikely that I’d actually notice them at all. I’d just walk past them without it registering and after a few days of above ground glory, our reclusive friend would melt back into the forest floor- or be eaten by another animal more in tune with its natural world than me.
Postscript!
Not all morels are edible, but the imposters are pretty easy to spot. If there is any question, slicing the mushroom lengthwise will relieve any doubt. A true morel will be completely hollow including its stem. A false morel has a stem filled with fibrous “cottony like” stuff. It would be hard to mistake it. All wild mushrooms should be thoroughly cooked, and some people cannot tolerate mushrooms that are otherwise considered edible (including the morel). So, if it’s your first time trying a positively identified edible mushroom, eat just a small amount, and wait a day or more to see how your body reacts.