The Morels Have Arrived

[Circle W]

It's that time of year again! My favorite fungi is making its return to the forest. It's been tough hunting with the few rains we've had, but we are up to a couple pounds so far. I know there are more pickers out there besides me on here so let's see some more pics!

 

[ovrszd]

Good find. Wife and I enjoy hunting and eating them. We've had a very late Spring up here. Getting some much needed rain today but temps are supposed to be down into 40s for highs again for a couple days this next week. I don't think we'll see any up here before 1st of May. I'm 10 miles South of Iowa in NW Missouri. We like the little Grey ones the best but being not much bigger than your thumb nail it takes a lot of digging around to find enough to eat.

 

[Circle W]

Good find. Wife and I enjoy hunting and eating them. We've had a very late Spring up here. Getting some much needed rain today but temps are supposed to be down into 40s for highs again for a couple days this next week. I don't think we'll see any up here before 1st of May. I'm 10 miles South of Iowa in NW Missouri. We like the little Grey ones the best but being not much bigger than your thumb nail it takes a lot of digging around to find enough to eat.

We found 50 little grays a few days ago. It looks like the yellows are now starting to arrive. The little bite sized grays are perfect!

 

[Rustyiron]

You're killin me! Most of our snow is gone in the past day or so. Except in the woods!

 

[Western]

What do y'all do with them? I saw a couple near my little creek that look like those?? about 3" or so tall

 

[Circle W]

What do y'all do with them? I saw a couple near my little creek that look like those?? about 3" or so tall

Eat them!!! They only come out for a few weeks out of the year, so they are a delicacy. Most of the time we roll them in egg then flour and fry them. But we also sautee them in butter as well, which is pretty tasty.

 

[Depmandog]

What do y'all do with them? I saw a couple near my little creek that look like those?? about 3" or so tall

Soak them, split them in half, dip them in whisked egg then roll them in cracker meal. Toss then into the frying pan with some oil and fry. Salt to taste!!!!

Add some crappie to that and you have a meal!!!

NOTE: Make 100% sure you know what type of mushroom you are eating. There is a false morel that is poison.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_morel

 

[Western]

Soak them, split them in half, dip them in whisked egg then roll them in cracker meal. Toss then into the frying pan with some oil and fry. Salt to taste!!!!

Add some crappie to that and you have a meal!!!

NOTE: Make 100% sure you know what type of mushroom you are eating. There is a false morel that is poison.

False morel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

That's what I was thinking:laughing: I have seen theses kind quite a bit over the years. I will try to get a cell photo tomorrow and maybe y'all can tell me.

BTW I told my wife about this thread and the "shrooms" I saw on the place , she said those are like "truffles"? and can be expensive? She's a cook, I'm an eater

 

[Circle W]

That's what I was thinking:laughing: I have seen theses kind quite a bit over the years. I will try to get a cell photo tomorrow and maybe y'all can tell me.

BTW I told my wife about this thread and the "shrooms" I saw on the place , she said those are like "truffles"? and can be expensive? She's a cook, I'm an eater

I know people that get rid of them at upwards of 40-50 dollars per pound!! I've never sold them but I probably found close to 20 pounds worth last spring. I might have just found a new way of paying for this last semester of school! But you should definitely try them, I love them myself. When you find one there are usually more close by so watch your step!

 

[oosik]

I think these are found in areas on the west side of the state. Just too dry over here. We eat puff balls & shaggy manes. The ones that are poisonous here are the Amanita and a toadstool that looks like the Amanita.

 

[Circle W]

I think these are found in areas on the west side of the state. Just too dry over here. We eat puff balls & shaggy manes. The ones that are poisonous here are the Amanita and a toadstool that looks like the Amanita.

I see a lot of puff balls around my house as well. Do you eat them before they puff out? And how do you prepare them? I may have to give them a try.

 

[LD1]

I too would be curious how you prepare the puffballs.

We don't see the morels up here til mid may

 

[ovrszd]

No Morels up here for a while. This is what we have this morning with 29 degree temps.

 

[LD1]

No Morels up here for a while. This is what we have this morning with 29 degree temps.

THats what they are calling for us tonight into tomorrow morning:mur:

 

[ovrszd]

THats what they are calling for us tonight into tomorrow morning:mur:

Yep, morning weather showed this one headed right at ya!!!! Sorry.

 

[rekees4300]

What do y'all do with them? I saw a couple near my little creek that look like those?? about 3" or so tall

Be careful, make a mistake and it will be RIP for you!

 

[Western]

Heres a photo, I only found the 2. Is my MIL wrong? I do have morels!:laughing:

 

[Circle W]

Heres a photo, I only found the 2. Is my MIL wrong? I do have morels!:laughing:

That's a big one!! Nice specimen. We were finding them yesterday in 80+ temps. This morning its 30 and snowing :laughing: Gotta love Oklahoma weather!

 

[Western]

I left them there, I was tempted to cut the small one in half to see if it was hollow. If I leave them "B". do they propagate? I only spent 5 minutes looking, kinda cool. but even if i found 10, i'd rather leave them if they will produce more ???

 

[Circle W]

I left them there, I was tempted to cut the small one in half to see if it was hollow. If I leave them "B". do they propagate? I only spent 5 minutes looking, kinda cool. but even if i found 10, i'd rather leave them if they will produce more ???

I've heard (I'm no expert) that once they pop up they release their spores fairly quickly, so picking them should do no harm for future harvests. We pick from the same spots every year and they seem to come back near the same area every spring.