Any moral hunters here?

[Ballistics in Scotland]

It's a secret.LOL Try goggle. They are great.[I think the correct spelling is morel.]

Yes, especially when you google. Morals are notoriously hard to find lying around, even if you go where others are likely to have mislaid them.

Brian Aldiss wrote a short story in the 1960s or 70s ("Hothouse" I think, but I couldn't swear to that) in which a morel is a leading character. The human race have degenerated, as the sun goes nova, into intellectually limited primates. The morel in question is a thinking fungus which does what has happened with the human race long before, establishing a symbiotic relationship by settling on the head of an individual, and changing into the cerebral cortex which no animal has...

Where do you find one of these?

[Thumbcocker]

the sponge heads are a fanatical lot but do have an admirable code of silence. I have tried "harsh" interrogation techniques to try to get them to give up the location of their main group. To no avail. Finally out of desperation I resorted to out right torture. Yup even covering them with egg and cracker crumbs and boiling them in butter could not make them crack. They are a stubborn lot. The grilled backstrap was good too.

[popper]

Thought this was a .Wilco thread, I don't eat any FUNGUS - they squeak when chewed.

[MarkP]

Interested to learn at what rate they grow.

They were just starting to pop here in Eastern NE / Western IA, We had frost a couple times earlier this week and rain over the weekend. Should be great hunting next week when temperature increase.

[Blackwater]

Morels are something that I've long been curious about, but have never experienced. My observation of the expressions on people's faces when they talk about them surely keeps up my interest, though! I was told recently that we don't have morels here in southeastern GA. Is that correct? What's their range, normally?

[45-70 Chevroner]

When I saw the pictures that Thumbcocker put on here, I knew the ones we used to pick were not morels. We used to go hunt mush rooms near the town of Chowchilla Califorina, they were just like the ones we got at the store. My favorite ones were the ones we found growing on the side of trees down near creek beds where there wasn't much sunshine.

[Pilgrim]

Out here in the NW we used to hunt for them around cottonwoods. I think the critters grow anywhere there is cool weather and moist soil. Wish the wife liked them. Since she doesn't I've stopped hunting for them. Soak 'em in salt water to kill off the bugs & fry them in butter. Good eats.

[CHeatermk3]

A person ought to really know what they're doin' when it comes to shroomin the wild mushrooms.

Or you might be needin' a new liver.

[MaryB]

Pull the stem off the morel(leaves a nice hollow spot) stuff with smoked walleye. top with garlic butter bread crumbs. Drizzle with more garlic butter then grill until tender.

Found 2 the other day when I went for a walk in one of my favorite spots. Early here but we have had some warmer weather. I wasn't up to a longer walk to go farther back in on that spot, still recovering from neck surgery and I lose energy fast.

[Geezer in NH]

I do not eat any wild Shroom to many experts and sometimes their families die when they screw up.

Sorry way it is, for the benefit of food they do not make ant sense for the risk, Taste maybe but???? Know what you are eating

[Geezer in NH]

If you find some small ones, will they grow more? I never figured it out.

Two or three drinks and they have none!!

[kencha]

I dry mine and they last forever. Great in squirrel stew. Rehydrate in milk and use the milk, full of flavor.

Amen to that. Just be careful if you haven't used them before. They are DEFINITELY full of flavor and can easily be overdone. (IMO)

[MaryB]

Morels are pretty safe for a newbie mushroom hunter. The false morel has a solid center while a real one is hollow when the stem is removed. Plus they do not look that much alike to me.

[Iowa Fox]

Made my first trip out into the timber this afternoon and found about two dozen small grays. They are just starting to come and by the looks of the timber it could be a good year. I did find something I haven't seen for a long time, I found a swarm of bees. They were on a dead branch about 3 feet off the ground when I first found them. I clicked a pic and watched for a while as they decided to move about 15 feet straight up.





Found this little guy in the same timber a couple years ago. I was only a couple feet away and thought he was dead at first but every few seconds he would open one eye and look at me. Gotta love the beauty of an unspoiled timber.

[44man]

So sweet and a lifetime treat. Thank you for those pictures.
As far as shrooms, I did know a few others long ago but they are not where I live so I never guess. There is no way to mistake a chicken shroom, Morel or giant puffball. Oyster shrooms are OK but not as tasty. Dryads saddles are common but you can only eat the edges, the rest is like chewing oak.
My friend found a bunch growing in his yard, don't know what but he squirted from both ends for days!
Puffballs are great.
I grew ****ake shrooms for many years on logs, bought the spawn. Now I can't find the wood.
The morel is still the best for flavor with anything.
The next thing I want are ramps, none here, tried to plant them with no results. Great fried with morels and eggs. I used to pick them in Ohio but we have none here. Friend got some to grow and gave me some frozen ones. Made some with deer steaks last week.
Need ground moisture and with the limestone tunnels here, water is sucked up too fast to the tunnels.

[dondiego]

I collect morels, puffballs, chanterelles, and oyster mushrooms. Easy to identify. I am glad that many are unable to identify wild edibles. More for me! 44man - I wish that you could come to Michigan. I have acres and acres of fresh ramps! Getting a bunch this weekend.

[Blackwater]

Wow! You guys really know how to pique a guy's appetite! All this talk about good eating stuff made me do a google search for ramps, and I found some seed and info here: http://www.seedman.com/ramps.htm

Gardening isn't my talent. Mom could make things grow on concrete, but that talent unfortunately didn't pass down to me. Dad was a pretty fair gardener himself, and always gave away over half his garden stuff, and takers were really easy to find. Mom taught me a little before she passed on, and the biggest tip she ever gave me was to "Always plant a 50 cent plant in a 5 dollar hole." Gives the roots a soft place to expand, and it's the roots that feed the above ground plant. All our neighbors used to say Mom was the best flower gardener around. Thanks for the memories, guys. They're precious. AND the appetite boost!

[dondiego]

Ramps are a wild leek and can be grown easily from the bulbs like onions. They like to be in the woods or good shade. My friend has a recipe for pickling them and when he comes to my place to harvest I always get a jar or two of pickled ramps. I like the greens and roots in eggs and in mashed potatoes. If you can come up with some morels to add to the mix you are in heaven! Morels, ramps, and trout are a yearly pursuit in northern Michigan for many. Turkeys too!

[selmerfan]

Morels should be popping here (WC Minnesota) this week or next. They aren't like other mushrooms. Morels are the fruiting body of the much larger mycelium network underground that live in a symbiotic relationship with the plants and trees around it. When those trees get stressed (dying elms, aging apple orchards), the morels pop up to spread spores and reproduce.

44man - we've got ramps! They're amazing!!! I'll be transplanting my perennial garden patch with me when I move to Iowa in 8 weeks. Then I'll be hunting for more down there.

[MBTcustom]

Can't help much, but I will say that a heavy soup made of morel mushrooms, seasoned with crumbled up Stilton blue cheese will be an experience you will not forget.