Mushroom Hunters?

[Attack Chicken]

You should cut the roots because if you pull them up it messes up what will be there next year. In one spot every mushroom we found we cut the mushroom off of the roots and in another spot we took the roots with. The next year there were alot less shrooms in that spot.

 

[Imp]

All The Rain Promises and More
and Mushrooms Demystified both by David Arora

HiDelight,
I love All That the Rain Promises and More. I think I've read it about 100 times. Always seems new. I carry it with me whenever I go shrooming. I've been to some of the shows at Sand Point.

StoneBridgeFarm,
It takes a while to develop "Shroom Eye" When I first started going with a knowledgable friend, she had to point everyone out to me. Now I see them everywhere. If you keep looking eventually your eyes will clue in. Mushrooms grow in different areas, depending on conditions and type. When I have gone looking for morels I usually look under deciduous trees just as they are starting to leaf out, in the spring. There is usually lots of leaves around, so you may need to look for bumps in the leaves. Chantrelles are usually later in the year, under conifers in mossy areas. Oysters can be anytime (My books say spring, but I find more in the fall) growing on dead trees or logs, but can look like they are coming from the ground, if there is a piece of rotting wood in the ground. And look up they can be way up there. I always carry masking tape when I shroom to tape the knife to a tree limp and extend my reach.
When I'm walking through the trees I will walk lie 30-40 feet then stop and turn around like look behind me. They sometimes are on one side of the trees or the shadier areas or the sunnier area-go figure. I also stray off trails a little ways, cause people will often pick or stomp easily visible ones that are close to trails. They also grow in desserts, under snow, in lawn, in flowerbeds, and in your house carpet.

The actual fungus is underground, and can be huge. I read a few years ago that the largest living thing is a mushroom in SW Washington that covers like 1600 acres (Don't quote me on it I probably got the details wrong) The mushroom is the fruiting body of the plant, and yes pulling will damage the "roots"

Also be careful. There was a story in the early 90s about some dignitary dinner in Victoria I think where they served false morels rather than real true morels and made like 300 people sick.

Imp

 

[Attack Chicken]

The difference between a false morel and a true morel is that the false morel isn't hollow. The true morel will be hollow all the way through.

 

[HiDelight]

I have had the best luck with finding morels under pine trees...in old orchards and anywhere there was a fire in the previous couple of years..and just when I think I find a patch ..it goes away and I find another

what is your favorite way to cook morels?
my two top ways are

1. saute in lots of good Irish butter then pile on top of scrambled eggs

2. roll fresh whole morels in flour then dip in egg wash then in seasoned bread crumbs ...deep fry

I just love morels but only until I find puff balls then only until I find the next mushroom and the next and the next

how long have you guys been hunting?

my first real hunt was about 40+(OMG I am old now!) years ago when I followed my friend's grandma (I lived in Providence RI) around the neighborhood parks looking for edible mushrooms and greens.... she pointed out things and tried hard to teach me ..however she spoke only in Italian so I had to just really pay close attention .. I was just so enchanted by her I helped the best I could then followed her home and ate some of the best dishes you can imagine! I remember my sitter yelling at me that "you could die from eating those!!!! your father would kill me if he finds out you were eating mushrooms someone picked in a park" she was furious! but I lived and my dad did not care he thought it was very cool actually

that is where it began for me..still every mushroom I pick and eat ..every wild herb or green ..especially sorrel ..I think of this woman and am so grateful to have known her!

(I hope this is not a thread jack it is about mushrooms and I love reading about people's history and how they got started please share)

how about you guys how did you get started?

 

[mom2chicksandpups]

You definitely need to be careful which ones you pick to eat. Some are hallucinogenic!

I've had that kind (when I was young and wild) and believe me -- you wouldn't want to accidentally eat one.

 

[Attack Chicken]

We are going out tomorrow and hopefully the pheasant's backs are bigger so I can cut them off and fry them up

I'll have to take before and after pictures for you all to drool over

 

[Imp]

what is your favorite way to cook morels?

I like to dry saute and serve with steak

how long have you guys been hunting?

About 18 years

how about you guys how did you get started?

I worked with a friend who was a member of the mycological society. She started teaching me by going into the graveyard near where she lived. We picked fairy ring mushrooms. I didn't think a thing of it at the time. But it freaked a few people out. I just mostly thought they tasted so much better than store bought.

Imp

 

[WriterofWords]

This post reminded me of a wonderful, wonderful, friend we had. His name was Bert Smith, he lived in CA, passed away a couple of years ago. He was a mushroom hunting fiend! We'd get done with archeology work for the FS and then he'd take us and the kids, Steven was much younger then, and show us all the different kinds of 'shrooms. Thanks for the wonderul memories.

 

[Tailfeathers]

I try to make it over to the East Side at least once a year to pick enough for a meal or two. There are a few Morels on the West Side to but the pickin's is so much easier and better on the east side.

Having grown up in Iowa, I love Morels. The great thing about getting them here is you don't have to go home and pick ticks off of ya for two weeks after a hunting trip!

One thing I haven't seen mentioned thus far is that there is a Verpa mushroom that is almost identical to the Morel. I can eat Verpas' without any problems and most others can too but it does contain a small amount of toxin (can't remember the name of the toxin now) and can be harmful to some.

A search on the internet can show and explain the difference well enough that you can't mistake the two.

God Bless,

 

[nerfy]

Quote:
Looking for mushrooms has been a family outing since I was a small child. I'm 47 now.
Puffballs, shaggy mains or "inkies", hen in the woods, fairy ring, and a few others I only know the bohemian names of.
May I ask, what is Irish butter?