It's time for the Morel Mushrooms!

Turkey hunting season signals another season in Michigan. That other season is Morel mushroom season. These little things grow in the early spring and are highly desirable. Finding them is usually a closely guarded secret among hunters.

Lucky for us, there are some spots at the Estate where mushrooms can be found. Then, add in that they will also pop up in random places. This makes it fun to wander the woods looking for their little heads to pop up. With all the rain we've had this spring, the mushrooms should be really coming up.

Small Black Morel

While turkey hunting, I always take an extra walk around the spots that I know have mushrooms. For us, turkey season falls right about the time the black Morel are starting to come up. I can usually find at least enough to go with my dinner. This year was no different. I finished up for the morning and walked over to the spot I can almost always find some mushrooms and sure enough, there they were. I found about 10 right away. Just enough to use for dinner.

The next day, I found some more, but decided to leave them as I didn't have plans to eat them right away. However, overnight we had a very hard freeze which burned up most of the mushrooms I had left behind. That was disappointing, for sure. I did hope some would survive in the more protected areas of the woods so I wouldn't be totally without anything to eat later.

When I had got my turkey, I had an extra day left to get some work done, so I also spent time looking for new spots where mushrooms may be. The previous owner of the property had told me that there should be lots of Morels on the property. So, I started looking even harder.

It was still early for the larger white Morels to come up, those are usually a couple weeks after the blacks. But, I did find some new spots. One was right next to our fire pit. I first saw one, then two, then 6! Yikes! I didn't think they would be so out in the open like this. They were small, so I left them to grow a bit and packed up to come home, knowing I would be back the next weekend.

White Morel

Sure enough, when I returned there were even more. This time, I was able to find some of the bigger white Morels as well. We had cut down a very large, very dead cottonwood tree a couple years ago, so I expected there to be a few around the stump. There sure were! A couple big ones, too. I also found a big one growing randomly next to the trail. You just never know where they will grow, that's what makes it fun to look for them.

The moral (you see what I did there?) is to just get out there and look for them. Many places of public land are open to foraging for mushrooms. Morel mushrooms will grow just about anywhere, but the best places seem to be pretty sandy, well drained soil and around dead or decaying cottonwood or poplar trees. I have also heard they will be around oak and elm trees, as well. I have not found any around our oak trees, yet. That doesn't mean there aren't any, it just means I haven't found any. Get out into the woods, and find your own mushroom honey hole. Oh, and treat your clothes with Permethrin before you go out. The ticks are terrible this spring.