Three morels, do you see them?
Two more!
And two more!
So fresh they hadn't even totally uncurled!
A "true" morel will be hollow.
When sliced length-wise, it is hollow from top to bottom and one piece. There is NO cap on a stem. False morels will have a cap that sits on the stem.
The above picture is a false morel. See how the stem is only attached at the very top. Here is two sites that are very informative. Northern County Morels and Edible Mushrooms or Poisonous Mushrooms
Today we found a total of 52 morels. Our knife we took wasn't sharp enough and some pulled away from the ground when trying to cut them. It's a good idea to cut about 1" up from the ground. This will leave spores to produce more in the future. We left small (smaller than your thumb) ones as well as a few dried up ones for the same reason.
I really enjoyed being outdoors with hubby and my son, teaching my son how to forage correctly for morels. Now I just have to convince him to eat them!
Who else has found any this year?
jealous, jealous, jealous! and AWESOME find! Toss these into skillet with butter and over past and it's yummy dinner night!
ReplyDeleteI haven't found any yet because there is lots of snow on the ground. However, I will be looking! Thanks for Morel 101. You explained it way better than the books I have.
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm jealous, too. I don't really have anywhere to look for them, though, so I'll just have to live vicariously through you.
ReplyDeleteI've also heard that when picking, folks should use a mesh bag or big open weave basket, to allow more spores to shake off the harvested mushrooms and spread while the pickers walk around. Apparently too many people are putting their mushrooms in plastic bags (and likely cutting them too short as you mentioned), causing the crops to decrease. So happy for you to find such a great harvest!!
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