One couple found around 10 pounds around Lake Whitney. Another question I got was “What do they look like.” They appear honeycomb- like in that the upper portion (the cap) is composed of a net work of ridges with pits between them. The cap is always connected to the stem and the whole thing is hollow inside. No other mushroom looks like this and to me all others are just toadstools. Stay away from toadstools.
Most of my hunting for morel mushrooms has been done in Indiana but I have also found them in Missouri, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Texas. They have a mushroom festival in Park County Indiana which I attended last year. I bought a special net bag to carry my mushrooms so the spores would fall out as you walked around. Not sure if this seeds more mushrooms or not. Dad never said anything about this? Mushrooms sold at auction for an average of $50 per pound. One lot went for $80 per pound. Yes morel mushrooms are a high dollar gourmet food.
I learned how to find them from my father. Morel mushrooms only grow in 1% of the land and if you don’t know where to look you will get a lot of exercise and very few mushrooms. The mushroom season only lasts about two weeks. Friends would go with me hunting and after about an hour walking with me, looking up at the top of trees, they would say “When do we start looking at the ground for mushrooms?” When you find the right tree, you will find the morels. And the right tree in Indiana, Missouri, Michigan and Minnesota is the American elm. You have to know your trees because the Midwest has 100’s of different kinds. But it has to be a dead American elm, preferably the first year it dies. You will find a few the second and third years but the big bonanza will be the first year. In Pennsylvania they grew under apple trees and PA had a lot of orchards. Very few American elm in PA and they had no Dutch elm disease there which is what kills the elms in the Midwest states. In the hill country of Texas they grow under cedar/juniper trees on a slope with a stream or lake nearby. Texas has a river elm but no American elm.
In Texas they start growing in mid March, Missouri the first of April, Indiana mid April, Michigan and Minnesota the first of May. These dates can change two weeks based on temperature and rain fall. Ideal temperature to grow mushrooms is 50 to 75 degrees with a couple of 80 degree days thrown in and plenty of rain.
Dad and I would start hunting in Missouri then Indiana and then Michigan. In the early days people in Michigan didn’t gather mushrooms but they soon learned after the Indiana boys started making a lot of money hauling them home.
The other question I get is “What do the taste like and how do you cook them? “ Morel mushrooms are a treat of nature and are prized for their honeycomb texture and rich earthy flavor. I don’t know how to tell you about the taste but you will love them. I simply cut in half long ways and wash in salt water, then dip in a egg/milk mix, roll in saltine crackers that have been crushed fine with a rolling pin. Then brown in hot peanut oil, add a little salt/pepper and enjoy. If you can’t find any, you can order dried morel mushrooms on the internet. Just soak in water for a few hours and they come back to life. Not as good as the fresh ones but still gourmet eating.
Almost all states have morel mushrooms. A friend of mine found mushrooms in Canada on a spring bear hunt in June. In the northwest they come up in areas that had wildfires the summer or fall before. These are the black morels.
The next time you visit friends or relatives in the spring ask them when the morel mushrooms come up in their state and maybe you will find some. If you do, you will be hooked for life.
Pictured above are morel mushrooms, below more mushrooms and author’s 2009 harvest.
