Morels - April 28, 2012

After an unusually quick start to spring, and very warm March; April seemed a bit more normal and morel season seems to be on target within a few days. John, Dani and myself were able to do a quick overnight hike in the Southeast part of Minnesota along with our 10 month old beagle Dixie. While hiking approximately eight miles, we spent a short amount of time foraging and trout fishing. I would not say it was a serious foraging trip, as we spent less than 90 minutes total foraging. However, as always, we kept an eye on the trail and nearby woods. We found several nice yellow morels - literally right on the edge of the trail...and I wonder how many we walked right past. Here is Dani with those mushrooms we found along the way.

We stopped near the top of a ridge and set up our campsite before venturing down to the creek bottom to catch a few brookies. We were practicing "leave no trace" camping with home made alcohol stoves and staying in hammocks. Our campsite was well placed on a flatter portion a hundred yards off the trail.

The temperature dropped overnight to 34 degrees. Rain and snow started to pile up on my improvised shower-curtain-turned-rainfly. By 5am I was so cold I climbed out of my hammock and made a cup of coffee. Then I made another one. As I sat in the early light drinking my instant coffee, I realized there was a nice standing, dead elm less that 30 yards from our campsite. The kids were still sleeping so I grabbed and onion back and my foraging stick and went to check it out. I found over a pound of nice big yellow morels right there, 30 yards from our campsite. Noticing another dead elm 50 yards from there, I walked over and found another pound or so. Once the kids woke up we were all so cold and wet that we packed up and quickly hiked the 3 miles back to the truck. My impression of the area, however, is that given a couple good days of foraging, we could probably fill a wheelbarrow with morels. We'll definitely schedule a return trip next spring. Here is a photo of some of the morels we found by the campsite...we had already eaten some by the time we snapped this pic.

First Morels 2011

After checking several area parks, looking for new morel spots, we decided to take a quick trip to one of our known morel-producing spots. We arrived shortly before sunset, and after walking in to our spot, we were surprised to discover another mushroom hunter within 50 yards of our prime location.

Playing it cool, we walked right on past to another (less productive) spot a quarter mile away. We searched there in vain, and returned to our prime spot with only about 30 minutes of daylight left. The intruder was gone, and we quickly found these yellows. John even found one over where the other guy had been looking.

Although it is already May 11, I think we are just starting to hit the peak of the morel season here in central Minnesota.

Spring 2011 Comes Late

The last couple of years, we've started using mountain bikes in a lot of our foraging.


It has been a cold, wet spring. We were fortunate to make a new find of fiddleheads within a couple miles of our new home.

New Spot!

Every successful morel hunter has a repertoire of known mushroom-producing locations. Mine are committed to memory, and most have nick-names. Of course I won't share those nick-names with you, as they may give you clues as to where they are. My brother recently told me I was more paranoid than a musky guide with regard to my morel spots. Probably true.

With the known spots in mind, the season typically progresses like this: check known spots; when morels appear, begin scouting for new spots. New spots are hard to come by. You may find it surprising that after close to a decade foraging in my state, I really only have four good spots for morels. That is...until last night.

Last night I was scouring some open wooded areas, half searching for ramps. It was nearly dark, and I somehow managed to spot four decent sized grey morels. No, there weren't a forest of them. No burlap bags full, but it is a brand-new spot. This also marks the first time I've ever found morels in wooded areas in Minnesota.

Bicycles and Morels

Why did it take me so long to figure out that bikes were a great foraging resource? We have been covering many miles, easily and quickly getting back into the harder to reach areas.

Garlic Mustard

We found a literal carpet of garlic mustard not far from my house. This plant is actually considered an invasive species here in Minnesota. If you crush a leaf, you can smell a garlic-like aroma. These early spring plants can be eaten raw in a salad, or cooked down like any other green. I may try a nice salad with garlic mustard, violets, and sorrel.

First Find 2010

Found our first morels of the year. Its been a warm spring but I didn't expect these large yellow specimens on April 22.

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