100's of Videos on Wild Mushrooms

Hundreds of videos on wild mushroom hunting - morels, chanterelles, boletes, how to find mushrooms, cook mushrooms,identify mushrooms.

Three Morel Mushroom Breakfast Recipes

MysticRiver1, from the Ozarks shares three ways she likes to have breakfast with morel mushrooms at group recipes.com

True and False Morels - the Beefsteak Morel

Some people think you can eat these false morels, but it ain't so....

In May 2002 an 8-year-old girl from Cheboygan, Michigan, enjoyed some Beefsteak mushrooms that some friends had given her family. After eating them, her face turned yellow and she became extremely nauseated. Her mother rushed her to the doctor, who sent her to the emergency room. She became very combative, and doctors detected high levels of ammonia in her brain, which forced her liver to begin to shut down.

Morel Maps

If only an expert would show me where to find morels... Well, there are maps that will help. Morels show up when the combination of soil temperature and moisture is ideal. And they tend to show up where forest fires occured the year before.

Morel Mushrooms in the News

On the mushroom trail

Seattle Post Intelligencer - 30 Jun 2007

Right now, he says, he hates morel mushrooms. "I'm almost broke. I make no money for two years and I don't have other job," he says. ..

Chefs share bounty at market

Times Colonist, Canada - 5 Jul 2007

He's happy to give suggestions, and he shares a simple, quick way to use the odd-looking but delicious morel mushrooms. The market runs Thursdays in Bastion .

Stalking wild mushrooms

MaineToday.com, ME - 4 Jul 2007

A prized yellow morel mushroom is a rare find in the Maine woods. Staff file/1998This is a close-up of an Amanita Muscaria mushroom. A prized yellow morel ..

Foraging may provide the freshest fare

Tahlequah Daily Press, OK - 2 Jul 2007

After that, the morel mushrooms show up in the spring.” Jacob and Duvall seemed to have an intimate knowledge of the variety of foods available each season. .

Farmers markets: Eating the best, right here

Times Herald-Record, NY - 30 Jun 2007

You see, once those chefs began sharing their secrets with the public — tales of scoring the freshest morel mushrooms by getting to the market at o'dark ..

Hints and Tips on Finding Morel Mushrooms mp3

Jim Braaten of Sportsman's Blog interviews Ron Spinosa of the Minnesota Mycological Society. Hints and tips on finding the morel mushroom. 35 1/2 minute Blog Podcast, iTunes or downloadable mp3. Good Stuff!

Progress Map of Morel Hunting Season

Check out the Morel Mushroom Hunting Club for an excellent progress map of the current season.

Morel Adventure in Yellowstone Park MP3

Nature Stories Podcast has an entertaining narration produced by Scott Carrier which takes us through Yellowstone National Park to Paradise Valley and a gourmet meal which includes freshly picked morel mushrooms.

You can listen here: [Download the MP3]

Morchella Esculenta The White Morel

A quick look at Morchella Esculenta. One of Michigan's spring time fungi. In Michigan, I think there are more morel pickers than deer hunters !

Great Online Mushroom Resource

Roger Phillips, renowned nature photographer has created the ultimate wild mushroom reference with 3,000 photos, visual and easy keys to mushroom identification.

Mushrooms can make you rich!

June 14, 2006: Wild about mushrooms:get out your basket, a field guide, and take a hike
June 12, 2006: Mushrooms can make you rich! Maybe
June 10,2006: It's wild mushroom season: get out the field guide
June 7, 2006: Morel Mushrooms paired with peas make tasty fare

Morel Mushroom News May 22 to June 2

June 2, 2006: Time to search for shrooms
May 31, 2006: Celebrate Morel Time
May 31, 2006: Idaho:Morsels of Morels and other land trust tidbits
May 29, 2006: Miraculous morels: an earthy, tasty, springtime treat
May 25, 2006: This Hunt Not for Faint of Heart
May 25, 2006: Stalking the Wild Mushroom: Take A Class
May 25, 2006: Morel Satisfaction: Stalking the Wild Mushroom
May 25, 2006: Rich, Woodsy, Aromatic: That's the Morel Mushroom
May 24, 2006: The Morel of the Story
May 24, 2006: Morel Mushroom Walk planned at Cedar Bend Preserve
May 22, 2006:Coldwater,MI- Recent morel finds have local hunters on the prowl for more

Cultivation of Morchella (Morels), Patent Number 6,907,691

Press Release

Indiana Inventor Announces Morel Cultivation Patent

Mushroom-Growing Trees Now for Sale

LAFAYETTE, Ind., May 26, 2006 -- One day, the agricultural landscapes of the heartlands could feature more than traditional stalks of corn. Fields of the mushrooms known as morels may soon populate farmland across the country. Or better yet, a tree in your own yard could help you grow the tasty mushrooms.

Stewart C. Miller of Lafayette, Indiana, has patented a process to inoculate trees with the morel mushroom fungus. Under the right conditions and with the proper host, Miller says, anyone can become a morel farmer.

For centuries, morel (Morchella) mushrooms have attracted mushroom lovers because they are delicious, fun to hunt for, and provide a great way for families and friends to spend time together. Yet hunting for mushrooms has its drawbacks: Novice morel hunters need to take particular care in differentiating edible morels from poisonous ones. Miller's invention removes this guesswork. "Once you grow your own morels, you won't have to go hunting or enlist an expert to spot poisonous mushrooms," Miller comments.

Miller, who studied biology at Ball State University, became an avid morel mushroom hunter as a child. He began his research on growing morels while teaching biology in 1972. In May 1992, he made his big discovery, writing in his journal, "It's a simple symbiotic pact between the fungus and the tree!"

However, it took ten years to prove his theory. Using a high-tech microscopic camera, he photographed the morel fungus entering the root of an ash tree. He then inoculated elm trees with the fungus and successfully cultivated morels. Miller filed for his patent in 2002. Finally, in June 2005, Miller received "Cultivation of Morchella (Morels), Patent Number 6,907,691."

Morels, which look like sponges, prefer to live in other plants. The host plants grow faster and healthier with the fungus in their roots, and the mushrooms thrive in the moisture and warmth of the host. The magic occurs when the process of "symbiotic disruption" takes place: The tree begins to die and signals the fungus inside to withdraw and form hardened nodules underground.

"The death of the tree sends the morel fungus packing," states Miller. "In spring, the nodules swell with water and pop into big yellow mushrooms above ground. I envision bright fields of mushrooms across the country."

Those interested in raising the mushroom delicacy, the harvest season of which falls between March and June depending on climate and region, can order inoculated trees via http://www.Morel-Farms.com. Miller provides detailed instructions to ensure success.

Contact:

Stewart C. Miller
Morel-Farms.com LLC
Stewart@SCMiller.com
1-800-552-6550, ext. 224
http://www.morel-farms.com

Rooting Out the Wily Morel

May 21, 2006: ST. PAUL, Minn. - Deep down, every morel hunter believes in divine providence.
There’s nothing so providential as baskets overflowing with morels, and the taste is so divine hunters dream about it all winter.

Just picked morels? How to preserve....

Just picked morels? Saving them for later?
What's for the best way to preserve?

Here's some advice gleaned from the experts:

Frank (michiganmorels.com)states: “Morels have a high moisture content and need to either be kept cool and moist or allowed to begin the drying process right away.”

Jason Edge (morelmasters.com) recommends taking ice-filled coolers in your vehicle, placing a few sheets of cardboard over the ice, then placing your mesh bags filled with morels on top of the cardboard—leaving the lid slightly open to allow air circulation. He says, “Never place morels in a trunk of a car unless you are less than five minutes from home. This is like putting ice cream in the sun!”

The late Larry Lonik suggests simply leaving store-bought ice in its bags to reduce moisture.

Once you arrive home, the morels should be sliced in half lengthwise, thoroughly rinsed in cool water (do not scrub), drained on a paper towel, then cooked or placed in the refrigerator. (Do not wash them if you’re going to preserve them by drying.) A few Roons recommend soaking morels in cold salt water for 30 minutes; however, most recommend simply rinsing. Nancy Smith Weber (author of A Morel Hunter's Companion) notes that there is little advantage to soaking, as it compromises flavor and increases cooking time. Salt may also slightly dehydrate the mushrooms.

If you’ve managed to not engage in gluttony and have some morels left over, they can be stored in the refrigerator. Jason reports that he has kept them in the fridge to two weeks, kept continually moist with a dampened paper towel. Carl and Marge Robinson (Carl is Mushroom King of Mesick) keep their morels in the refrigerator in a two-quart jar, and change the water every day. “They’ll keep for a coon’s age,” reports Carl— about a week, interprets Marge. Nancy reports that she has kept them for up to a week, but doesn’t recommend more than three to four days. If you don’t have time to clean them, store them in a paper bag in the refrigerator— remember, a plastic bag speeds up the rotting process.

Be sure to throw out any mushrooms whose identity you’re not 100 percent sure of and any showing decay; as with any other food, rotting mushrooms can make you ill. And Nancy points out, “Just as with other fruits and vegetables, bacteria on a spoiled specimen can spread in a few hours or overnight and contaminate an entire batch.”


---adapted from the Finding Morels eBook (www.morelmushroom.info/finding_morels.html)

Reports of a bumper morel crop this year

May 19, 2006: Wisconsin: Recent Wet Weather Encourages Growth Of Mushrooms

May 19, 2006: Indiana county lets mushroom hunters loose

May 19, 2006: LaPorte County parks roll out welcome mat. But picking ban still applies in other area counties.

May 18, 2006: IOWA- The fungus is more abundant among us - Morel hunters find bounty across the state

May 15, 2006: Nobody knows why morels do what they do

Nobody knows why morels do what they do

River Valley Outdoors: Monday, May 15th:

By JERRY DAVIS / Freelance Outdoors Writer

A morel mushroom’s life cycle is still partially a mystery, even to the country’s best mycologists, those men and women who study morels and other fungi.

Not knowing what activates some steps in the cycle is part of the reason why morels are so interesting.....

More Morel News

May 11, 2006: On the hunt for mushrooms
May 10, 2006: Mushroom Season Sprouts in Michigan
May 10, 2006:Morel Madness Overcomes Hunters
May 7, 2006: Welcome City Slickers:tracking the elusive morel
May 7, 2006: Head to a forest to root out morels
May 7, 2006: What a Rush: After a Yukon fire,come the pricey prized morels
May 7, 2006: Bertrand Chemel's Morel Fricasse
May 7, 2006: Morel Mania Hits Henry
May 7, 2006: Morel hunting is a near futile venture
May 5, 2006: Early Spring Brings Fungal Delights
May 3, 2006: Man hits shroom jackpot
May 3, 2006: Haute Cuisine's Hunter-Gatherer
May 3, 2006: Mushroom hunter bags pot nursery
May 2, 2006: Morelmania
May 2, 2006: Rain? The morel the merrier
May 1, 2006: Forest Fruit: Elusive morel a northern delicacy
May 1, 2006: AK: Morels likely to be harder to find this year than last
May 1, 2006: It's morel season in Iowa<

Morel Vacation in Michigan

Morels and More

For lovers of Nature, the Outdoors and Good Eating, a MORELS & MORE or FALL MUSHROOM MANIA Outing is ideal - a casual, informal, interesting good time enjoying Michigan's outdoors and some great food & wine that produce lasting memories.

MORELS & MORE Dates for this Spring: May 5-7, May 12-14 and May 19-21. Beginners and expert 'shroomers alike will enjoy this weekend of fun and good food.

Accommodations are generally in private vacation homes on-site, with back up lodging in the area. The cost is $179.00 per person - which includes two nights lodging, Friday night welcoming get-together, all meals, guided mushroom hunting plus mushroom facts and information, lots of fun - fittingly climaxed with Saturday night's wine tasting, featuring Leelanau Peninsula Wines, and delicious mushroom dishes as part of the a great dinner.

Groups of 6 or more are $169 per person; if no lodging required, $124 complete. For extended stays, extra nights' lodging is available at $25 per person.

OUR GUARANTEE - You'll love the Seasons! The Outings are Interesting & Informative, You'll meet Great People, have Lots of Fun and enjoy Good Food & Wine!

Spring Mushroom Hunt Crossword Puzzle

Found this crossword puzzle at the best of Mushroom: the Journal of Mushrooming - it's in PDF format, download and print it out.