Morels

The sight of a Yellow Morel can certainly cause some excitement. I’ve seen people grab these highly prized edible mushrooms right out from in front of someone’s camera lens. I call it a mushroom because I’ve been told that this gem is too classy to be referred to as a fungus.

I don’t find many morels at Blue Jay Barrens. Most of my encounters are with single individuals that I leave in place to spread their spores to the wind. In 25 years there have only been two or three times that I’ve found enough mushrooms to make a collection worthwhile.

This year, I found in one place more Yellow Morels than I have ever found before in an entire season. This is the first time I’ve ever been able to take a photo of multiple mushrooms in one location. In total, there were about 40 morels in an area 30 feet across.

The site of the find was within the root zone of an old apple tree that died a few years ago. I’ve read that apples are one of many trees which may have an association with morels. The Tuliptree is said to be the most like species to have morels growing beneath its canopy. Most of my finds have been beneath Eastern Red Cedars growing in the barrens. I’ve always thought that was a rough place for mushrooms to be growing.

I learned years ago that the official system of measure for morel harvests is the Bread Sack, but I’m not sure if a full sack is one that’s filled completely to the top or just filled to the volume of a loaf of bread. I’m going to estimate that I collected a half bread sack worth of mushrooms, even though I used a half gallon container instead of a sack. My wife loves morels and I love my wife, so I prepared the whole batch for her dining pleasure. I did leave a few of the bug chewed morels under the tree to spread spores, just in case it makes a difference to future populations.