shroom picking

[neckdeep]

Good picking today at the beginning of the season. More to come!

Nice. Morchella Brunnea? I can't see any soot so I am assuming those are naturals. What is your general region and elevation? Its been so damn cold in Wydaho that the cottonwoods at 5000ft still don't even have leaves. People been asking me when its going to start, all I can say is " I don't know, probably a while after it stops snowing every other fucking day."

[John_B]

Nice. Morchella Brunnea? I can't see any soot so I am assuming those are naturals. What is your general region and elevation? Its been so damn cold in Wydaho that the cottonwoods at 5000ft still don't even have leaves. People been asking me when its going to start, all I can say is " I don't know, probably a while after it stops snowing every other fucking day."

I'm not too up to date on my morchella species but these are at about 2000 feet in an area that burned in eastern Washington.

[neckdeep]

I'm not too up to date on my morchella species but these are at about 2000 feet in an area that burned in eastern Washington.

Yeah, I was really curious because the dark ones in the middle definitely look like burn morels. There are four burn morels. They are not related to naturals; they are true pyrophile species that only reproduce in conjunction with fire. Black burn morels are sextelata/septimelata clade unless they are thick walled and have a chambered stipe, those are morchella exhuberans.



When the blacks are about done, then the gray morchella tomentosa (aka fuzzyfoots, blackfoots) starts to pop in warm spots and are around for a couple weeks. They come up from deep and big sclerotia and are capable of fruiting in surprisingly dry conditions so don't quit on a burn just because the blacks are dried up. Grays aren't abundant as blacks but they are dense and weigh twice as much so that usually evens out. Sometimes you'll find grays out in really hot shadeless areas but there's so much water pumping up into them that they are cool to the touch.



In addition to burn morels, your area probably has Brunnea (little black), Snyderi (fathead), Americana (western yellow), Populiphilia ( western half-free) and Tridentina (mountain blonde).

full buckets

[garyfromterrace]

Hey Neck, I had 2 morels pop up in my lawn. Thinking prolly little blacks because there wasn't a fire on my property in likely 50yrs (long before it was lawn). How can I help them procreate and give me buckets of tasty morels every year. Or should I just eat em?

Some background:
- I've never before seen morels up here, though I don't pick in burn areas (and things don't generally light up in the temperate rainforest).
- we're at about 300' above sea level
- in my forested area (4.5 of my 5 acres) there's chanterelles, lobsters and boletes
Thanks for all your posts man!

[MakersTeleMark]

Eats them!

[tgapp]

no no no Gary

send them to me for proper identification and disposal

who knows they could be dangerous, don't wanna take any risks

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

[MakersTeleMark]

no no no Gary

send them to me for proper identification and disposal

who knows they could be dangerous, don't wanna take any risks

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

Coming from you that is heady.

[neckdeep]

Gary, if your lawn morels are growing in association with some recently introduced mulch, wood chips or topsoil, then they are "landscape" morels, probably ruffobrunnea. Landscape morels are pure saprophyte which means they don't have a mycorrhizal symbiote and get all their energy from decaying stuff. As they lack a host plant, they can be easily transplanted. They pop once or twice and that's it. The companies that are pioneering cultivated morels are working with the landscape species.

If they are out back under some doug firs, then I'd guess they are snyderi. A picture would help. As far as encouraging them, in a dry year you can water the zone when the soil hits 45 and again when it hits 55. It works, but its barely worth your time. I used to rent a cabin in ideal brunnea habitat and I'd water the aspen thicket behind house. Mostly just to see if it would work.

You can't really help them procreate. They do their thing, mostly where you can't see it. If you've got a mycelium present, then you have the thing. The mycelium is the orchard. It can spread without spores. Spores are for bridging the gap to new habitats when the mycelium hits a boundary.

Capiche?

[MakersTeleMark]

I only know the funny schrooms and I haven't lived at a low enough altitude to ever forage morels, but can you take a print and cultivate them like any other? I'd be down for a lifetime supply if it's possible.

[neckdeep]

I only know the funny schrooms and I haven't lived at a low enough altitude to ever forage morels, but can you take a print and cultivate them like any other? I'd be down for a lifetime supply if it's possible.

I pick natural morels as high as 8000ft and burn morels even higher so you must live pretty darn high.

Unfortunately, no one has had any significant success cultivating mycorrhizal shrooms. If they could, truffles wouldn't cost their weight in gold. The commercially produced mushrooms are saprophytes, no tree hosts necessary. You can buy kits to grow your own wood rotters at home.

But, here's the thing. IMHO, saprophytes are low turd on the totem pole of mushroom flavor. The exchange of nutrients going on between mycorrhizal mushrooms and their host tree produces a fruit that just tastes better. A lot better. The mountain blonde morel (tridentina) is primarily a saprophyte or possibly its exclusively a saprophyte. In really wet years, its very abundant. I won't bend down to pick one. They taste like decay, more like mildew than a proper morel.

[MakersTeleMark]

I pick natural morels as high as 8000ft and burn morels even higher so you must live pretty darn high.

Unfortunately, no one has had any significant success cultivating mycorrhizal shrooms. If they could, truffles wouldn't cost their weight in gold. The commercially produced mushrooms are saprophytes, no tree hosts necessary. You can buy kits to grow your own wood rotters at home.

But, here's the thing. IMHO, saprophytes are low turd on the totem pole of mushroom flavor. The exchange of nutrients going on between mycorrhizal mushrooms and their host tree produces a fruit that just tastes better. A lot better. The mountain blonde morel (tridentina) is primarily a saprophyte or possibly its exclusively a saprophyte. In really wet years, its very abundant. I won't bend down to pick one. They taste like decay, more like mildew than a proper morel.

Thank you for your expertise. I have been successful with other types, and I love the taste and mouthfeel of a morel, but, I must resign myself to my geographic condition. Bummer on that front.

[petey_]

Some great info in this thread. Thanks. Headed to the shores of Lake Huron next week with hopes of morel picking. Last year was on the dry side and the pickings were a bit slim. Rain this weekend gives us hope. A buddy of mine got us hooked years ago and now we plan a trip around the foraging every year.

[gnarbro365]

[chunder]

This thread rocks; wish I knew more. A bunch of these came up in raised beds in my garden this spring...can anyone help identify them?

[bodywhomper]

There’s been about 40ac of low intensity understory broadcast burns this winter in my pondo pine/black oak forest neighborhood to reduce understory fuels, including on my property. Generally, affecting surface fuels and duff. Anybody know if that may be enough heat for the morels to flush next spring?

[neckdeep]

There’s been about 40ac of low intensity understory broadcast burns this winter in my pondo pine/black oak forest neighborhood to reduce understory fuels, including on my property. Generally, affecting surface fuels and duff. Anybody know if that may be enough heat for the morels to flush next spring?

There needs to be some significant tree mortality to stimulate a flush of fire morels. It's the loss of the host trees that causes the mycelium to go all in and expend all its resources into propagation. But not too much. Ideally, you want a "mosaic burn". Look for areas that have a mix of orange and green canopy with some adjacent blackened trees. Avoid zones that are nuked. Theres some morels in the stump holes and matchsticks but not like there is in partially burnt groves where theres only 40-60% tree mortality and lots of dead trees still holding orange needles.

Of course, that's all besides the point if the forest doesn't support the mycelium in the first place.

first year post burn


5th

[bodywhomper]

There needs to be some significant tree mortality to stimulate a flush of fire morels. It's the loss of the host trees that causes the mycelium to go all in and expend all its resources into propagation. But not to much. Ideally, you want a "mosaic burn". Look for areas that have a mix of orange and green canopy with some adjacent blackened trees. Avoid zones that are nuked. Theres some morels in the stump holes and matchsticks but not like there is in partially burnt groves where theres only 40-60% tree mortality and lots of dead trees still holding orange needles.

Of course, that's all besides the point if the forest doesn't support the mycelium in the first place.

Thanks!!

I have no interest in tree mortality from fire on my property or my neighbors’ properties

I’ve been seeing pictures of significant hauls below 5500 feet in the caldor fire perimeter. I missed the morel window from last summer’s fire that was closer to my home.

[Bronco]

2 hours of walking around in a prescribed burn in the rain.

[John_B]

2 hours of walking around in a prescribed burn in the rain.

Nice. I got another 6 lbs this weekend and we are getting more rain so the haul will likely continue.

[John_B]

And it continues!! 10 lbs in 2 hours today but there are enough cars at my parking spot that I think my secret spot is going to be discovered.

[The Reverend Floater]

Been getting into ones or twos but zero big patches. Still, found a few wall hangers.

[MakersTeleMark]

I shouldn't click on this thread. It's jaw dropping. But, I don't have to live with your weather, but god damn those morels.

[neckdeep]

I shouldn't click on this thread. It's jaw dropping. But, I don't have to live with your weather, but god damn those morels.

Makers, Colorado has morels. You may need to drive down from that glacier you live on but if you are on the north slope of your home mountain range, you are already in the right zone.

Its work, bro. Picking is a lot of driving and hiking. I've got my eye on a burn and its 70 miles of highway, 30 miles of gravel plus a mile or more uphill on foot maybe 500-1000ft. Then its grubbing for hours on full alert because this area is well known for grizzly incidents during elk season. Then, the long drive back home and then, 3 hours of prep to get 5 gallons loaded into the dehydrators. Work.

https://www.foragecolorado.com/read

[MagnificentUnicorn]

I shouldn't click on this thread. It's jaw dropping. But, I don't have to live with your weather, but god damn those morels.

JohnB lives in an area that’s likely drier and has better weather than a lot of CO.


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[neckdeep]

JohnB lives in an area that’s likely drier and has better weather than a lot of CO.


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True. But, that just means you need to be focused on pockets of microclimate. That can actually be helpful, in a way, as an experienced forager can quickly eliminate unproductive and marginal areas to focus on likely productive zones. In the Rockies, shrooms have adapted to the climate, just like their host trees. We have snow melt soaking into the ground for months and that changes the game up a bit. I'd say groundwater is just as important as timely rains because the zones without it may not have the mycelium present. When I scout a slope, the factor I consider is where on the slope could the mycelium survive a multiyear drought.