Clockwise from top, Morchella esculenta, Wild Ginger in bloom, Morchella ??...(ID help welcomed) I've got no idea where to start. It's been so long since I have had a minute to spare that all the thoughts and ideas of the last few weeks have puddled in my brain and are now sort of lost there. A few things do come to mind; I've quit worrying that Spring will turn around and leave--she seems to be here and does not plan any tricks like frost or freak snow. I am also enjoying the fact that the point has been reached, phenologically speaking, when the leaves of our trees now almost completely obscure our neighbors. We like our neighbors, but are constantly attempting to pretend that we are the only ones here. Mike's strategic tree planting, which made no sense to me fifteen years ago, now proves itself to be the work of a man who truly understands optimism and long term thinking.
Last weekend was spent running around in the woods for two days. I had huge plans and knew that 48 hours probably wouldn't cover everything I wanted to get done and I was right. I went equipped with bags to house the plants I was planning to dig for myself and friends, the camera pack stuffed, and a vague plan to get it all done somehow. In the end, the only thing I truly devoted any time to was underfoot, hiding, and delicious. It is Morel season in Illinois.
We started reading the mushroom boards online a few days before we left. We scoured the posts for reports from the county where our land is located and found a few-- hopes were high that our chosen weekend would be fruitful. We would have gone whether or not the mushrooms were waiting for us asthe first weekend in May has proven in years past to be a busy one for morels as well as Barred Owls, so we go no matter what. It is also one of the last times in the season when we can navigate the woods without a machete. While the land is relatively pristine (very little garlic mustard, no buckthorn, no burdock) the roses and raspberries make the deer paths impassable for anyone but the deer after mid-May. We do have other favorite times during the year to be there, but our May trip is the seminal event of the year. The convergence of these two events, new Barred Owl families out and about together and morels popping up, is magical. Morels and owls are both frustrating creatures, nonetheless. They are elusive masters of camouflage; there one second and gone the next. While the owls can be found at most times of year with a little luck and a knowledge of their haunts, Morels are less cooperative. Their season is short and their numbers are determined by the usual factors--rain, soil temperature, and light conditions.
Morchella crassipes and Morchella esculenta, our two most commonly found species here, tend to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Theories abound as to the best places to find them, with the most common being under dead elm and apple trees. Recently burned areas are also a frequently cited indicator. In our woods there are no apple trees or fires so the only thing we have to go on are the elms. While a decaying elm does not always mean morels, the mushrooms we do find are almost always near them. The frustrating part is that finding one mushroom is meaningless. Before beginning morel hunting myself I always assumed that if I were lucky enough to find one it would invariably lead to a field of them....not so in Morel world. One mushroom does not necessarily mean more mushrooms. We very often come upon a 30 foot radius of elm bark littering the ground and fine one mushroom, sometimes two. If conditions are right for two, then why aren't there a hundred of them? No idea. We cut the two we find and move on to the next spot. I do wonder if for every one we find there is at least another which we missed--they don't pop up through the leaf litter all the time--sometimes they emerge rather horizontally and are completely obscured. And very often they blend so seamlessly into the leaves of the last few years that they are simply not there. I have to constantly remind my brain of what I am looking for and put a picture of it into my head--otherwise I don't see anything but leaves and sticks. Part of my problem also arises from the fact that the woods is the most ADD inducing place in the world for me--especially after a long winter. My mantra is "mushroom", but my brain is seeing everything else and yelling it all into my ear....Jack in the Pulpit! Spring Beauty! Toad! Unknown flower! Big spider! Snake! Owl pellet! Wild Ginger! This may be nature's way of making sure that I don't get even a quarter of the morels out there. Nature's got nothing on Mike though...he is single minded, focused, and undistractible, a master of doing what he is supposed to be doing and nothing of what he's not. This annoys me.
The results of the two days of wandering were satisfactory if not astounding. We ended up with a couple pounds of at least two species, some the size of soda cans, some more along the lines of quarters. They were cut ( an indian friend has reminded me never to pull any plant or mushroom--this would be yanking out the hair of Mother Earth) and deposited into mesh bags, which hopefully allows the scattering of spores as we continue our woodswalk. Once home Mike split and dried them for use throughout the year. Our haul of this or any season will never keep us in Morels for a whole year--we share them with a close friend or two no matter how few we bring home and always use them sparingly all year, but we still run out by fall. I sauteed some earlier this week with butter, an obscene amount of garlic, white wine, and cream and put the whole mess over whole-wheat pasta. It was delicious though I felt it needed more mushrooms. The things we wait a year for must be rationed and protected and never eaten mindlessly. This leads me to the rant I have been mulling for a few weeks about local foods and the importance of foraging as a life-skill, but I am not foolish enough to assume anyone has time or desire to read another ten paragraphs. I'll save that diatribe for another morning.
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