By Christine Sass
My husband has always had a hankering to go morel hunting. So, a couple of years ago we made our way north to the Lewiston area in Northern Michigan.
It was an early Saturday morning when our group of novice harvesters boarded the bus, many of us with steaming cups of coffee to fully wake up, to take us to our hunting destination. It was a glorious sunny morning with a chill in the air. We took a 20-mile ride to our location near the tiny burg of Vienna. On arrival at our destination, Stan, our guide for this adventure, passed out the mesh bags in which we would store our morels. He instructed us on the proper way to pick the morels advising us to utilize a knife so we did not disturb the root for the following year. He said that seasoned hunters will wait for lilacs to bloom believing that is when morel’s start to appear.
Our hunt location was at the edge of a woodland that contained dead or dying trees. On exiting the bus, we were struck by the musky aroma of decomposing leaves and twigs. He advised burn sites such as controlled burns or a recent forest fire can be huge morel sites.
Who knew morel hunting could be so complicated? Who knew it could be a true or false situation? There are mushrooms disguised as morels. The first to appear in Spring (generally the first three weeks of May but can begin the end of April and go into June) are the black which are the most common. They range from an inch or so to several inches in height. They are commonly found in ash, oak, and poplar forests. An edible “true morel” will have a pitted hollow cap attached to a hollow stem.
Stan stressed it is very important to know exactly what you are harvesting. Our guide cautioned to never eat morels raw and suggested slicing every mushroom down the middle before cooking. There are so-called false morels which are poisonous and some that can be fatal if eaten. Some people can eat the false ones with no problems but can one day have reaction. He said if you have doubts, toss it.
Our guide also reminded us to be aware of tick bites. We all had on long sleeves and pants. Stan passed out insect repellent and recommended checking for ticks when we got home and showering after.
After a few hours Stan rounded us up and we made our way back to our bus. My husband and I clutched our mesh bags with our prized crop. The bus took us to our drop off point at the local elementary school where we were treated to bowls of delicious homemade mushroom soup and warm bread right out of the oven.
We have not ventured out on our own since that day but plan to try again. It sure was an invigorating way to greet the day and be outside in the pristine northern woods.
Christine Ryan Sass
