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A Morel-less May

This has been a rather disappointing spring, as far as foraging is concerned.  For the past several years, my husband and myself have been honing in on the exact environment the magical morel mushroom grows in.  This unique mushroom is truly a treasure.  Prolific in more eastern parts of the country as a yellow morel, the rocky mountain version is dark and mysterious. It grows around 8,000 -10,000 feet elevation on steep slopes covered in scrub oak.  We will often find them in clusters, just pushed up from the earth.  Morels will pop up all through the month of May here, right around my birthday, and I look forward to it every year. 

A gorgeous Morel from last May
After a long mushroom deprived winter, it is a joy to get back into the woods, foraging for these delicious beauties.  This year we grew increasingly more worried as May approached.  Our winter was almost non-existent as far as moisture is concerned, and we crossed our fingers for a wet spring to grow the mushrooms.  May came without April showers.  As hard as we looked we could not find a single morel.  We hit all our honey holes, and came up empty handed each time.  

The only Morel of 2018
Finally, on a hike in a spot that had produced several pounds in a single day the year before, we found one mushroom. The mushroom was tiny, and I'm surprised my husband had even spotted it!  If I had known how dismal this spring mushroom season would be, I would have been much stingier with my stash from last year!  I just hope this is not an indication of what the rest of the mushroom year is going to look like.  I am going to cross my fingers and toes and hope this summer is rain filled and mushroom producing!  I have to feed my obsession! ☺

Here are some pictures of morels from last year.  I sure hope next year brings more photos like these!









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