Last night Eliza, Evan, Vic and I all went down to Clemson for the monthly South Carolina Upstate Mycology Society (hence forth SCUMS) meeting. Our friend Tradd, of Mushroom Mountain, gave this month’s presentation on morels. For those folks, like ourselves, who are true mushroom enthusiasts, morels are easily one of the most sought after mushroom types of the year. They are odd mushrooms, covered in an almost honeycombed pattern, with a tantalizing flavor. Because of there picky growing situations, morels can bring bucks from restaurants looking to make some fancy dishes.
While I live to eat morels and truly hope to find some this year to do some good cooking with, I think my favorite thing about morel season is just the hunt. In fact that seems to be about my overall favorite thing about mushroom forging in general; getting out in nature, often with friends, and carefully observing the fantastic world about me. It is an added bonus when you find a cool mushroom, especially if it is a particularly delicious edible like a morel.
Morels season is coming on fast and will probably hit this portion of SC in about three weeks or so. I am ready to get out and do some major forging. Last year Evan and I might have found about fifty of so morels (a pretty meager amount when you see some of Tradd’s forging results). Already we are all marking locations in our minds, taking note of the trees and the terrain, watching the temperatures in the area. We’ve all got a bit of an itch to just get out there and start finding. I am really hoping to get some great results.
So if you are a mushroom enthusiast too, get ready. Morels are one of the first mushrooms to make a big appearance every year, but the window for gathering them in a specific region is always short (two or three weeks at best). So read up on them, visit Mushroom Mountain’s website for some advice, and all and all just get ready to have some fun.
Some of last year's morels finds. They are gonna be out their folks, you just have to have the eyes and the patience to go looking for them.
