Morels

May is usually the time to find morels (Morchella esculenta) in Kalamazoo but the season varies, which makes finding these elusive mushrooms even more difficult. The last couple of years, I've come up nearly empty-handed.  Yesterday, I found morels growing in my own backyard.

Morels are so popular that the Kalamazoo Gazette featured news of early finds this year.  You can also find online maps and morel forums discussing morel finds across the US.    


 Michigan morel festivals 
Boyne City May 17-20, 2012
Mesick  May 11-13, 2012
Lewiston May 12, 2012

Giant puffball

I only trust my identification skills enough to eat two kinds of wild mushrooms: morels and giant puffballs (Calvatia gigante). While morels blend readily into the woodland floor, giant puffballs can be spotted at a distance thanks to their size and color. It's hard to miss a mushroom as big as your head.

When they're young, they are solid white inside and out. At that stage, slice them into steak-sized slabs and fry them. As they mature the inside turns yellow and loses texture and taste. Eventually the inside turns dark and releases its spores. These two were growing at the Kalamazoo Nature Center, so I left them untouched.

There are smaller puffballs, but I'm afraid I'd confuse them with some poisonous look-a-likes, so I stick with the giant ones.

If you'd like to learn more, the Michigan Mushroom Hunters Club leads public mushroom hunts throughout the state.

Morel Season

I've been searching for morels several times over the last few weeks. So far, I've only found one, the half-free morel pictured above. Fortunately, a friend found a large number of morels in Kalamazoo and invited us for dinner so I was able to enjoy this spring treat.

half-free morel

I'd never found this kind of morel before this weekend and I would have had trouble identifying it if I hadn't read this Northern Country Morels webpage.

We also found Gyromitra esculenta, a false morel that can be lethal. We didn't pick those.

Morels

Morels are one of the highlights of Spring in Michigan. These distinctive mushrooms only appear for a few weeks each year. Mothers' Day is typically the height of the season around Kalamazoo. I spotted these yesterday at the Kalamazoo Nature Center, which meant I couldn't pick them. This weekend, I'll go morel hunting with friends. Success is never guaranteed, but the walk through woods is always worthwhile. The mushrooms, prepared simply by frying in a little butter, are delicious.