MORELS...

I never knew some states had a state mushroom until moving to Minnesota... well, Minnesota's is the morel mushroom & for about 1-2 weeks in spring, the devout morel hunter can take to the woods in search of these hidden treasures.  Mike's first big score was a couple weeks ago while he was in Kansas turkey hunting with friends... he came across quite the score or morels!

We aren't sure if he was more excited about the morels or the "bearded hen" turkey he managed to get!

They actually found these ones in our backyard when he got back from Kansas... indicating an early mushroom season in MN for sure!

Normally our morel season here falls more in May, early to mid, but this year we've had an early spring.  The lilacs & apple trees have all blossomed a good 2 weeks early...

& so we set out this past weekend assuming the morels would also be early.  As any morel hunter will lament, it isn't always as easy as finding the right spot... the best spot may yield nothing while some "nothing" spot has a bumper crop... a spot that had a good yield the  year before will have almost nothing... and so it goes.  The biggest tools a morel hunter has are time to burn & a good set of walking legs!  We set out on Saturday... Mike had a little more luck than Mike's dad & I did...

Sunday we strapped on our boots & hit the hills some more... by the end of our afternoon, we had some tired legs but had a pretty good score of mushrooms to show for it! 

I don't even eat them... I've never been a mushroom fan but I'm sure if I did, morels would be at the top of my list.  The kids can (& often do) make a meal of just morels.  Even though I don't eat them, I enjoy looking for them... it is like a big treasure hunt in the woods.  Finding a tree with a big score is always exciting or holding out for one monster morel... now that would be cool!

 

Mike & Brandon doing some looking not to far from home last night after the rain.  They found several good trees & filled the creel!

... And we're not done yet... as long as there are some good mushrooms still lurking in the woods, we'll be out looking for them!