Morrels

[Brandon Shaw]

Found my second batch of morrels today (small greys), actually I'm cooking them right now! How is the mushroom season going for everyone else?

[Karl]

Here in S.E. Wis. we just got several days of great rain. Now need the temp to spike a bit and I'll be out looking. Can't wait !!!

[usbwrangler]

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for the reminder. It's been a few years since I've hunted for morrels due to the drought. But with the increased rain comes hope and morrel hunting.

With the extensive forest fires the last few years, the hunting should be great.

Thanks
Dennis

[BjornBee]

Good year for snipes too! Saw a couple the other day while I was out planting rocks in tree crevices. Should really have a bumper crop in a few years.
Oh wait a minute.....You guys are actually having a serious discussion. Sorry for the interruption.

[Michael Bush]

Morrels were up here about a week ago and everytime it rains there are more.

[hoosierhiver]

the other day i hiked for hours up and down ridges and didn't find one,then got up the next day and found a bunch right off my backyard.

[mark williams]

anyone ever eat any polk salad,Don't no what a morrel is,you guessed it I/m from the south,

[Karl]

Mark: A morrel is a great wild mushroom which only shows up for a week or so. Conditions need to be right or you won't see them till the next year. A real treat when you stumble onto a large amount of them.

[Michael Bush]

I always suspected it was spelled "poke". Maybe I was wrong. I've eaten poke greens, and mustard greens, and collard greens, and turnip greens, and dandelion greens... can you tell I used to live in the south?

[mark williams]

Michael: your right it is spelled poke.that prove's I'm from the south.(L.0.L).

[joens]

when I was a kid we ate a lot of poke salad .that was in Arkansas .It doesnt grow where I live now.
Joens

[BjornBee]

Of course on the idea of spelling, "morrel" is really spelled morel.

[usbwrangler]

Hello Everyone,

Hum, I must not get it. The only poke I know makes his living with cows.

Dennis Morrel ...er
Denis Morell...?
Dennis Murrell....I think this's it :< )

a Wyoming bee wrangler and spelling dropout :> )

[joens]

remember that song "poke salad annie " I forget who sang it.
Joens

[loggermike]

I saw the first ones here a few days ago while driving between beeyards.Not a lot but enough for dinner when I got home.Really something to look forward to.I like to fry them in butter with some dry red wine,then when they cook down ,add a can of campbells mushroom soup and a half can of milk.Makes a great gravy for steak or chicken or on toast.

[dragonfly]

My husband says the singer of "Poke Salad Annie" is Tony Joe White, from Louisiana, as he recalls.
By the way, are there no Morel or Morrel or Morrell mushrooms in Texas? Can anyone tell me where they grow? Sounds like fun.

[mark williams]

Dragonfly: I think your husband is right that name sound's right to me also,has anyone ever eat fried poke stalk's? taste like fried okra. you cut the stalk's & fix it just like okra,

[dragonfly]

You're kidding! Tastes like okra? I love fried okra. I may have to plant some poke salad next season. Thanks for the tip. How is it in gumbo? (cut up stalks, that is)

[mark williams]

never tried it in gumbo,but to me it taste just like okra,We alway's cut the stalk's when it's about the size of your index finger,but the other day a friend said they alway cut it when it get's bigger,so I guess you can eat it at any size,so if you like okra you will like it.

[Karl]

Finally found a few morells today. about 15 of the small black ones. Just enough to fry up for an afternoon treat. They were great!

[ctackett9]

It's best to cut and eat poke while it's still small. After it's tall and thick it really needs to have the tough outer skin removed or it will be real stringy and tough. Used to really enjoy the morels here in Kentucky until last year I got very sick after eating quite a lot of them. So this year I tried eating just a few bites to be safe, got the same results. Havn't quite figured out why, but I quess "change really is the only constant".

[hoosierhiver]

there are false morels which are somewhat poisenous,the pattern on the mushroom is wavy, not cell like.

[hoosierhiver]

i have several morel superstitions i attest to,1)you got to pay your dues,you must do some hiking before you are worthy.2)if your cocky,the morel gods will be less inclined to favor you.this includes brazenly carring sacks around.3)once you eat one,it gets in your blood stream and makes to more psychically intuned to the morel.4)if you act like you've given up and are just enjoying a hike they sometimes let down their gaurd and don't hide as well.

[Brandon Shaw]

I completely agree with Hoosier, but this year for Iowa is an exception I think just about anyone could go out and find a bag full in Southern Iowa! In the past couple of days I've found about 500 greys, yellows, small and large. I'm kinda sick of eating them, but the addiction keeps me heading out to the woods.

[Joel Acheson]

I like Dragonfly's idea of planting some Poke Salad. Think I'll also plant some Potatoes and Gravy. If Hoosierhiver will plant the Fried Chicken, we can have us a feed!

[mark williams]

I'd like to come to that cook,But Hoosierhiver please leave your rock at home. Mark

[hoosierhiver]

i put in a few rows of biscuits the other day.

[BWrangler]

Greetings,

Yesterday, I went mushroom hunting in the mountains to the south of us. The day was cold and cloudy. A few blue mason bees were working the pussywillows that are now blooming.

Didn't find a single morel. Yep, I had a bag just in case:> )

But I did see a single honeybee working a pussywillow bloom! Could a feral hive have survived the winter at altitude? It's thirty miles and at least 3000 vertical feet from this location to the closest known honeybees. And I have never seen a honeybee in this survive in this environment in 30 years.

Regards
Dennis
Thinking of switching from mushrooms to bees

[This message has been edited by Admin (edited May 18, 2003).]

[Michael Bush]

Maybe you should set up some bait and beeline back to the hive and see. It would be a wonderful start for some genetic stock for there.

[Andy]

Here in SW VA morels are pronounced murkles, farther southwest in Va, they are called dryland fish. Don't know why, they don't taste anything like fish to me. Under apple trees is the best place to find them. Second best is poplars, followed by ash. Any ginseng hunters out there?