Beautiful fungi
Aileen brought Jarrett Taite and Matthias down for the long weekend and I kind of wondered if we would be able to find enough to do now that we don’t have the sights of Seattle to entertain us. But between a bon fire, squirrel shooting, late night games, Saturday farmer’s market, and a package of stamp on tattoos, we had as much together as we always do. The weather wasn’t great but we took advantage of Saturday afternoon’s break from rain to go mushroom hunting north of where we live near Joseph Canyon.
After a couple false alarms in which all 7 of us would tear through the forest toward the yells of, “I got one, I found one, everybody come over here!! . . . .oh, wait never mind. . . . it’s a toad stool ” we became expert morel mushroom hunters. These odd little fungi look like small brown Christmas trees with a brain-like texture and grow around Wallowa County in late May and into June. They are a rare delicacy because they can’t be farmed, but instead have to be searched out on the forest floor. After a couple hours of “shrooming” we turned up with 25 morels, roughly a pound which could sell for $20 an ounce! Dried Wild Morel Mushrooms
The thrill of the hunt got to us and we started identifying where the fungi liked to grow best. Not too dry, not too wet, with a little undergrowth and m0ss in the surrounding area, and dark rich soil.
The happy hunting party
Aileen turned out to be a natural morel finder
Jarrett Matt and I (with Jude's help of course) found a small jackpot on an exposed bank of rich soil.
Zac's findings
We hiked, discovered streams, animals, birds and lots of poop that Matthias was good enough to identify for us at every point, and then the boys reverted to putting moss up their noses and any other clever place they could think of. Next Jarrett entertained us with his back flips off of stumps. Then everyone decided they were hungry and we headed home to fry up our prize in a little flour and butter to serve with cocktails and soda before dinner. Perfect end to a perfect day.
The drive home
I’ve never had that kind of mushroom. How do they taste compared to Portabellas?
What fun! I would love to go “shrooming” – I love mushrooms and would never pay $20 an ounce for them… so it seems like my only chance to taste the really high-falluting ones. :-) Maybe someday..
They are even more flavorful than portabellas and very rich, with a meaty, nutty flavor. They taste best when you don’t add much of anything to them. The season is about over, but you’ll have to come next spring, Elly!
Very neat blog article.Really thank you! Much obliged.