Shroomin

Yep, it's that time of year again... for morel mushrooms! One of my favorite times of year is in spring when  the wildflowers start to bloom in the woods, and the most delectable mushrooms start to push through the leaf cover on the ground. In past years, I would always go out with my family in May and look for morel mushrooms. This year with all the warm weather, they came up early and had I not been walking through the woods I probably would have missed out on them altogether.

                Morel mushrooms grow across the United States and are fairly abundant in Wisconsin, if you know where to look at least. They are one of a few wild edible mushrooms in the area, but in my (and most people's) opinion, they are the most delicious. In some areas they are nearly considered a delicacy, and people pay good money for them. Some places you can get nearly a hundred dollars for a pound, which is fantastic if you know a good spot to look. Around here some restaurants will buy them up for 30-60 dollars per pound depending on quality and quantity. In the past my family and I have just picked what we can find in our yard and made some goodies for our dinners, but this year we seem to have hit the motherload and have a good 5 pounds already in one day. With any luck I'd like to find more and look along the trails in the area and possibly sell off some of them.

                Hunting for morels is usually hit or miss. There are days that you'll go out and look for hours at a time and come back completely empty handed and on other days you find the right spots and can com back with hundreds. Either way, it's lots of fun to go out and search along the trails and a little competition among other lookers is always good too. There's nothing better than coming back after a long day of hiking to kick back, relax, and fry up your find of the day!