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  3 0 I live in Eastern Washington, and as you might imagine, it can be a bit boring. However, morel mushroom season is a delight every year, and I have my "secret areas" RM mentioned, where I know they grow. I can't disclose THOSE places, but I can give you some tips if you are willing to travel to central/eastern WA to do some foraging. The lower elevations(2000 ft), where I live the yellows have come and gone mostly, but the blackand gray morels are in season now, if you go a little higher, like Blewitt pass, Leavenworth area. Stephens pass is also a good spot, but those tend to come out later due to the cold weather. I have heard this a myth, but from my own shrooming experience, i have found that the Morels have some sort of Symbiotic relationship with Alder, and Cottonwood trees. They tend to grow in the underbrush in areas that are moist, dead leaves etc but need to have adequate sunlight for the fruits to bloom. I've also occasionally found oyster mushrooms on or near cottonwoods, but none so far this year. I've been doing this for so long now it is relatively easy for me to spot a place that I assume Morels may be growing, and even that is a 50/50, gamble sometimes there are a couple here and there, other times i have found hundreds. If you stay at it for a few hours though, you are most likely going to find some. They also tend to grow like crazy in second year burn areas of Pine in the Wenatchee forest area. From what the locals have been bringing to the Farmers Market, and from what I have already found, (3-4 lbs)this seems to be a good year for morels, probably due to the rain-sun-rain-sun pattern we've had in the past months. If you can, make a trip to Cleelum/Roslyn,or Leavenworth, and ask some of the locals about morels, they will most likely give you tips, but will keep their lips sealed about specific spots. If you happen to find morels, again, Blewiit Pass has lots of ideal places to pull over with Alder, Cottonwood on the side of the road, always remember to pinch or cut the shrooms at the base of the stalk, or you will damage the delicate "root" system underground, and could kill the area for future years. Beware of the False morels, they have more brainy looking heads that are not fully attached to the stem, and the inside of the mushroom has a cottony substance rather than a hollow center like true morels. Although I have eaten these in the past with no harm, it is not recommended as they contain a toxin that is said to produce some vertigo like effects and nausea in some people, as well as being carcinogenic. Hope this helps! bradkin answered in Food & Drink about 1 year ago | Report 1 comment by RM… 0 0 Now I want to go! RM commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  3 0 Well, firstly recognize that no one who knows of a good spot is ever going to tell you where that is or how to find it. I'd start by doing some research into what types of areas they're known for growing, then go from there. Langdon Cook (http://fat-of-the-land.blogspot.com/) posts about foraging quite often, and Christina of Nettletown (the restaurant, once the blog) who also started Foraged and Found has many old blog posts worth digging around in (http://nettletown.blogspot.com/). You may want to pick up a few mushroom books as well- they will be primarily focused on identifying species, but will also go over climate and growing conditions. Just do an Amazon search for "mushrooms" under books, and go from there. Michael Pollan does an awesome job of describing his experiences mushroom hunting in The Omnivore's Dilemma. You'll need to be familiar with the geography and growth cycles in whichever area you plan to hunt. RM answered in Food & Drink about 1 year ago | Report 1 comment by RM… 0 0 Funny. I came across this post just a second ago. http://teaandcookies.blogspot.com/2010/05/morel-mushroom-hunting-and-life-lesson.html RM commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 The very best way to get started is to join a mushroom club! The Northwest Mushroomers' Association has a great website with links to other area mushrooming clubs (http://www.northwestmushroomers.org/links.htm). Many organizations have organized forays, which is a great way to get acquainted with local mushroom "spots" and to learn ID and habitat tips from experienced mushroomers. It helps immensely to have an experienced mushroomer along to help you on the first few forays, as even basic ID can be a tricky for some species and even safe, easy-to-ID mushrooms such as morels, oysters, and chanterelles have potentially poisonous semi-look-alikes that could fool a novice forager. For ID, a good website is the mushroom matchmaker (http://forestry-dev.org/cgi-bin/matchmaker/MatchMaker.asp)-- this is a program where you can input characteristics of a mushroom you've found and it generates potential matches, though it's a bit tricky to use if you have never used mycology terminology. The "Bible" of mushrooming in the West is David Arora's "Mushrooms Demystified", a huge book that you probably don't want to lug around in the forest but that is a great source of info. David Arora's "All That the Rain Promises (And More)" is a good pocket guide, but it lacks a lot of common PNW mushrooms. "Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest" by Steve Trudell and Joe Ammirati is a wonderful field guide (assuming you're in the Pacific Northwest)- while it doesn't have a great key it has great photos and descriptions of the majority of mushrooms you'll find around Western WA, at least. As for where to go, that depends on what you want to find. You can probably find some delicious edibles in your lawn, in your neighbor's mulch, or at a local park... But for other species a trip up to the mountains or into the coastal woods is in order. The spring and fall are the best times to mushroom, though some species can be found in the summer and a few "snowbank mushrooms" can be found in late winter... So if you go on some unsuccessful forays this summer just keep in mind that when the rain starts up and the temps drop in the fall, you'll have more mushrooms than you know what to do with! So anyways, get some good books, join a mushrooming club or find a knowledgeable friend, and soon you'll be enjoying the almondy richness of Agaricus augustus, the chicken-like taste of Laetiporus conifericola, the apricot scent of Cantharellus spp., and so on. The PNW is such a great place to forage!!! Just please do your research first- while few mushrooms are deadly many can make you miserable, and it's just not worth the risk... When in doubt, throw it out! Cyn answered in Food & Drink about 1 year ago | Report 1 comment by Cyn… 0 0 I just realized that my links don't work because I put parentheses around them, so here they are again: http://www.northwestmushroomers.org/links.htm http://forestry-dev.org/cgi-bin/matchmaker/MatchMaker.asp (I forgot to mention: to get started with MatchMaker, select "MatchMaker"-->"Make a New Match") Also another book recommendation because it's fun to read and has good ID info for morels: "Morels" by Michael Kuo. Happy mushrooming! Cyn commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 I just got started looking on this side of the state too, and unfortunately I don't have any good tips for places around here yet. However, for step 2 (positively identifying what you've found before you eat it), the most helpful resource I just learned about is this: http://www.psms.org/id_clinics.html You can just walk in on Mondays at the UW Center for Urban Horticulture from 4pm-7pm and people from the Puget Sound Mycological Society will help you identify mushrooms you bring in. aiff answered in Food & Drink about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 I knew someone who joined a local mushrooming group - they would go on field trips where beginners could hook up with experienced foragers. It sounded cool; I think this is the group: Puget Sound Mycological Society . asteria answered in Food & Drink about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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