Up North. PEOPLE | NATURE | ARTS | NOSTALGIA | BUZZ | WISDOM | CURIOSITIES
MOREL MADNESS by THE MYNORTH TEAM
Take part in perhaps the most-loved spring tradition Up North.
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t ’s may, and that means we’re hunting for morels in Northern Michigan. Here we share 13 of the best tips we’ve gathered over the years from foragers and chefs.
WHEN TO LOOK
HOW TO FIND
• Morels are notorious for being difficult to track down but if you look for tree groves mixed with living, dead and dying ash, elm, oak and aspen trees your chances of success will increase. Morels are also found under pine trees, in apple orchards and even in backyards around woodchip piles. • If you’re a beginner mushroom hunter, print a color picture of your prey (the morel). This will aid in training your eyes to spot these camouflaged delicacies. You’ll also have a useful reference when you think you have located a NORTHERN MICHIGAN'S MAGAZINE
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photo by Brian Confer
• Morel season lasts for five to six weeks. You start with the black morels (look near poplars and aspen) then you have a crossover period with blacks and whites, and at the end of the season, it’s only whites (common near ash trees). During the crossover, that’s when you go to an apple orchard … if you can find one that’s from an old abandoned farm, maybe 100 years old, it’s perfect. • Morels grow best in spring, mid-April to late May, when daytime temps reach around 60–65 degrees and evening temps stay above 50 degrees. This helps to warm the soil to 50+ degrees, which is important for morel mushrooms and many other fungi to grow. • It’s all about the rain. The mushrooms don’t look at the calendar and say, “Hey, it’s April 25th, we need to get out there! ” They look at the weather. When we get the rain, we get the morels. But even in a light rain, or if there's moisture left over from winter, they will grow.
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4/6/21 8:06 PM
