Pssst... Want to know of a spot on State Land, where you can pick a bushel in 3 - 4 hours! Hardly anybody goes there. There are so many that we can't use them all, so I thought I would share with those who view this page. Click the Red Button to get the exact location, and promise not to tell.

       Spring is my favorite time of the year.   Just smell the morels! To get out in the woods with the smells and soft warm breezes is a pleasure. I also get plenty of exercise around LaPorte County, walking, climbing, bending, while hunting and picking mushrooms .
       I often notice birds that I don't see any other time of year because I'm not in the woods as much during summer or winter.
       I like the experience of walking up on a deer, or spotting an occassional wild turkey.   I'm serenaded by wild geese and ducks.  Soon there will be little goslings wandering around to watch and feed.
 

Black Morels

      The 2000 mushroom season is almost behind us now, the picking was sparse, and the size of the "mushrooms" were small. This was due to the lack of rain. It was somewhat dry weather in northern Indiana this year!
      Use care in the woods. If you must smoke in the woods, carry a small jar or a 35mm film canister filled with water. Use this to put out your cigarette. Some people say the 'Shrooms grow very abundantly around the edges of an area which had burned the previous year or two.
      Just make sure that it isn't your fault that it burned in the first place.             Know what I mean Vern .....?     Keep LaPorte County beautiful.     Only YOU can ..... etc., etc.  :-)

      NEVER "PULL" a mushroom from the ground! You only get about 1/4 inch more of the stem, but that is tough anyway. ALWAYS PINCH it off above ground or CUT it off with a knife or small shears! Pinching works well with morels. (Pinch, cock the plant a bit, then pinch again. Works every time!) If you pull it out with the roots you stand a chance of it never re-growing, as you have just disturbed the mycyllium (spelling?). Anyway that is the part of the plant system under the ground that is VERY delicate and easy to kill. ... So please PINCH, and DON'T PULL!

      While wild mushrooms are best used fresh, preserving your bounty is easily done also. Drying them is the most popular method of preserving. Some freeze them also. I prefer drying them. I place them on a screen and put in the oven with the door left cracked about 8 inches (or wide open with a low speed fan on them if you are in a hurry). This lets the moisture escape. If you have a gas oven, the pilot light is usually enough heat. I have an electric oven, so I set it to mantain a temprature of 90 to 110 degrees for 8 to 12 hours, depending on moisture content. Use a thermometer and make sure you never go above 110 degrees! You want them thourghly dried but still just a tiny bit of give when you squeeze them. When you're ready to use them for cooking later, rehydrate them by soaking in cold water a few hours, or very hot water about an hour or so. Save the water for gravies, sauces and etc. It adds a nice flavor to them.
      Regardless of how you use wild mushrooms, remember cooking is a must. Cooking destroys most of the irritants that causes reactions in some people.
 
 

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A Morel Hunter's Companion by Nancy Smith Weber. A Guide to the True and False Morels. More than a mere morel hunter's guide. It also contains chapters on cooking and preserving morels, morel classification, cultivation of morels, and the relationship between weather and morel mushrooms. Refers to & cites an extensive list of publications on morels and related mushrooms. 208 pages. 70 great COLOR PLATES; tables: glossary; index. $19.95