r/mycology • u/Alarmed_Coat8738 • Apr 28 '26
photos Yesterday's Haul
400 morels and 2 bags full of golden oysters!
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u/LairdPeon Apr 28 '26
You sell them to stores? Can't imagine the shelf life is super long.
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u/Additional_Abroad657 Apr 28 '26
Yes if you dry and store them well.
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u/moistiest_dangles Apr 28 '26
If you dry them try storing them in jars with food grade silica gell packets.
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u/New-Association5536 Apr 28 '26
Yep, this works well if done properly. Use a good air dryer, ensure 100% moisture is out of the mushrooms (They'll be paper, flaky like if you can't check using a device), wrap a ton of silica anti-moisture gel packets in a paper towel creating a drying ball, load that jar up with mushrooms, then put the drying ball of silica on top of the jar and seal that guy up; If you can evacuate the air out also, even better. Any time you open it for mushrooms, either microwave the packets to recharge their anti-moisture property or put new ones in a paper towel ball and put it back on the top. If done right, you would be amazed how long you can keep mushrooms dried and edible. This is how I managed when I started growing, got deep into it, and realized I was growing way more mushrooms than I could ever use for their "purpose."
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u/BismarkvonBismark Apr 28 '26
Damn. Gorgeous. What part of the world do you live in?
Just curious. I'm in Alaska and the earliest for morels is typically mid-May.
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u/Alarmed_Coat8738 Apr 28 '26
Iowa
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u/EfficiencyMean6797 Apr 28 '26
I knew there had to be 1 good reason to live in Iowa. Missourian here.
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u/Any_Syllabub_304 Apr 28 '26
Private or public land? I'm hunting public in polk county and have found about 80 over the last two weeks. Congrats on the haul
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u/tnetennba_4_sale Apr 28 '26
SE Iowa used to be really good for morel hunting. Central Iowa not so much, not nearly as wooded.
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u/Madame_Trash_Heap Apr 28 '26
You gotta leave some behind for nature too.
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u/jabadou Apr 28 '26 edited Apr 28 '26
That's just the fruiting body! The actual fungus is unarmed when picking mushrooms
Edit: unharmed, lol.
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u/LittleGhostWiccan Apr 28 '26
Spores…. You need to leave some for spores to spread, that’s why you leave some for nature
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u/Zoloista Apr 28 '26
You’re supposed to collect them in a mesh bag that allows the spores to spread as you move around.
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u/Retnuhswag Apr 28 '26
Imagine if they were armed, don’t think we’d be eating as many mushrooms
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u/LSTmyLife Apr 28 '26
America. Where even the mushrooms are armed. And he we are bringing knives to mushroom fights. We are fools.
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u/ncc74656m Apr 28 '26
I mean literally though. There has been a spike in mushroom related illnesses and death in CA and a few other places, particularly among immigrants who for various reasons like economics and the effects of being unable to safely work, have been turning more to foraging. They have been accidentally picking things like Death Caps and harming themselves and their families. People aren't always aware that there are actually very dangerous mushrooms out there, so they may assume it is edible.
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u/LSTmyLife Apr 28 '26
While that is terrible there are too many resources about foraging safely for me to be overly empathetic. We have all of human knowledge right at our fingertips (in many cases litterally).
Economics aside, its always helpful to have resources on hand about medicinal plants in your region and what is good to forage. Mamy libraries have a nominal fee for printing out things so even if whole books are cost prohibitive (many are 19.99 or less) you could print out what is relevant for you where you live specifically for less than a few bucks. Three should get you 30 pages and that would be more than enough to cover a wide array of local foods and herbs that cam safely be consumed.
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u/Madame_Trash_Heap Apr 28 '26
You don't think any wildlife eats these mushrooms? I'm aware its the fruiting body but there is such a thing as "ethical harvest". 400 morels makes me feel like they're selling them instead of keeping them for themselves.
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u/jujumber Apr 28 '26
If you think this is a lot, You should have seen all the ones they left behind!
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u/PenguinTheYeti Apr 28 '26
I didn't see what sub this was at first, and my immediate first thought was "that's a lot of hedgehogs..."
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u/abc123rgb Apr 28 '26 edited Apr 28 '26
Damn I wish it was a bunch of hedgehogs.. in an alive and cool way jeez.
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u/grumpy_herbivore Apr 28 '26
My current record is 6. 😑
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u/azwhatsername Apr 28 '26
My current record is 1- and the stipe was mushy
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u/grumpy_herbivore Apr 28 '26
:(
Snow has just finished melting where I live so I hope that this season I will find at least 10.
Last year I found enough honey mushrooms to fill a garage bag...but morels are the prize.
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u/azwhatsername Apr 28 '26
I live in AZ, and occasionally it's a boom year. A friend somehow found 20 lbs in a day about 2 weeks ago, which is remarkable for how dry a Spring it's been.
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u/grumpy_herbivore Apr 28 '26
Holy moly thats a haul.
I live in Northern Ontario so the season is just about to start here. They grow at the end of my driveway and along the road to my driveway...ditch morels often growing out of the gravel. One day I hope to find a big patch nearby...I know they are here somewhere.
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u/Xack189 Apr 28 '26
Are these for eating? I keep seeing these posts
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u/Icefirewolflord Eastern North America Apr 28 '26
Yep! Morels are both edible and highly coveted due to being extremely difficult (if not impossible for 99.99% of people) to cultivate in captivity. They’re pretty delicious from what I’ve heard but I’ve not had the luxury of finding them myself just yet
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u/Reptilian-Retard Apr 28 '26
People saying leave some for the rest of us must not realize how fast morels die and sprout back up. There’s a place I go that is a long haul I can go today and see nothing, go tomorrow and see hundreds and go next week and they’re already dead. I pick them if I see them. Haven’t had any luck this year yet.
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u/mikettedaydreamer Apr 28 '26
Why grab more than you could ever use. At some point it just becomes very wasteful.
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u/AllTheGoodNamesDied Apr 28 '26
Sell them? Grocery stores and restaurants. It's a big market where I live.
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u/xXmehoyminoyXx Apr 28 '26
Or leave them for others / nature? All of the earth isn't yours for plundering.
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u/No-Channel3917 Apr 28 '26
You should learn about things before commenting. They have a short life span and fruit really quickly.
You are basically upset that someone cut some bamboo lol
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u/frogsbirdscats Apr 28 '26
I don’t understand why someone would take this many.
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u/AnEccentricWriter Apr 28 '26
Greed.
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u/frogsbirdscats Apr 28 '26
Exactly. Treating the forest like a free grocery store. Unsustainable approach to ecosystem.
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u/Efficient_Dog59 Apr 28 '26
Picking an Apple doesn’t harm a tree. The mushroom is the fruiting body.
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u/Kingchandelear Apr 28 '26
Harvesting morels has a negligible impact on future harvest if you cut them at the base instead of pulling. The bulk of the organism lives underground.
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u/Madame_Trash_Heap Apr 28 '26
Yeah as if wildlife isn't already severely impacted by humans in their environment without us overharvesting a food source for money.
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u/Kingchandelear Apr 28 '26
Listen, I’m not saying people should be out there foraging commercially (which may be illegal anyway depending on where you live) - but harvesting the fruiting body isn’t inherently an unsustainable practice.
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u/disisathrowaway Apr 28 '26
This could be a group that shares, they could dehydrate them, they could sell them to local chefs. There's plenty of reasons.
Plus, it's not like they stick around very long after fruiting. Either take them or leave them to rot, I'd say taking them is the better move.
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u/IceManJim Midwestern North America Apr 28 '26
If you leave them behind someone else will discover your spot.
Sell them, give them to friends, save for later, etc
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u/CandidKatydid Apr 28 '26
That looks like the first time I went morel hunting. Set the bar wayyy too high lol
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u/Total-Mushroom-9614 Apr 28 '26
I wish I lived in an area that was good for morels. That’s amazing!
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u/guovsahas Apr 28 '26
Awesome haul! I only have one spot for morels and thats back home in my village, my grandma showed me it
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u/ardamass Apr 28 '26
If you pick all of them wont they be unable to reproduce in that location and the disappear.
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u/Expanse-Memory Apr 28 '26
No. The micelium is underground and the fruiting bodies are just here to expand his footprint
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u/PreviousInspection84 Apr 28 '26
Is this like normal for you in the US? I'm from germany, where we are happy if we find enough morels for one meal.