Good year for Morels?

[pikeslayer22]

Originally Posted by ken1989

The morels that we do not eat fresh, we air dry - keep forever. Attached is a pic of yesterdays haul. Back out today for a bit.

These would be false Morels/Verpas correct?



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[Fishfri]

Originally Posted by HunterDave

I thought that there were no poisonous mushrooms in Alberta that look similar to morels

Yes there is the poisonous false morels. I saw some growing few years ago by powder face trail. they looked like morels but swollen, red. And also looked more like a sphere shape with wrinkles.

[aokan99]

The poisonous "look alike" is called gyromitra esculenta. Usually find them at the same time as morels. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyromitra_esculenta

[HunterDave]

Originally Posted by aokan99

The poisonous "look alike" is called gyromitra esculenta. Usually find them at the same time as morels. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyromitra_esculenta

Thanks. Now that I know these are out there I can easily distinguish between these and morels.

[Red Bullets]

Originally Posted by Kim473

Please school me, The morels are the big black ones and the verpas are the dark brown smaller ones, correct ?

The morels are in the lower right corner of the pile.

Verpas have pith inside the stems and morels have hollow stems. The verpa stems detach from the cap where morels stems are attached the the cap.

[walking buffalo]

Originally Posted by HunterDave

Thanks. Now that I know these are out there I can easily distinguish between these and morels.

I'm glad you waded past Waterninja's rhetorical hole to get to the truth.

[Auger]

I know many people won't agree with me but I would caution people to read about the mushroom verpa bohemica, also called false morel or early morel and various other names. This mushroom does have the chemical monomethylhydrazine(MMH). It is essentially rocket fuel. Now where people disagree about this mushroom is that by just boiling them or cooking them really well you get rid of the chemicals/toxins. In small amounts this won't kill you but will cause liver damage and is also carcinogenic. I personally haven't come across a valid study that says cooking them removes all MMH, if someone has please post it. The other false morel is the beefstalk mushroom(Gyromitra esculenta). Which looks like a squished morel but is also reddish in color. So not really easy to confuse with true or half morels. Most importantly if you are new to mushroom picking do lots of research, don't take the opinions of just one post (including mine), and take a wild mushroom course or get connected to a mushroom picking community. Happy mushroom hunting all.

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[Bub]

Originally Posted by waterninja

I feel for you Bub. Just got back from another spot that I have had luck at before and nada. It can be very frustrating, but at least we are out in the field, and I'm sure we have another week left. Tomorrow I'm making a day of it.

Went out yesterday again for a couple of hours and nothing. Had a close encounter with a mama bear and her two tiny cubs though. Was sitting down poking through plants and flowers for a couple of minutes, got up and there they were behind me about 20 meters away. Luckily, she decided to turn around and lead the cubs away instead of confronting me. Worked out for everybody

[Red Bullets]

Just a tidbit on locating morel ground. I have taken note that where I find morels I find indian pipestem. Also known as the Ghost plant or Corpse plant. At this time of the year there are just the dead dried up pipestem from last year. If you are finding the pipestem there is a chance of morels.

The pic is indian pipestem when it is growing. Note there is no chlorophyll. Interesting little plant too. Good to know in the bush..for toothaches.

http://herbs-treatandtaste.blogspot....nt-health.html

[waterninja]

[QUOTE=Red Bullets;3542452]Just a tidbit on locating morel ground. I have taken note that where I find morels I find indian pipestem. Also known as the Ghost plant or Corpse plant. At this time of the year there are just the dead dried up pipestem from last year. If you are finding the pipestem there is a chance of morels.

The pic is indian pipestem when it is growing. Note there is no chlorophyll. Interesting little plant too. Good to know in the bush..for toothaches.

[url]http://herbs-treatandtaste.blogspot.ca/2011/02/indian-pipe-plant-or-ghost-pla

[waterninja]

Originally Posted by walking buffalo

I'm glad you waded past Waterninja's rhetorical hole to get to the truth.

Only hole on this thread so far is you WB. Troll elsewhere.

[waterninja]

Just got back from 4 hours of picking. All I can say is UNBELIEVABLE!! It was hard for me not to crush the little ones ( which I planned to return to in a couple days) while picking the bigger ones. Have some cleaning to do now. Relatives say they cannot remember a year like this in the last 70 years.
Also noticed a huge increase in Mallard duck numbers.


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[bytchtyts]

Wow what a haul! Great work!

[waterninja]

What is also great about shrooms in the spring is that I have not seen one worm or even a bug as I'm working on them.


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[Fishfri]

Should get a group together to go mushroom hunting. Meet at a campsite or a intersection off on a highway. That way everyone can enjoy a day collecting them and learning.
At the end you can have a cook off sharing stories and recipes.
just a thought.

wondering how many of you be up for something like that.

[trophybook]

A good morel spot is like a good perch hole...it's taken to ones grave

[waterninja]

Originally Posted by Fishfri

Should get a group together to go mushroom hunting. Meet at a campsite or a intersection off on a highway. That way everyone can enjoy a day collecting them and learning.
At the end you can have a cook off sharing stories and recipes.
just a thought.

wondering how many of you be up for something like that.

You could always join the Alberta Mycological Society. They probably organize some outings now and then.

[Dark]

Originally Posted by waterninja

You could always join the Alberta Mycological Society. They probably organize some outings now and then.

And you would also learn the difference between Verpas and Morels.

They have Verpa picking forays and Morel picking forays listed in their up and coming picking schedule.

[Drewski Canuck]

I was south of Mayerthorpe on Tuesday afternoon and found about 50 true morel and a few Verpas.

It was cold and a lot of small developing Morels but some in the 3 inch category and well developed. This is promising as I did not miss time it this year.

Hopefully the last few cold nights did not finish them off.

This should be a good weekend for Morels.

Drewski

[waterninja]

Originally Posted by Dark

And you would also learn the difference between Verpas and Morels.

They have Verpa picking forays and Morel picking forays listed in their up and coming picking schedule.

Yeh, thanks anyway, but I think I got it. We have been calling them brown or blacktop or sometimes false Morels for many years, and I think I'll stick to that. Hope that doesn't spoil your day. lol

[Dark]

Originally Posted by waterninja

Yeh, thanks anyway, but I think I got it. We have been calling them brown or blacktop or sometimes false Morels for many years, and I think I'll stick to that. Hope that doesn't spoil your day. lol

Call them what ever you would like, no sense using the proper name...

[waterninja]

Originally Posted by Dark

Call them what ever you would like, no sense using the proper name...

Thank you, I will. Verpas sound OK, but most people don't know what your talking about. I'm sure that someone could come on here and say Verpa is incorrect also. There is no pleasing some people. I'm just glad I found a good patch this year. Been awhile since a season like this one.

[waterninja]

On a lighter note, this will be my 1st attempt at drying Shrooms. Would like to thank a couple of you guys for tips on how to dry and store them. I am drying most of the small ones whole and some batches of stems and tops. I still have a lot to prepare and freeze. IMG_2792.jpg


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[blgoodbrand1]

Originally Posted by Dark

Call them what ever you would like, no sense using the proper name...

Your chasing your tail on that one....


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[Lefty-Canuck]

Originally Posted by waterninja

Just got back from 4 hours of picking. All I can say is UNBELIEVABLE!! It was hard for me not to crush the little ones ( which I planned to return to in a couple days) while picking the bigger ones. Have some cleaning to do now. Relatives say they cannot remember a year like this in the last 70 years.
Also noticed a huge increase in Mallard duck numbers.


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Are those not all false morels in your picture? We saw hundreds of those out bear hunting.

Cap not attached to stem
Stem full of white fibers
Stem attached to very top of cap

Contains a toxin that can accumulate in the liver...concentration can be lessened by boiling but not fully eliminated.

Just asking because we picked a bunch...did some research, and then left them behind.

LC

[slingshot]

Lefty I totally agree went out today lots of small verps

[Lefty-Canuck]

Originally Posted by slingshot

Lefty I totally agree went out today lots of small verps

That's what we were finding too...accumulation of a liver toxin doesn't sound worth it personally.

LC

[Dark]

Originally Posted by blgoodbrand1

Your chasing your tail on that one....


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I guess I am lol

[sns2]

Originally Posted by Lefty-Canuck

Are those not all false morels in your picture? We saw hundreds of those out bear hunting.

Cap not attached to stem
Stem full of white fibers
Stem attached to very top of cap

Contains a toxin that can accumulate in the liver...concentration can be lessened by boiling but not fully eliminated.

Just asking because we picked a bunch...did some research, and then left them behind.

LC

This explains a great deal...

[Lefty-Canuck]

Hundreds of these...in various stages. False morel or Verpa I am pretty sure.





LC