Morel crop may hit a record this year
By David Smith, Griffin’s Guide
This year could produce a morel mushroom harvest worth millions upon millions of dollars.
2014 experienced a glut of forest fires in the northwest regions of the U.S. and Canada. Multiple fires burned thousands of acres from Northern California on up through the Yukon and Northwest Territories of Canada. That’s good news for lovers and hunters of morel mushrooms, as the mycological word on the street is that this spring is going to produce the biggest morel harvest in years, maybe even of all time.
Morels are arguably the most widely-sought mushroom in North America, thanks to their deliciously earthy flavor, their fairly unmistakable appearance (even a mycological novice can quickly learn to properly identify the distinctive morel), and the fact that they are resistant to domestic cultivation (it’s very difficult, if not impossible, to reliably grow morels on purpose).
They also show up in spring, that wonderful time of year to be in the woods when bugs are relatively few, the air is crisp and cool, and there’s still a dearth of new, green undergrowth to hide tasty mushrooms.
Morels also appear in greater abundance in areas where fire damage occurred the year before.