Dave W Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 Got home today and found 7 small but fresh morels on the kitchen table. Beautiful day here and my wife decided to take the afternoon off to check our early spot. The black morels (Morchella angusticeps) and "deliciosas" (M. diminutiva) have started popping. Unusual to see these two types starting up at the same time. NE PA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Smalldridge Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 Cograts Dave. Those look tasty ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adawg Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 Sweeeeet ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted April 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 Checking the local spot again tomorrow. I haven't even found one yet! Karen got the ones seen above. Goin' south after that. Hoping to run into a peak situation. Morels really are a surprise, even when you think you're beginning to figure them out. (Every year it seems they taunt at me!) A folk term for them is "merkels", which by at least one account is an alternative pronunciation of "miracle." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Posted May 2, 2015 Report Share Posted May 2, 2015 Nice surprise to come home to. That term sounds like it could have come from around where I live. Quite a dialect here. The locals refer to a pond as a "pawn." Luckily everyone here is very friendly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted May 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2015 I'm actually embarrassed to admit how much driving we did today in order to accumulate this "haul." There were two others I found. But this was the only one that wasn't shriveled. Well, at least I am able to post a photo representing the species, Morchella punctipes. Named for the "grains" seen on the stalk surface. Most field guides use the name M. semilibera. But this European name does not technically apply to the eastern NA "half-free morel." Just not a good 1st half of morel season here in the mid-Atlantic. Maybe the 2nd half will be better? That's the way things panned out last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adawg Posted May 3, 2015 Report Share Posted May 3, 2015 Dave, I was almost ready to write this off as another bad year, but the last week has been pretty good here . Have consistently averaged about 1/2 lb per hour of mixed morels . The bigger yellows/blondes have gotten big, and are much easier to spot at a distance . You guys are probably about a week or so behind us, so you should get prime very soon . This was this mornings finds .. 2 hrs, about 1 1/2 lbs + .. I had left a patch of small ones last week in one spot, and went back to check them today, and they were gone .... ????? Not sure if 4 legged critters or 2, but they were all gone . About 14-15 in that patch that I could see . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted May 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2015 I agree, Adawg. This week, and maybe next week, could be good up here. Only a few of the trees at 500'-1000' asl have leafed out, but warm weather should cause the hillsides to turn green pretty quickly. The problem now is lack of rainfall. We've had low humidity with wind the past week or so, and everything has gotten dry. Showers in the forecast for tomorrow, but only about 0.25" predicted. One way or the other, I'll be out there to check as many spots as possible these next two weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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