Blonde morels/ photo from Forest Mushrooms Inc.
I can finally say I’ve found some morel mushrooms! Actually, I didn’t have to go on a mushroom hunt, as many Iowans do in the spring, though I’d love to find them that way. The ones I saw were spotted at a grocery store in Cedar Rapids. They were selling for $12.99 for a 3.5 ounce package and came from Forest Mushrooms Inc., of St. Joseph, Minn.
Per their Web site: Established in 1985, Forest Mushrooms, Inc. is a Minnesota company engaged in the research, cultivation and distribution of edible specialty mushrooms. They particularly specialize in the production of oyster mushrooms, and more recently, in growing shiitake mushrooms. Their production facilities are located in St. Joseph, MN, 90 miles northwest of Minneapolis. They distribute mushroom products to wholesalers, supermarkets, restaurants and specialty shops. The majority of products are delivered to the Twin Cities area, but they also distribute locally and nationally. See: http://www.forestmushrooms.com/
Here is more that Kevin Doyle, president of Forest Mushrooms, Inc., sent to me about his company and his insight into morels: All morel mushrooms are wild-harvested, not cultivated. There have been many attempts to grow morels, and some occasional successes but nobody has been able to repeat their successes, and thus there are no farms that currently grow morels, to the best of my knowledge. This is because there is a very complicated and interesting relationship between the morel mushroom mycelium (which are the vegetative strands of the fungus that grow underground), and the root hairs of the trees that are host to them. We think that the strands of morel mycelium help the tree to absorb nutrients from the soil, especially minerals, by carrying the minerals through the mycelium and then inserting the mycelium and the nutrients in to the tiny root hairs of the tree roots. The mycelium is much much smaller than the root hairs, and wrap themselves around the root hairs and then penetrate into the root. In turn, the morels likely absorb some carbohydrate (sugars) from the vascular tissue of the tree roots, so they relationship is helpful to both organisms.
However, there are conditions, including but not limited to damage to the tree from fire, Dutch elm disease, wind damage, etc., that cause the morel mushroom mycelium to send strands of mycelium to the fungus where they then produce the specialized reproductive organ that we know as a mushroom. That mushroom then produces spores which are dispersed by the wind and are carried away to start a new colony in another area of the forest, thus propagating the life of the morel fungus. This is an adaptive response that has developed through evolution to help the fungus survive adverse situations or events. The mushroom is just a specialized part of the fungus’ life cycle, but the main act occurs way underground for decades and helps to sustain the trees themselves, thus morel mushrooms and also many other types of mushroom fungus are essential to the health of a sustainableforest ecosystem.
The morels in North America are widespread, though we in the Midwest often think of them as a local phenomenon. In fact, the morel season begins much earlier in almost every other area of the country than it does in the upper Midwest, due to the milder climates and earlier onset of Spring in other regions. In the Pacific Northwest the morel season begins in late March, and can actually continue right on into early August in the higher elevations of the Rocky Mountains. In Minnesota, where our business is located, we are used to seeing morels during the second half of May, typically. I would imagine in your region it is the beginning of May most commonly.
During the milder and earlier Springs we were having a few years ago, the season began a bit earlier. The season is triggered by the combination of adequate soil moisture and enough sunny days and warm temperatures to warm up the soil adequately to spur the growth of the mushrooms. There have been years when the moisture is there, but the temperatures are too chilly, and by the time the mushrooms come up as temperatures warm up, the grass and small plants in the forest have already sprung up and obscure the mushrooms from view, so people think there is no mushroom season, when actually we just can’t find them under the forest floor cover!
The morels you saw are blonde-colored morels from the western slope of
Packaged mushrooms from Forest Mushrooms, Inc.
the Rocky Mountains in Oregon. These are the best morels in the country at this time, for flavor, appearance, and shelf life. They are also similar in appearance to the mushrooms that we commonly see in the Midwest. Later in the Spring there are several other varieties that grow in abundance in the Pacific Northwest, including “fire morels” (also called “burns”), which grow in huge numbers on the sites of last season’s forest fires. These burn morels are smaller, not as thick, and have a conical shape. Another morel commonly harvested commercially in the mountains is simply called a “natural” and is shaped more like a golf-ball, without the conical shape and more rounded, with a thicker shell. (All true morels are hollow inside.) The latest morelspecies to fruit in the Rockies is called the “grey morel” and can also grow on fire sites. It is the largest morel in the country, grey in color, thick walled, and has a great shelf life for transport to market. All of these morels are also dried, often on-site, or in large gas-fired driers, for preservation and enjoyment in the off-months.
Forest Mushrooms flies in morels, as well as many other wild-harvested mushrooms, every few days all year around. We inspect and sort them, and then market them to both the foodservice and grocery store markets. We are licensed as “Wild Mushroom Experts” by the State of Minnesota, which is required for the commercial handling and sale of wild-harvested mushrooms. Any establishment in Minnesota that sells wild-harvested mushrooms of any type, including morels, to the public, needs to be able to show that they were obtained through a state-licensed Wild Mushroom Expert.
I do not know whether Iowa has any such requirement, since this varies from state to state. But it does provide a measure of food safety and confidence for chains when they chose to carry these products.
FYI, Forest Mushrooms, Inc. has been in operation since 1985, and we specialize in growing oyster and shiitake mushrooms (about 3000 lbs/wk, all year aound) and in distributing all other specialty mushrooms, fresh, dried and frozen, both cultivated and wild-harvested. We also have a full line of organic fresh mushrooms for both foodservice and grocery customers. We do NOT sell to the public directly, but are strictly growers and wholesale suppliers.
Back to Cindy:
The annual Czech Village Houby Days celebrates the mushroom (houby is the Czech word for mushroom) and I’ve heard they might go back to using morels in their breakfast!! About half of the businesses in Czech Village have returned since the flood and more are hoping to come back in time for the celebration on May 15-17. Below is a photo of Jan Stoffer, of the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, giving a tour of Czech Village to students from McKinley Middle School last month.
Jan Stoffer leads tour of Czech Village for McKinley students.
Homegrown 