Seriously....

[Matt Breuer]

I can already feel the soggy ground under my boots. I can smell that damp fungi already... I can taste that first batch of scrambled eggs with ramps. I can envision picking oysters by the grocery bag full on my way home from smallie fishing... UGH!!

IS IT TIME???

[leech~~]

Come on Matt stop it. I only have a few small bags of Morel's left!

[K2]

praying for a spring with warmth and MOISTURE 2012m pooooooor picking

K2

[Matt Breuer]

2012 was my best year to date. Incredible numbers of morels up here. While I did have to travel for some other goodies, it was good upon arrival! My only bummed out moment was missing the very short window on hens...

I can't wait for 2013!!

[jerkin'm]

Seriously.......a.....SPAZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Short window on the hens is the understatement of the year.......A few of us Spazz types need to make an effort to hook up this summer...Cast/Blast/Shroom.....????

[NoWiser]

I found myself feeling guilty this past weekend, staring at the frozen ground and wishing there were shrooms to be looking for. There are too many fun things to do between now and then, but I still can't wait! I still have a freezer stocked with frozen hens, sauteed chanterelles, and dehydrated boletes. 2012 was a great morel year, and I finally found some chanterelle honey holes that I believe I'll be able to return to year after year to find them. I also found a few great chickens. My hen season lasted about 5 days and was over. In that time I found enough to get me through winter, though. Still a bit disappointing. This shrooming thing is definitely an addiction!! It's just too bad we are forced to go through withdrawls 5 months out of the year.

[pushbutton]

I have plenty to last me through winter, which is cool, but the "hunt" is the best part for me. Stuck at home today with a sick kid.... think I am going to whip up some french onion and mushroom soup and dream of days to come.

[Matt Breuer]

Me too, pb! Nothing better than hearing your kid, who has wandered off on his own, yelling, "Dad! I found something!"

I have a ton of COW in the freezer, and a bunch of morels left. The eating part is just a bonus...

[Stick in Mud]

*bump*

It's getting closer now....

[Matt Breuer]

There's so much snow!!!

[pushbutton]

Helps to live in the lower 48, Matt. Our snow will easily melt by July. Don't know if you can quite say that yet.......

[Matt Breuer]

One would think this snow would help with 'shrooms come spring, but I just heard that "the experts" are saying that none of it will help with the dry ground we had last year, because the frost is so deep. So... lakes get a bump up, but we'll need serious spring rains to enjoy a good season.

I can't wait until the snow melts... I'm sick of flipping a coin when I pull out of an intersection. Right meow I can't see cars through the snowbanks!

[pushbutton]

We sure do need some rain this spring, last year was not a good year to be a fungus around here.. Was also wondering about how much frost we have here. No doubt we made some in January as there was not much snow cover, but Nov. and Dec. were crazy mild. Good and a bad to everything, the lack of moisture and high temps allowed us to "mulch garden" into mid Dec.....think this was on the 8 or 9th with many herbs still green and lots of root crops still going.... man, just cant wait to get back outside!!!

[Matt Breuer]

My fiddleheads crested the base today... it's almost time!!!

[pikestabber]

Matt, outside of Morels, what else are you looking for this time of year? Any pictures to share? I threw a bunch of questions at you last year as it was my first 'shrooming year (outside of morels which I've picked since I was a kid). I didn't start until late summer/early fall and found a big, beautiful, but tragically over the hill Hen, some long gone Chickens, and my first few Lobsters. I would love to expand the list!

[Matt Breuer]

PIcked and just prepared the first ramps of the season tonight. Fiddles were a hair under what I wanted to see, so I didn't pick any. Next weekend should be STELLAR if we keep getting rain.

Will try to get some pics up tonight, pike... Feel free to message me again so we can expand your list!

[pike79]

How do you cook your fiddles? Every time I cook them they become a green mush. Is 10 minutes boiling to long, I tried to fry them in oil and still mushy.

[pushbutton]

Try throwing them in boiling water for 4 minutes, cool in an ice bath or running under cold water(I have a well which is sufficient), then sauté for a few more. Certainly a fine line of cooking too long and not enough, as well as picking at the right stage, but am starting to figure it out....kind of.

[JP Z]

Matt, we still need to setup a Foray into the Brainerd area. I have 500 acres of hunting land that is primo for it from what I'm thinking.

[pike79]

Thanks pb I'll try that next time.

[pushbutton]

Also, forgot to mention/stress that I would pick them when just emerging. I know that a lot of what is published is to harvest as much stalk as you can with them being as high as 6/7 inches or more , but the ones I have near ....and seeing you are just "down the road"....are simply not as plump and firm at this height.... yeah, mushy is not very appetizing to me either

[Matt Breuer]

I wait until the lead frond is about 6" and then pick the lower fiddles just emerging. I don't take much stem. I boil them for a short stint and plunge into ice water. Fry in butter until I can just see their texture changing.

I will admit, I have ruined a few meals of them by over-cooking....

[Matt Breuer]

Fiddleheads and ramps from the other day...