MUSHROOMS GALORE!

Many years ago I was given a gift of a field guide to mushrooms,   I took to the woods that evening,with guidebook in hand, and hopes of finding my first edible mushroom.  Hours of walking around and though I found mushrooms at almost every turn they all were of the deadly variety.  I was about to call it a day when a small cluster of orange caught my eye.  Thumbing through my book I found a photo that matched. I read the description and about possible "Lookalikes"  I had found my first edible mushroom, four little Chanterelles.

I could not have been happier if I had found a pot of gold (OK,perhaps not that happy)  I have found many other edible mushrooms since then, but the Morel, considered a very choice edible, had eluded me.

I was at the tail end of a cross country bicycle trip, and spending a few days in Ohio with friends, I was told that a certain old apple tree, rumored to have been planted by John Chapman, aka "Johnny Appleseed". Was a good spot to find Morels.  It had rained a few days before, and it had now warmed up, perfect conditions.  I set out with a sharp knife, a little basket and a feeling of excitement.

The apple tree  stands not far from the farm house that I was staying in.  The trunks was a good eight feet in diameter, but the tree itself is just a little over ten feet high.  Twisted, bent and hollow, but in full bloom, it was still producing apples at well over a hundred years old.

Approached carefully, not wishing to find my first Morel with the heel of my boot.  The area around the tree had been beautifully landscaped with Hostas, Columbine and Trillium and I felt that even if I did not find a single Edible mushroom that day, just siting under this tree was enough.

Picking up a little stick, I began to poke and prod. I was beginning to feel as though this was going to be a fruitless hunt when I spotted an odd shape between a rock and a cluster of ferns.  It was only anout two inches high but it was a beautifully shaped Morel.  At long last I had found one!  Then I spotted another, and another.  Though I only found four that day, a small number by any standard, I felt like I had found a pot of gold.