THE GOLDEN MOREL
Hey everyone! It’s Mars checking in to see if anyone else is ready for a great golden morel season?! Buckle up, because the first few sights of the year have just begun in southern parts of North America, and you can steadily see its rapid growth making its way to the northern states. This is prime time for the start of morels, between the beginning days of March and the end of May. Here in the Midwest, we just got a nice snowfall and a couple good days of showers. From my mushie instincts, I’m projecting that this year's water content is going to give us a good ole miracle of morel galore!
HISTORY
Golden Morels have been studied for thousands of years, there is no definitive time-frame of how long-ago golden morels came to be. One thing that's for certain about this variety of the Morchella species is that it originated in North America unlike some of the other Morchellaceae species that originated overseas in numerous areas. The Golden Morels are the most common in North America and the most sought-after cuisine mushrooms, but they are not the easiest fungi to find. Look no further, as I'll be talking about how to forage for the golden morel as well as cultivating the golden morel mushroom right from the comfort of your own home!
APPEARANCE + FORAGING
We must go over a few tall tale signs of a true golden morel versus other species that may look very similar and be poisonous. PLEASE - I encourage everyone to research beyond this blog on foraging for golden morels because other resources have some wonderful tips and tricks as well. Bring along an experienced forager or even grab a mushroom guide from your local nature preserves office. Wherever you can obtain local information on these mushrooms for your specific area would be prime. If you’re foraging this season, you will start to see pops of golden morels in the southern states first, beginning in the early days of March. As the time comes to about May, you’ll see full coverage of sightings from the southern states to the northern states. This mushroom surely doesn’t discriminate which trees it decides to pop around, but you can start by trying to find them near elm, ash, or oak trees, to name a few. They enjoy dark and moist spots like any strong mycelium would for this species. They blend in so much with the color of leaves and soil it definitely takes a keen eye to try and spot these fungi. I encourage you to get down and ground yourself with momma Earth, so let’s get dirty and find some golden morels as it will take a bit more digging than just easy spotting. Make sure to bring a brown paper bag, a knife, and an open mind pals! Upon finding this mushroom, take a good look at the cap. It should appear as a conical cap. It should be ridged and pitted inwards looking very honeycomb-like. Give the mushroom a nice slice down the middle. Inside of a false morel, you WILL see mushroom matter. In a true morel, you will find it to be completely hollow on the inside. Again, please take into consideration that there’s many possibilities that you may not find a true morel the first time because there are so many look-alikes. Surely, don’t beat yourself up about it because we would rather be safe than sorry. To name one that looks close in relation, the early morel (Verpa Bohemica) is an early riser, coming in before the true golden morels. These two look wildly similar at a first glance but should not be consumed as the compound gyromitrin in high levels can be deadly. So please, be careful my friends and stay up to date on what findings have been found in your area thus far. I will keep you guys up to date on my findings if I see golden morels this year, but as of right now they should start popping up here soon. Just a good time to start manifesting!
EDIBLE - BUT TAKE CAUTION
The Golden Morels (Morchella Esculenta) are indeed an edible variety! As mentioned earlier, these are the most sought-after gourmet mushrooms to this day. The reason behind it? Well, for one, you can’t just simply find these at your local grocery store. Typically, if you want to have this specific mushroom you’ll have to forage it, cultivate it at your own home, or try your local farmers markets to see if any other fellow foragers are out there with golden morels. This is also a number one meat substitute as it’s got a wonderful meaty, nutty, and earthy taste to it. As stated earlier in the appearance + foraging side, there are numerous look-alike of a true golden morels, so please use the utmost caution when finding these in the great outdoors.
CULTIVATING AT HOME
You have come to the right place if you are seeking to cultivate your own Golden Morels right from your home! SG Labs is always bringing the healthiest mycelial growth of the Golden Morels right inside those syringes with our prestigious solution. Cultivating from home may be a slight challenge but the true mycologist in us can prevail through these challenges and it can be so rewarding. First, you’ll want to find a solid shady area near a tree (golden morels do not discriminate, so pick any tree between oak, elm, elder, etc.) Dig yourself a nice small area to then mix your grain spawn with other hardwood chips that are nearby and add water and coir. Coir is a wonderful addition to gaining nutrients in the substrate for your mushroom to flourish. Cover the area with preferably straw to lock in moisture. Keep in mind, the key to a good morel flush is to plant it when the ground is still cold, and you know the temperatures will be freezing (< 32 degrees) for more than 12 hours. Another good rule of thumb from one mycologist to another, is to plant in the Spring if you want to see results in the Fall or plant in the Fall for a beautiful pop in the Spring.
Whichever way you decide to go, whether it be foraging for the great golden morel, or purchasing a 10cc Golden Morel Live Culture Syringe from us at SG Labs, I am manifesting a wonderful year of growth to all my fungi friends. Not just to the mushrooms themselves, but to all of us as well. I’m sending out some good energy to all of you out there. Have a beautiful day you guys and stay well!