Morels in southern Ontario 2008

[dano bannano]

Anyone find any yet

I live about 30 mins outside of Toronto and have been out looking everyday for the last week and haven't spotted any yet.
this is my first year looking for them so I don't have any secret spots yet, so I am unsure if I am looking in the wrong spots or if I'm just a bit to early

my grandfather used hunt them all the time but i was too young to be interested and unfortunately he took his secret spots to the grave....

[dano bannano]

found a few more in my area yesterday, hopefully we gets some rain soon might bring out a few more

[bdzyngel]

Found about 8 yellows on the Bruce Trail, beaver valley Saturday...they were almost too old and starting to detiorate...still managed to make a nice cream sauce though...

[dano bannano]

found one black today near home on the edge of a very well used trail, searched the area but couldn't find anymore, but 1 is better than 0 , gives me hope that i will find more
would like to find some yellows like the_nthian but have only found blacks so far and a couple greys

[dano bannano]

yes!!! finally found some, not sure about weight but found 85 this weekend !!
a couple greys(i think), 3 half free morels and the rest were blacks
no yellows yet

[dano bannano]

found them in norfolk county which is about and hour south west of hamilton on lake erie, in the wodds, mostly oak and ash trees they were growing up through the oak leaves , very hard to see, some you could only see from a certain angle because of the leaves, will try and post some pics later

[dano bannano]

just some pics, some of these were very hard to find almost completly concealed by oak leaves

[jayt90]

For several years I have found brown morels at the back entrance of Greenwood Conservation area, on the roadside, under the maple trees, west side of Church St. I will not be going there this year because of a mobility problem. They have been there as late as June, but never in large quantities.
http://maps.google.ca/maps/ms?f=q&...

[dano bannano]

hmm bit to far for me to travel , maybe tommorow i will check

[bdzyngel]

Jay,

Do you mean on the east side of church? On the west side is the quarry...

[jayt90]

Quarry side near the fence and the trees.

[the_nthian]

Yesterday, about an hour west of Toronto, 4 to 5 pounds of nice yellows. Plus Wild Leeks (northern Ramps), fiddleheads, wild Garlic, onions and some nice dock leaves.

[Davwud]

Nice score!!

DT

[the_nthian]

..and another 5 plus pounds this morning.

[dano bannano]

wow, you must have a really good spot, whats it like? terrain? trees?
i'm hoping to find a good spot near me

[dano bannano]

i was out for 4 hours today looking but only came back with some Dryad's Saddle (Polyporus squamosus) , i want to find some morels so bad!!!!

[Nyleve]

Try tomorrow. The rain should have forced some out of hiding.

[Nyleve]

I live just west of Peterborough and I found some last week. I only have one secret spot and it's not often generous, but just enough to make us a little happy. I probably picked, at most, 1/4 lb-ish. I think I'll check this afternoon again - it rained last night. Or, if not, then tomorrow for sure.

[hungry_pangolin]

I purchased some morels yesterday at the organic farmers' market at Riverdale farm. Unfortunately, I didn't get there until 4:30 (they begin at 3:00), so they were largely picked over. The guy (who was also selling ramps and beautiful fiddleheads) said that they were his most popular item yesterday.

I'm thinking escargot and morels on the weekend.

Interestingly, the woman behind me was chatting to her companion about her brother who lives in Helsinki, and how she loved the morels there when she was visiting. I'm half Finnish. Perhaps it's genetic.

[dano bannano]

do you know if they were found locally

[hungry_pangolin]

More or less. I think that the morel merchant said that they came from just south of North Bay, or around that area.

[koknia]

We get some nice ones in Prince Edward County. There were picked last May 20th.

[jayt90]

The old saying "look under oak trees when the leaves are the size of a mouse" may help. I have found them in back yards , and roadsides under maples, but rarely in quantity, or successive years. I believe the underground mycelia are quite widespread, but they only fruit when conditions are right. This should be a good year, and one good rain might bring the last of them. Land that has been burned off in the previous fall is another good tip.

[JamieK]

actually, when "oak leaves are the size of a mouse's ear" (or squirrel's ear)