The morel season started almost a month early this year; normally we start searching around Mother's Day. As the old saying goes, "The early bird catches the worm," or in this case picks the morels! We have been very fortunate to find them and will enjoy every bite! The dehydrator was full so we froze two cookie sheets full, saved out a few for cooking fresh and gave some to my hubby's mother.
It has been proven incorrect about the spreading of spores through keeping them in a mesh bag, also pinching or cutting them off is incorrect, they grow from spreading their spores not roots. What they have determined is that as soon as the mushroom pops up the first breeze will spread the spores, so by the time we pick them they have already cast off most of their spores. However, we do cut them off to keep them as clean as possible.
