Yes..they are a ntive to the US wild leek. they look a bit like a green/spring onion but smell strongly of garlic. Get em early...that smell gets a lot stronger as they mature.:)
Pat...they are delicious cooked up with morels. I clean, blanche and free the ramps for later use and then just break off a frozen chunck when I want to add flavor to a dish.
We're talking about ramps here. Try going to a The Great Ramp web site if you want to talk about morels.
Anyone know why they call them ramps? I like to use them in potato soup. Speaking of potatoes, does anyone know when the best time to plant them is in northern climates? Speaking of climates, it was nice out today before I left home. Speaking of home, did I leave the iron on?
i was out looking on saturday; didn't find any. i will go out again this week. it is suppose to warm up again on wednesday; perhaps with the rain we have, then some warm days, i will find some small grey ones, which i think are the best tasting. will let you know.
i was out today on a west facing slope at my usuall early spot and found one small grey morel all by itself i spent 2 hours looking for others but only found one! i think im the first person to find one in wisconsin. i will have pictures up later today of my find just have to wait for my roomate to get back so i can use there camera. the morel was only about the size of my thumb but it will tast soooo good when i fry it up later today. i found it in southwest wisconsin near the Iowa border.
Dan, my husband and I have been hunting morels for over 20 years and we have found them as early as April 16th before. With all this rain and the warm up for the later part of the week, we will be out looking by Thursday. We live on the border of IL and WI. Good luck!
Dan & Lisa,
Hope your season goes well. Wont be long. I used to look forward to your posts on that other site but now that it has been taken over and seems to be have become a personal blog for a few I tend to look elsewhere. Looking forward to your posting of first finds as I live near fond du lac now and utilize trusted sources like you to gauge when i should make the first trip back to the grant county area for morels.
Troyboy: We've been out now a couple different times the last few days, and still nothing. The woods are prime, mayapples up, buttercups in full bloom, all our early signs of morels, still nothing!
It seems this year is going to be strange, we did have a pretty cold winter, so maybe that's why they are not up yet...I don't know but it's sure frustrating!! Hopefully we'll find some this week, my husband just got laid off from his job of 31 years ,so we'll have plenty of time to hunt!! Good hunting!
I've been out in SE Wisconsin looking for deer sheds. Will have to keep an eye out for ramps and asparagus as well. Good luck to all shroomers this year.
Yes, i have been talking ramps as they are what is up at the moment. I hope to find my first wild asparagus this year too BUT...I am here waiting for those warm days to pass this weekend...more rain after that and then my trees will be ready!
I'm out of dried morels from last year and really craving them.
Post that picture if you really found one...it will get everyones morel fevers going!!
This year is gonna be so much better then last especially if we get the rain we are suppose to. Try state parks with sandy soil they get over looked and on rainy years are loaded with tidbits of morel happiness.
I found 2 blonds April 27th. We had a warm muggy night with a wet himid party sunny morning. Very small but there. It is chilling off a little not but I too feel it is going to be a good year.
Where do you look to find the wild asparagas? and the ramps? Ive hunted mushrooms before and love to find those but would like to get into finding other wild vegetables. Any info would be great
No morels in WI yet for me but did find small grays in central IL yesterday so they're coming! Also a pile of young and tender dryad's saddles also called pheasant backs (polypore not supposed to be very good but haven't cooked them up yet).
Ramps like to be moist so check around rivers and creek beds. At this time of year you can actually smell them when you get near! I only know one place for wild asparagus and a friend gave it up so I cannot share...it is in a WI State park is all I can say. The asparagus will be up next week. Ramps are up now!:)
I FOUND ONE LITTLE LONELY BLACK MUSHROOM TODAY ABOUT 3 MILES SOUTH OF RICHLAND CENTER TODAY AND I ATE IT.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR TELLING ME ABOUT THE ASPARAGUS; I HAVE BEEN EATING ALOT OF WATERCRESS; WONDER BREAD, MIRACLE WHIP AND WATERCRESS SANDWICHES; THEY ARE REALLY TASTY; ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU PACK THEM FOR A HIKE; YOU DON'T HAVE TO USE WONDERBREAD; GOOD CHEAP BREAD IS THE BEST.
I WILL LET YOU KNOW WHEN I FIND MY ASPARAGUS; THANKS AGAIN FOR THE TIP.
Patricia, If you don't have luck finding any ramps I'd be happy to send you some. Seriously. I'll be out Mon/Tue taking a friend.
Also, for those reading...those pheasant back/dryad's saddles were absolutely horrible!! My advice...if you don't like their smell you certainly won't like their taste. Cooking intensifies it.
Found 4 small grays in Milwaukee, WI today...my first! My friend will never let me live it down...he hates shrooms yet he found the first batch of morels when we went to IL! At least I'm keeping up. Ha!
hey, did you find them on the south side? just wondering. this is not like regular e-mail where you can scroll down and read what you wrote. lol. those trouts and those mushrooms are making me hungry. i think i will go make some pancakes with black walnuts and hickory nuts and maple syrup right now. i found a some nice butternet trees while i was looking for morels; that is the magic of those morels. i love butternuts; they are just like black walnuts, only their shell is oblong and the nuts are so gooooooood tasting. well, go eat now. yummmmmm
We look for Asparagus every year also and we find tons of it just along the road side. Go out for a nice country drive and watch along the fencelines
Make sure that you cut it at ground level another piece will replace the one you cut. Please don't break it off where the hardness starts this ends that stalks chance of re growing and then going to seed so the birds can plant more.
I also cut fresh asparagus while mushroom hunting---found bunches that we broke off incorrectly. Recently I have found many that have gone to seed so hopefully whomever cut them incorrectly in that area missed enough to replenish next yrs supply! It is later in the mnth for morels and i am not finding as many as the first two weeks...are you finding any fresh ones?
I missed the crappies spawning and only seen one on it's bed last weekend but the bluegills are moving in now. If mushrooms are done I can concentrate on getting some panfish to go with my shrooms:)
It hasn't been nearly as good as usual, do you guys think things are going to happen like normal? I've shipped about 10 pounds so far but have done a ton of walking. Usually I can find at least a 10 pound patch every year. You wouldn't think SE would differ that far behind us in the SW.
Did better today, about 5 pounds this morning, 3 1/2 in 1 spot, by far the best this year. Hoping it gets as good as usual. Also been working pretty hard to get them. Found a small handful of greys in the spot, about 3/4 pounds last week and the good patch today. Still usually do much better than this though. SW WI
Not tech smart, can anyone tell me what I need to do, can't get pics on here?
Well, I'm to lazy to weigh tmy shrooms but I am into counting.
85 so far from several mornings out. All smaller grays.
I've been having fun eating! Pasta with morels, ramps, black olives and green and yellow zucchini top with grated parmesan, olive oil, hot pepper flakes and melted butter. I also like to dust morels with seasoned flour and toss them into a hot iron skillet with butter for a cruncht delight. Tonight it was chop suey with brown rice and morels.
I've started drying some too. I'll be wanting them for Thanksgiving or xmas.
Congrats to all those finding and have hope to those who have not. The next 2 weeks will be big!
I had heard of wild garlic before but had no idea where to start looking. Thanks to those that discussed them (especially avngal) as I found a bunch today. Can't wait to give them a try. If you have any special tips for storing, keeping from wilting while harvesting, etc.; please email me.
Now to find some morels... Central MN still seems to be waiting or at least I haven't had luck.
I soak ramps in a bucket outside to get them clean. Snip off the roots and plant those (they will come up next year and you'll have your own patch for life). Then I clean off any old skin by the bulb and toss them in boiling, salted water for 30 seconds and then into an ice bath immediately after to cool them. Pat dry with a clean towel and toss in freezer bags either chopped or whole for later use.
Sweet, I was wondering if they might be transplant-able. Bet they might help with keeping the deer off our garden bed while the other plants start up too.
found a few yellows this past week, with the recent rain and warm temps I think we'll see more this weekend if the shroomers don't steal em first. Found my first "spikes" was worried they were false morels but after finding this site not concerned. What do ramps look like?
I am in the Milwaukee area and have spent several hours over the course of the last 3 weeks looking for morels. I not only haven't seen any morels, but I haven't seen any mushrooms of any kind. I am wondering if conditions in this are of the state have just not allowed for mushroom formation.
Feedback please.
I have found about 50 shrooms in the last couple of days out here in Muskego - this is my first time ever as a hunter. this is great fun and they taste great.
My father found a small patch with 5 on Friday. But that was it after spending probably 8-10 hours combing throught the woods over the last couple of weeks. I think it has been a real tough year in the Milwaukee suburban areas.
The wife and I found 32 greys in Trempeleau county, Wis. on the 15th under dead elms and 101 yellows that were a little past prime again under dead elms on the 17th- my birthday- further North in Pepin county Wis. Seems like a pretty good year- How far North has anyone found them. I live in Barron county and find some there, although nothing like I hear is found further south in Wis.?
Laura, we got some nice size ones last weekend just North in Pepin county but they were kind of dry. Are you still getting any and are they fresh or should I concentrate further North do you think?
Brian, I learned by accident that picking dry ones are just as good fresh ones, because i had some of both in my yard last year (only 3 this year :( ) Being so excited, I picked them all and soaked them to clean them out and lo and behold the dry ones became just as plump and tasty as the rest. my advice-- since we only get so many-- is to pick em all!!! :) Julie
Monday the 18th. Hunted for about 2 and a half hours in a Milwaukee area park. Found about 50 Morchella semilibera. I'm sure there were a lot more, but I ran out of time.
Awesome. Thanks a bunch avngal. I thought I had read about that somewhere, but good to hear it first-hand. I had been kicking around revisiting the same spots...now I'll go back for sure! Today was my very first morel hunt, and I was ecstatic to find as many as I did. Thanks!
anyone still finding morels? i agree dry are as good as fresh, I dehydrate them anyhow for use throughout the year...
Seems to be coming to an end in Milwaukee/Memonee Falls/Jackson area...
Anyone still finding fresh ones?
I looked yesterday in dodge county, found some broken stems where i ususaly look, they didnt look that old, so there was soemthng there recently I missed the boat on. I just wasnt the guy to get them!
All I found were lots of bugs, broken morel stems,one false morel and a fungus i couldnt identify.
Grew in a few clusters. Small smooth black spikes in clumps of 3 or 4, inch or so long growing next to moss.Looked solid, no distinction between a cap or a stem breaking one off, the inside was solid and white. Checking other sites tonight.
Ya, that's it for me....went last night and found maybe 15 morels in very large area. Only 3 were worth saving, on their way to deydrating right on the spot they grew. The other 12 were water logged & mushy, blackened tops fell right off and stems were badly browning. Of course I left them there to keep spores in area and hopefully ensure a good year again next year. It really has been a productive, fun and relaxing spring in the woods but it's time to get the waders back out and hit the lake edges for beded panfish. Missed the crappies but the bluegills are moving in late this year due to the cold water temperatures on the Mauthe lake. Weren't on their beds yet memorial weekend and only spotted one crappie so I'll start concentrating on that now-- Two of the spring things I love that can only be done 3-4 weeks in a year--hate it when they over lap and i have to choose one over the other:(
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