wild edibles

[quincy]

Ive been out collecting false salomon seal for the first time since i was a kid and its got me thinking about morels. Can anyone direct me as to what type of habitat morels prefer and when i can expect to find them in the west kootenays. thanks for any advice.

[buck nash]

They usually pop up in recently burnt areas like slash burns and forest fires. They grow where the fire weed grows. As for your specific area , cant help you there. Just going by memory but I think they come up in late spring, but I stand to be corrected on that one.

Get yourself a copy of the audibon society's book on N.American mushrooms. Its a very well laid out reference book and gives tons of great info. Only mushroom book you'll ever need.

[BradB]

I don't know about the West Kootenays, but from my experience here on the island it seems people with good mushrooming spots will give you their bank account PIN before they'd give up their mushroom patches lol

[quincy]

in no way am i asking for peoples picking spots just general morel habitat, thank you for your reply buck nash.

[Piperdown]

burnt areas = morels

[Darksith]

find the fires from 2010 and you will find the shrooms you are looking for.

[buck nash]

Just had a look through the Audubon Society Field Guide to N American Mushrooms. It says late april to may for black morels and right into the summer for yellow morels.

Now you got me thinking about shrooms. I'm gonna have to get out and have a look soon. And yeah I'm one who would rather give you my pin code then tell you where my spots are.:-D

Good luck on your quest though.

[Ghillie]

I found 56 morels in 4 days of hunting them. I find them in damp (not wet, but not dry dirt) soil on hillsides (along cattle or game trails cutting across and up a slope) This was my first year of picking morels and once you find one you will usually find them all over that general area. Look under fallen over trees that aren't touching the ground, or along the sides of rotting logs, on the ground. You will soon find a knack of where to find them on your property and what to look for. Im 14 and lovin every minute of getting out hunting in general.
Goodluck and get low! The tops are hard to see by looking straight down, get close to the forest floor and take your time looking around. Spend a few minutes looking everytime you stop and look for the honeycomb top with the beige stalk of the shroom!

[Bow Walker]

Been keeping my eyes peeled while out with the dogs, nothing yet. I have picked up quite a few fiddlehead ferns this season though, they were quite a treat.

[835]

What are you doing with the fiddle heads? I knew they were edible but how are you using them?

[Bow Walker]

Most recipes call for steaming/boiling them until tender, but I sauteed them in some olive oil with fresh garlic and a bit of ginger and some sat and pepper. Them had them as a side dish with steak.

They were good enough that I'm going back.

[835]

Holly geeze! That sounds good! mind you everything with garlic and olive oil is,,,
Saturday,, im doin it!

[Bow Walker]

I read up on fiddleheads and I found that the plant produces 7 sprouts per season, it's suggested that picking only three and leaving four will not harm the plant and will ensure a continued harvest for years to come. Picking all the new growths will kill the plant.

Next time I cook them, I'm going to pre-steam them and then carry on. The flavor was a wee tad bitter for my wife's taste - but I could've over cooked the garlic, thereby making it bitter, I'm not sure. Make sure you wash them well and clean off the outer leaf growth on the exposed stem.

Good luck.

[835]

Interesting, 7 per year.
i just made my menu for this weekend camping. And i added steak to it because of this!
I heard of boiling them for the bitterness, but the frying bit has me really intreigued

[Bow Walker]

I want to try them par-boiled and then pan fried with the garlic (and without the ginger) and then make a sauce for them to slather over the bbq'd steak. I was going to put them into my homemade pasta sauce (chunky tomato marinara) but I think the sauce would over power the taste of the ferns.

Maybe par-boiled, pan fried in butter with salt and fresh ground pepper, cooled, and then added to a salad would be nice?

[835]

The salad idea is how i had them invisioned. I sure like the sauce idea though, Add some salmon berries and wild onion?? wonder if the three would be availible at the same time? Salmon berry and Fiddleheads yes maybe sub the wild onion for Green onion if not. Add a bit of cilantro and poured over steak bbq'd with salt and pepper???

[Bow Walker]

I'm on my way!

[bigshooter]

I was into alot of wild strawberries last night on my walk with the dog. I think all the rain has made for a bad crop this year, but the plants are everywhere around my new home.

[835]

Hey BS you just gave me hope, Where i am going there were a bunch of them kickin' around all flowered up

[buck nash]

If you got any nettles this spring try a nettle and wild shroom spanikopeda. I did up a batch of these a couple weeks ago. turned out awesome.