Our Subsistence Pattern: Some Days Are Better Than Others

Friday, April 23, 2010

Some Days Are Better Than Others

...and today was another pretty darn good one, as far as foraging goes anyway.

27 comments:

kelli said...: wow! i'd love to go foraging in my area.; April 23, 2010 at 9:23 PM
Ayak said...: I really would like to take up foraging here...if only I knew what I was looking for. I need to do some research I think.; April 23, 2010 at 9:46 PM
WeekendFarmer said...: You know...older woman (with no real responsibilities) back home would set out to forage in the morning and by lunch time they would come back with hand full of greens and that was enough for them to saute and have it for lunch with boiled rice.

I love what you got. Any chance we can get some Morel : )? I will trade you with some of the dried shitake MIL sent from Japan.

I dont think we have morel here in the East coast...never seen one.; April 24, 2010 at 2:51 AM
johnnydesoto said...: Those morels look awesome.

Yes we do have morels on the east coast. Not easy to find though. Hoping a few show up in the next week or two after the rain forecast for this weekend. They usually show up not long after the peaches bloom.; April 24, 2010 at 3:11 AM
Jennifer Jo said...: Do you know, I've never even tasted a morel? I am so very, very jealous!; April 24, 2010 at 4:09 AM
miss m said...: Oh, jackpot !; April 24, 2010 at 5:34 AM
karenandjeff said...: Very nice! Are there any good books you'd recommend for learning how to ID plants in the area?; April 24, 2010 at 6:11 AM
kitsapFG said...: Wow - you found a treasure trove! Morels AND asparagus - holy moly you hit jackpot!

Yum!; April 24, 2010 at 7:48 AM
Silke Powers said...: Get dinner started - we'll be there in a few hours!! I am so jealous!!! We are busy eating lots of lettuce from the yard, as well as green onions, herbs and the last of the kumquats. It's a great life!! So glad you are all doing well! :) Silke; April 24, 2010 at 7:55 AM
Frustrated Farmer Rick said...: Well that settles it. Enough lurking on the web I have to go get my boots and head into the woods.

Also congrats on the great haul!; April 24, 2010 at 8:26 AM
Roasted Garlicious said...: Mr. and Mrs. H my mouth is watering!!! i've noticed quite a few mushrooms popping up around here, but not one morel!! the asparagus looks delicious!!! mmmunchable!!!; April 24, 2010 at 8:41 AM
Heiko said...: I wish I knew where to find some of those beauties! I've hardly had time for any foraging trips in the last couple of weeks. Too busy sowing things. I had another parcel of exotics from GetSoiled, so busy researching what half those things are, and of course sowing them.; April 24, 2010 at 8:59 AM
Diane@Peaceful Acres said...: Wow I'm impressed with your FREE food! That's amazing!!; April 24, 2010 at 4:50 PM
stephanie said...: yum; April 24, 2010 at 5:41 PM
Stefaneener said...: Wow, indeed. Lovely and very yummy.; April 24, 2010 at 9:15 PM
Mr. H. said...: Kelli - I hope you do get a chance to do some foraging in your area...it's so fun.

Ayak - You might consider asking some of the older people in your village about local wild edibles as they might still have some knowledge on such things. It would be interesting to hear what type of edible plants grow wild in Turkey.

WeekendFarmer - I would be happy to send you some morels. Send me an email at mhannon141@adelphia.net and we can talk about addresses.

Johnny - Ours always show up when the wild calypso orchids are in bloom, also called fairy slippers. After you mentioned your peach I did take note that our apricot tree is in bloom though, perhaps I can use that as another indicator.

Jennifer Joe - They are good. I would say they have a smokey, earthy, meaty flavor and are perhaps one of the very best mushrooms out there. They are great to cook with and seem to take up the flavour of whatever you are cooking them with.

Miss M - It was a jackpot. We went to town to drop off some of our sunchokes at a local seed store and stopped off at the river on the way home to pick asparagus. We stumbled upon a patch of about 50 beautiful morels growing under the cottonwood trees...lucky us.

Karen and Jeff - Yes there are some good books. I have quite a few books on wild edibles but one of my favorites is "Edible Wild Plants - A North American Field guide" and for mushrooms I like "Mushrooms Demystified" by David Arora. Also, I really like the little booklet "Wild Edible Fruits & Berries" by Marjorie Furlong and Virginia Pill that depicts 42 fruits and berries common in our area.

kitsapFG - We really did luck out, I knew that the asparagus was about ready for picking but had know idea we would run into morels again so early in the season...we normally don't even look for them until May.:)

Silke - Where are you, dinner has come and gone.:) I so happy to hear that you have such a diverse palette of nutritious greens growing about your yard. You might have to go back to the wildlife refuge and pick a few of those wild leeks.:)

Rick - I hope you do get a chance to wander about the forests looking for edibles. There must be a lot of wild edibles in the land of 10,000 lakes. Morels.com has a message board for Minnesota mushroom hunters ↓
http://www.morels.com/minnesota/guestboo

k.html

Roasted Garlicious - The asparagus and mushrooms were pretty darn good. I made a chicory mushroom stir fry with the morels one day and had bruschetta topped with morels, onions, and asparagus the next...so good.:)

Heiko - I read somewhere that morels and are supposed to start showing up in Italy around May and June...keep a sharp lookout for them as I want to see some pictures.:) It sounds like you are going to have a very interesting garden this year.

Diane - What could be better than free food, especially when it is so tasty.:)

Stephanie - It was:)

Stefaneener - I think it might be another good year for mushrooms in Idaho, so far so good.; April 25, 2010 at 5:25 AM
Anonymous said...: I have never tasted a morel, so I don’t know what I’m missing. But I do remember taste of wild asparagus, and my mouth is watering right now.; April 25, 2010 at 9:28 AM
Mr. H. said...: I think you might like the morels too, but yes, fresh asparagus is truly beyond compare.:); April 26, 2010 at 5:08 AM
michelle said...: Wow, oh wow. That's a great day of foraging. Enjoy!; April 26, 2010 at 10:50 AM
Mr. H. said...: Michelle,

I wish I could trade you some asparagus for your fresh fava beans.:) We did enjoy everything and picked a few more asparagus today. I'm looking forward to dinner.:); April 26, 2010 at 6:34 PM
Thomas said...: Beautiful morels! I've always wanted to go mushroom hunting. I can see how foraging for you food can be great fun.; April 27, 2010 at 5:35 PM
GetSoiled said...: YOU-SHADDAP! SHADDAP, SHADDAP, SHADDAP, SHADDAP!!!!!

Shrooms and wild asparagus...dang.

Don't know what else to say, my utter jealousy has taken over my one neuron and all I can think of is "shaddap. shaddap. shaddap!"

You lucky dwag.; April 28, 2010 at 4:56 AM
Mr. H. said...: Thomas - It really is fun. While I love gardening and growing my own vegetables there is just something extra special about harvesting foods from the wild.

GetSoiled - I promise not to talk about asparagus and morels too much more...of course then there will be shaggy manes, huckleberries, camas root, wild rice....I know, I know, shaddap.:); April 28, 2010 at 5:55 AM
LynnS said...: Mike, that is one fine looking haul!!
It delights me to see all of the foraged foods you are collecting in your region. We are so envious!

The only morels I know of here are over at the FEMA compound and if I went foraging now, they'd shoot me. (No, they're not Federal Morel Guards with guns....)

So did you train the Morel Hound or is he just delighting in their taste??; April 28, 2010 at 9:36 AM
Mr. H. said...: Lynn,

It's pretty sad when I can't get a comment onto my own blog. Ok, the third time will be the charm...fingers crossed...here goes.

Perhaps you could pose as the "Dangerous Edibles Czar" and remove the mushrooms from the fema compound be for they endangered anyone.:)

Micki swears that the dog tracked down two mushrooms when we were out cutting firewood the other day but I have serious doubts. He does have quite the nose on him though, and can find her or Hunter wherever they go even if they have been away for a while.

Now if I could just teach him to hunt for the all elusive truffle, a mushroom I have yet to find...they are suposed to be quite odiferous.; April 28, 2010 at 10:25 AM
Silke Powers said...: Just sending a little hello and thanks for your visit!! I hope that all is going well and the weather is getting warmer for you... I bet you, Mrs. H., grandson and Rowdy are busy working in your garden! :) Silke; May 14, 2010 at 12:57 PM
Mr. H. said...: We have been very busy this spring. Micki has another race to run tomorrow, a half marathon, she is very nervous but I am confident that she will do well as we have been doing a lot of training. We will both be glad to be done with all this running for a while though.:) Oh, and Rowdy is quite the running dog, he easily did 12 miles with us the other day.

We have also been selling lots of plants this spring, a new venture for us. Strawberry, raspberry, current, josta, tomato plants and various other veggies and herbs...so far so good. Unfortunately this has left me with very little free time for blogging...but I always find time to read yours, even if I don't always comment. Thanks Silke, you're the best.:); May 14, 2010 at 10:12 PM