No Morel Luck

After rearranging a few appointments today, I was able to stay home and mow (a two hour job because of all of the sticks that were down) and then wakl in the woods on my quest for the famed morel mushroom. Today there were wild phlox in bloom, as well as Dutchman's britches (or is it breetches?) and yellow violets. In addition to photographs, I got lots of mosquito bites. I'm hoping that I didn't find any deer ticks or poison ivy.

Tomorrow is another day. Hopefully I will find some mushrooms to fix for my dad's 80th birthday.

shel

Morel Mushrooms

It's that time again...time to brave the wild coyotes, timber rattlers, and (shudder) poison ivy as I start the quest for the highly prized morel mushrooms. Last week I scouted the area with my camera (and big hopes). I took pictures of wild flowers that were growing willy-nilly over the leafy forest floor. It's too early for the lady slipper orchid to be up, but I'm hoping that I can find it again this year. To see an orchid growing wild is a rare and wonderful sight for central Illinoisians.

The weather has been in the low 80's for the last two days. Added to the moist conditions, the heat should have made the morels pop up. Tomorrow I have a few hours to walk through the woods with my handy-dandy walking stick (complete with a compass and a morel finial) and my camera to see just what I can find.

The grass needs to be mowed, as well, so I'll have to get busy with that.

shel