Early Morels

It's an extra early season for mountain morel mushrooms, but they are, in fact, here and as delicious as usual!  Due to the extraordinarily warm end of winter and early spring, the daffodils, forsythia, redbud, dogwood, and morel are all popping, and we aren't complaining one bit!  Usually these guys don't make their appearance until around the second week in April; be sure to check out these two other posts for proof.

Fun with Fungi

The hunters return successful!

Those are mountain morels, ladies and gentlemen.
(in George's special mushroom bag that supposedly allows for the seeds to fall out and spread around as he continues to hunt . . . do mushrooms have seeds??)

Wash and rinse . . .

the only thing he cooks anymore . . .

Ready to soak overnight for some frying tomorrow night for dinner!

The Yellow Season

over yonder in WV

yup, Harpers Ferry from MD

Stacy and Marlin's house in Antietam proper

blooms on the turn in Antietam

our own yellow beauties

And guess what Miss SG found ~ the first mountain morel of the season ~ up by the wood pile ~ it seems too early for them, but it is the yellow season (forsythia then daffodils - now the pink tree blossoms are out and a few white ones too -- soon the tulips and redbuds will bloom - that's the good time for mushrooms) ~ The last two seasons have been horrible - very few and far between -- maybe this is a sign of a fun fungi harvest to be!

Back Home

We were away for the long weekend in NY to see my sister and help her move in to their new home. The ride was long, but we were glad to have been able to go. True to form, SG did not sleep a wink at any moment on either the ride up or back. Sylv caught quite a few zzzz's on the way back.Today we visited G's parents while the cousins were there. The girls enjoyed an hour wading ankle deep in the "branch" that etched out their part of the Hollow over the millennia. Of course, I didn't have a camera . . .

Later today between killings of stink bugs, we tried out the kites that the Easter Bunny brought us in the motel room in NY. Unfortunately, there was no wind. According to G, there is never wind enough here to fly kites. Again, I didn't have a camera.

Now is the time of year that we hunt mountain morel, a wonderful seasonal fungi that scares the bejesus out of my mother . . . G went out a bit earlier and only found a tiny one, which he didn't pick -- thus, I have no picture for you. His mom and aunt have been out a few times while we were gone, and they too only found small ones. We hope this just means a slow start and not a bad season. It was such a wet winter and now the weather is so very warm -- it should be perfect 'shroom conditions!