7 Signs of Mushroom Season
Spring has finally sprung and it’s exciting to notice the signs that mushrooms are about to spring as well. Mushroom season is something my family gets excited for every year. So much so that my sister who lives out of state plans trips home around mushroom season. It hasn’t always panned out, but we can make an educated guess on when morels are going to be popping up and give her a heads up to start booking a flight home.
Here is the lowdown on how to spot the signs of the beginning of morel mushroom season.
Being that mushrooms are fungi, they need certain conditions before they grow. Warmth, moisture, and food are all things that help mushrooms to thrive, so by knowing that bit of information we can use it to guess when the time is right to start looking, along with where to look.
Temperatures
Spring is always a bit different from year to year so it’s hard to put a week or month as a sign of mushrooms, but something that can help predict them is temperature. When temperatures, both day and night, are consistently around 50 degrees, it is warm enough for mushrooms to start growing so pay attention. Because south facing slopes receive more sunlight throughout the day, they are naturally warmer than other areas. Focus your hunts to these places early in the season as they make the most sense for a warmer environment for mushrooms to be growing first.
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Moisture
Rain doesn’t only bring about flowers, but they bring on the mushrooms too. Mushrooms need a damp or moist environment, but not one that is soaking wet. A spring that has nicely timed showers will result in nice yields of mushrooms, but one that is too wet will cause them to spoil on the ground. On the other hand, one that is too dry will prevent them from growing or will shrivel them up before you have the chance to find them. Once you have the temperatures and a nice rain or two, start checking things out.
Food Source
I think everyone gets in their head that mushrooms like “dead things'' like fallen trees. This is true, but only to a degree. Mushrooms do need dead organic matter to live on but the key is to understand that something that’s too far gone is already too decomposed to be a good food source for mushrooms to thrive. Instead of looking near dead trees with moss already growing on it, look for newly dead trees, like within the last 1-3 years. What you want to pay attention to are trees that don’t have any leaves on them or ones that are starting to lose their bark. You may find the mushrooms right next to the trunk, or in the near vicinity of the root system. If you find one, pay attention and look around because where there’s one, there’s usually more to be found.
Lilac Budding
I had a lilac bush at the edge of the yard growing up and I loved to watch it bud and bloom in the spring as it was one of the most beautiful and striking signs of spring and a promise of warmer weather to come. I also naturally associated it with mushroom season and knew that when the buds got so big, or close to blooming, it was time to start looking. I was shocked when I heard someone else tell me about lilacs blooming being a sign of mushroom season as I couldn’t believe that “my” trick was an actual indicator for others as well. If you don’t have a lilac bush to watch, just look at other trees and you can use their buds as indicators instead.
Facebook Page
Last year (2020) I was anxiously awaiting mushroom season to start because it was something I could actually do while everything was on lockdown. Sadly, it was pretty much a non-existent season the one time I literally had ALL day to hunt. Even though I had next to ZERO luck, I was extremely thankful to at least have had the chance to look and get out during a time where so many had to be stuck inside.
I’ve always known certain signs to look for to anticipate the start of mushroom season but since I wasn’t having any luck, I decided to go to the “google machine” and see if there was something I was missing. It was then that I stumbled across the facebook page, “Morel Mushroom Hunters of Iowa” and found that there were thousands of “mushroomies” like me out there.
It’s fun to see people post their finds and it helps me keep track of which counties are having luck so I can gauge when I’ll have more luck in my area. There are a bunch of Facebook pages out there so if you’re interested, just do a search and see which group suits you best.
Now that you know a bit more about when and where to start looking for mushrooms, I hope you can get out and put your knowledge to the test. If not, treat yourself to some whether it’s buying from a local dealer or putting in a favor from someone you know who hunts.
Be sure to check out my other morel posts for more tips and tricks of the trade.
Share a picture of some of your best finds below for everyone to admire. Here is a picture of one of the biggest morel I’ve ever found.
