What's Out There Now.

Chanterelles
Black trumpets
Maitake aka sheeps head aka hen of the woods
Chicken of the woods
Pursalane
Lambs quarters
Sumac
Elderberries
Chicory
Green juniper
Black walnuts
Mint
Wood sorrel
Dandelion
and much more!

Rewards and Pangs of the Forage. Fuck!

Yeah so I'm pretty sure this is poison ivy and if it's not then it's something else fucking itchy!  Not only that, Tonya Pierce, my partner who has been gone for the last three days working on her design show, which I'm sure most of you know about if you see my personal facebook page and twitter account and I hope you will vote for her ;)...well anyways I drew a bath for her tonight and when I showed her this I was banned.  Ooph.  And now as I'm sitting her writing about this everything is starting to feel itchy but I'm not a scratcher.  Ew.

ramps

In the picture above there is a ramp pesto and pickled ramp bulbs.  The bulbs are cleaned and then placed in a deli with coriander, pinch of salt, and green peppercorns.  My pickle is 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/2 cup sugar, heated together to dissolve sugar, poured over ramps, allowed to cool, sealed and refrigerated.  For the pesto I chopped the tops and placed them in a food processor with 1 clove of garlic that I toasted in a skillet with hot oil, a handful of cashews, salt and olive oil.  Blend tops, toasted garlic, cashews and salt, slowly drizzle in oil.  Taste, season to your liking.  This was a recipe for about ten ramps.  It's simple, easy to wing it.

Fucking Rascals!

Finds!

Wild garlic- ramsons, and wild mint- apple mint.

All foraging aside this is the real reason why I love it so much, the sheer beauty!

Morels!  Just when I think I have the right spots and right timing they just don't appear, then as I'm giving up and heading back to my truck I find them in just the place I wouldn't have checked.  Today I was caught off guard by a beautiful flower, which most people plant outside their house, growing smack dab in the middle of sand in a nice sunny location.  As I approached it to to get a closer look just to it's right was lone blonde morel, sun shining down growing right up from the sand.  Yesterday I found several just poking from some beautiful green foliage along a fallen tree, which species I couldn't make out, but a more likely location.  At one point I was even in a burnt out area, which they tend to love but found nothing.  Two days of mushroom hunting and found just a little over a handful but thanks to some wonderful friends with a lucky connection to a couple who doesn't eat morels I got quite the load.  There's about another week to two of these wonderful creatures and if the temperatures reach up a bit then I might have more luck in my spots.  I also had some other good finds, wild mint-from what I've researched I believe it to be apple mint and wild garlic, known as ramsons.  You just never know...  When finding large quantities of morels or other mushrooms freezing, sharing and drying is my suggestion.  And if you are one of those lucky enough to find a carpet of them I also suggest to not take more than you know you can share, freeze, dry or consume.  The earth benefits from their return to it by helping the trees and forest floor and spreading more spores for seasons to come so we can find them again.  That really goes for any foraged edible.