My dad Martin is 85 and back when he was more spry, one of his favorite pastimes was looking for morel mushrooms. It’s been many years since he could go in the woods to look for them, but one amazing blessing is that morels have regularly appeared each season just twenty or so feet from he and mom’s bedroom window outside our home in Valle Crucis, NC.

What’s most incredible to me is that I’ve looked for morels in plenty of other locations in North Carolina, but it’s only on our property that I’ve ever found them. I know people do find them because every once in awhile I’ll see a few posted on Facebook or else hear colleagues at App State talking about morel mushrooms.

One fun thing about having morels grow just outside our house is that we tend to them. First, dad had me out on the hillside watering them with a watering can. I upgraded that to a sprinkler and purchased yellow tent stakes so I could mark the spots where the roonies were growing.

One more thought: morel hunters can be pretty paranoid about their favorite mushroom producing trees. Dad already asked me if I thought the renters in the cabin down the hill from our house saw us in the woods. I promised, and it occurs to me that I could be wrong, that the renters would not hike up the hill and “steal” or mushrooms.

During one of dad’s last seasons going out into the woods to look for morels, I made a short narrative film about he and his buddies. You can check that out here if you’re interested.

Each year I mean to remember the day the morels first appear and until now, I always forget. I found this year’s first morel on April 19, 2023.

I appreciate you stopping by the Torg Stories site to check out this post. Thank you for reading!