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Posted: 23 Apr 2020 02:58 PM PDT
Ah, morels… America's most beloved mushroom. Sitting pretty at the top of the fungi hierarchy. Mysterious, elusive, and highly sought after. Sprouting in the forest in spring, like sunshine after a long winter.
A gourmet prize for those mucking about in the wild scouring the forest floor looking for these oblong- and sometimes bulbous-shaped beauties. A sight for sore eyes indeed. Their attributes aren't just superficial, either. Expensive as they are at $20 a pound, it's no wonder they're such rock stars in the food world. Perhaps it's their nutty flavor that people fall in love with. Or maybe it's their unique meaty flavor that has people foraging the ends of the earth (or backyard forest) hunting for them. Maybe it's their exotic brain-like appearance that mesmerizes people. Whatever the reasons, one thing is for sure: morels are in very short supply and high demand, and they cost a pretty penny too! But what if you could delight in morel mushrooms without the hassle of having to hunt for them in the forest or pay a fortune in the store? That has piqued your interest, hasn't it? Well, you've come to the right place. Here's the ultimate guide to growing morel mushrooms. Growing Morel Mushrooms 101 – What You Need to KnowMorel mushrooms are classified as Fungi. They don't belong to the Plantae kingdom. So, they don't produce seeds, nor do they have roots. So frankly speaking, growing morel mushrooms is not an easy undertaking. If it were, then everyone would have them sprouting in their backyard.But that is not to say it is impossible to grow morels. You only need to be patient, as it can take a couple of years for the morels to start growing. And you need to follow the morel-growing instructions carefully. Morels have a very short growing period and only appear in the spring between March and May. When growing them, the idea is to replicate the conditions present in their natural habitat, which is where things can get a bit tricky if you don't do it correctly.  Here's what you need to know.SoilWild morels grow around burned, decaying, and dead trees. Decaying trees usually release nutrients into the soil, which, when combined with the leaf litter, create the loamy fertile soil that these fungi thrive in.So, to mirror these conditions in your backyard, some of the additives you'll need to add to the soil include wood ash, wood chips, and sand. You can also enrich the soil using composted manure. Steer clear of using artificial fertilizers. LightWild morels grow with minimal sunlight, which is why you're likely to find them in forest spots that have dim, filtered light. Also, if you think about it, they don't need sunlight since they are not plants; this means that they don't make chlorophyll.The role of sunlight in the morel lifecycle has more to do with warming the soil rather than in aiding mushroom growth. Bear this in mind when finding a suitable spot to grow them. WaterMorels thrive in moisture-rich soil. You need to ensure that your cultivation area is kept moist, especially in the late Winter and Spring morel growing season. While you shouldn't soak the soil with water, it should feel wet to the touch.Avoid using chlorinated tap water. Instead, if you can, use well water, or capture and store rainwater in an underground tank or rain barrel to use for watering your morels. TemperatureMorels wither away in hot and dry weather conditions so you won't have great luck in an arid climate. They grow best in the northern forested areas of the US and Europe. The best time to grow them is in the spring when the weather is moist and cool.Optimum temperatures for morel growth are in the low 50°s F during the day and the mid 40°'s F at night. Cloudy overcast conditions with scattered rain significantly extend the growing and harvesting period. How to Grow Morel MushroomsThere are different techniques for growing morel mushrooms. The choice of one over the other ultimately boils down to experimentation to find out which one works well for you.Here are two methods you can try. 1. The Growth Kit MethodThis technique involves purchasing a growth kit which comes with spawn. The mushroom spawn will come in a block of special soil, or substrate. You will chop this up and spread it into your mushroom bed.All you have to do is prepare your morel bed, making sure to mirror the ideal morel growing conditions described in the previous section. Most kits have enough spawn for a 4×4 ft—square bed. Next, mix the spores and some hardwood chips (preferably from ash, elm, tulip, or old apple trees) into the prepared bed by spreading them through the top layer. Then wait for them to produce mushrooms.  It may take a couple of years, or even more for your morels to grow, so don't be discouraged if nothing happens this spring or the next one. Continue to keep the area moist and exercise (a lot of) patience. Morel Habitat Kit – Backyard Morel Mushroom Growing Kit by GMHP Gourmet Mushroom Products — This is the kit that I recommend. I planted my morel patch last fall with this one. It comes with good instructions and seems to have a pretty good grow rate, though I won’t know if mine is successful for another year or so. 2. The Spore Slurry MethodIf you have top-notch morel mushroom hunting skills, you don't need to purchase a growth kit. You can use the spore slurry method to grow them instead. Here's how.
This method is by far the easiest and cheapest way to grow morels but has a lower probability of success compared to the growth kit method. You will have to wait a couple of years to see if your morels grow. The Best Things Take TimeSuccessfully growing morel mushrooms requires patience and experimentation. The secret to success lies in maintaining an environment that's conducive for your morels to thrive in. Have fun with it and don't give up if you don't see immediate results. Once your morels start growing in a couple of years, you'll be glad that you never gave up.In the meantime, please see our article about foraging for morels to learn where to find these delicious mushrooms in the forest!
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Taking Joe's outlook, the process of learning and foraging for these medicinal mushrooms (cordyceps militaris grows wild throughout the northeast as does chaga, reishi, lions mane, turkey tail, and many other medicinal mushrooms), the process of cultivating them, of cooking them, processing them, watching them grow, looking at them, and touching them is all part of the healing process. Healing can happen, during all of these activities, regardless of the compounds that are found in the mushroom. I encourage everyone to start building a relationship with these fungal medicines, learn who these mushrooms are, how to cultivate them, listen to them and see what magic unfolds. If you have the time and energy, try making your own chaga tea, or reishi tincture, take a walk in the woods to hunt for cordyceps, inoculate some shiitake logs. Take the time to build a relationship with these fungal beings and it becomes part of the healing process.
One interesting study on mice given extracts of the fruiting body of cordyceps found a significant decrease in fatiguing during exercise. After consuming the extract for two or more weeks, mice showed increased ATP levels and the production of antioxidative enzymes during physical activity. The production of lactic acid and several other compounds decreased, allowing for more time before fatigue showed in the body. This similar study was repeated on 28 human subjects during high intensity exercise. The study found that after three weeks of cordyceps supplementation there was an increase in oxygen consumption and time to exhaustion. As the research and consumer interest in cordyceps grows, hopefully more human trials will be conducted. This will help to clarify if all these perceived benefits have the same impacts on the human body. It is amazing that this mushroom is fetching such an astronomical price while little to no research has confirmed medicinal benefits to the human body. It seems much of the benefit of cordyceps is inferred or transferred to the human body from other studies.
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