Hurry Up Spring…I Want My Morel Mushrooms!

Usually by this time every year, we see sightings on social media of someone with a bucket of morels and we start salivating. Mother Nature hasn't been playing fair so far this year and a lot of us are just waiting to go mushroom hunting!

It's a short season for morel mushroom hunters. Usually two to three weeks is your window of opportunity. It's a chance for many to find the tasty morsels and spread the good word that they're out there and ready for the picking. Unfortunately we're not seeing the consistent warmer temperatures to make the ground warm enough to help them sprout.

Most dedicated morel mushroom hunters track the soil temperature this time of year. They're waiting for the reading to reach consistently into the 53 degree range. Others will wait to see when the overnight temps will be in the 50's and then they're off and running with bucket in hand.

The single most important factor for any Missouri mushrooms to appear is adequate moisture. We've been lucky the past few weeks with an abundance of rain so when those temperatures decide to get in the 50's and stay there for a while, get ready for the sightings, the tales and the pictures of morels in Missouri.