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The mushrooms are coming

Search is on for the wily morel.

All across the Upper Midwest, the message boards are buzzing: Where are they?

According to the Iowa guestbook at Morels.com, they're plentiful in northeast Iowa if you know where to look, which always is the tricky part. They're in southern Wisconsin, too: "It seemed that every tree we looked under there were morels!'' But most Minnesotans still are waiting.

We've had the rain; now, we need warmth. Usually, morels pop out about the same time lilacs bud. Look first at the top of sunny hillsides around dying trees, especially elms, though morels can be found under many kinds of trees and also in meadows and on sandy bottomlands. The season lasts two or three weeks; toward the end, look on the northern edges of woods and in ravines.

For hunting tips, see Out of the forest and into the frying pan. And watch for ticks: See Preventing Lyme disease.

Last updated on May 12, 2008