THUNDER BAY — The spring of 2024 may be remembered not so much for forest fires but for fantastic fungi.
Folks who live near Thunder Bay and spend a fair bit of time in the woods foraging for wild mushrooms say it's been one of the best seasons ever for what is arguably the most sought-out species of them all: the delectable morel.
Morels have been unusually plentiful and large in size this season in the Thunder Bay district.
"It's just been insane, the type of morel season we're having," Neebing resident Jessica Durand enthused on Monday.
Morels are often featured in fancy restaurants because of their pungent aroma and fine texture after they've been cooked.
Durand says she likes to put them in soups and omelettes or use them for pizza toppings.
Morels thrive in cool, damp weather, which may explain their abundance and size this season following some substantial downpours across the region, said Durand, who has been picking morels for more than a decade.
Like blossoms on a tree, morels fade away rather quickly; pickers only have about two weeks to collect them before they start to decay.
Durand says she finds them most often on the floors of forests that have a lot of hardwood trees like poplar and birch. She said there's about a week left of good picking opportunities.
First-time pickers should bring along a guide book to know what they're looking at and avoid mushrooms that could be poisonous.
"You need to develop a keen eye," Durand said.
There are more than 600 species of wild mushrooms in Ontario.
Though "many are poisonous," a provincial health bulletin advises, "serious poisonings are rare."
"There are no simple tests to determine if a mushroom is poisonous," the bulletin added. "Safe consumption of wild mushrooms and other wild foods requires they be correctly identified by knowledgeable harvesters."
The Chronicle Journal / Local Journalism Initiative
