# A morel Dilemma....



## msturm (Sep 18, 2019)

Last summer the Kenai Peninsula burned! Wildfires everywhere. It was tragic and killed our local economy. We did not see rain from late May until early August. Hundreds of thousands of acres of pristine wilderness burned. Roads were closed, picture some real fire and brimstone action. Commerce was halted, both land and air.




























Fall came late. October sprinkles, November snows, and the fires died. We rebounded as we do, Alaskan's are a hearty breed. Communities shared resources, we supported local businesses and we pushed forward.

It is now Spring, a time of regrowth, we collect birch sap to make syrup, we pick spruce buds to make beer, we collect cotton wood buds to make salve for the upcoming pushki burns. Spring edibles thrive, fireweed shoots taste like asparagus, nettles make great pesto, fiddlehead ferns are everywhere, and if you time it just right.... just right... JUST RIGHT....

A big burn or two turns into a HUGE MOREL crop. We harvested 7.34 lbs of morels yesterday and my extended family 11 lbs the day before. We returned sooty, tired and full of smiles.










They were not huge morels, but there were huge amounts of medium sized ones.










I was able to find a few choice specimens,










We had moose rib steaks with morels and chives that grow behind our house, cooked over the fire. I wish I had a shot of that magic going down.

Long story short, nature is a phoenix, a series of birth, death and regrowth. It is a beautiful struggle I am happy to know my place in. I am thankful that I get to participate actively in the food chain .

Have a great morning.

MSturm


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## Sean Khan (Mar 27, 2020)

I have no idea what this morel thingy is or what it tastes like, but it looks really nice.

Lucky you, sir.


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## SLING-N-SHOT (Jun 5, 2018)

Tragic story with a positive ending, thanks for sharing MSturm......those Morels look delicious brother and bet they went down great with that Moose

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Ordo (Feb 11, 2018)

Great harvest. That's a delicous mushroom.


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## Tag (Jun 11, 2014)

These pictures are heart breaking Not only loss of trees, but the fact I didn’t find any mushrooms this year Glad you are safe


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## mattwalt (Jan 5, 2017)

Thats a nice haul.


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## Royleonard (Jun 30, 2017)

Life is good with moose and morels!


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## Henry the Hermit (Jun 2, 2010)

Wow! I'm jealous, about the Morels, not the fires.


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## Ibojoe (Mar 13, 2016)

Holy cow that’s a harvest. Too much rain for us this year as we only found a few. We always have em battered and deep fried. Delicious!


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## SJAaz (Apr 30, 2019)

msturm said:


> Last summer the Kenai Peninsula burned! Wildfires everywhere. It was tragic and killed our local economy. We did not see rain from late May until early August. Hundreds of thousands of acres of pristine wilderness burned. Roads were closed, picture some real fire and brimstone action. Commerce was halted, both land and air.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yes! And you watch, that ash and sunlight will have the critters standing belly deep in grass and brush in a season or two.


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## devils son in law (Sep 2, 2014)

Twas a very poor Morel season here in Northern Michigan. I think mostly due to falling well below freezing at our peak season.


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## SLINGDUDE (Aug 15, 2018)

Love em fried! But in the south, we fry everything...


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