The Ramps of Allegheny

I leave NJ in a tremble of excitement. I leave NJ in a driving in rain. I’m headed west, it’s spring, and the maps I watch and the mushroom groups I follow all indicate that Michigan is on the precipice of morel season. I pack my bags—no nice clothes, just jeans for the evening, a …

New Jersey Morels: Take Two

Why let a little rain stop me? On the first Sunday in May I bundle up and head out. It’s probably still early in the season, but I’m dying to get out, so I grab my raincoat and head southeast. My plan had been to work my way into the New Jersey Pine Barrens, a …

morel in pine forest

A Single Mushroom Grows in Wine Country

Every time I’m in Walla Walla in the spring I press my foraging friends into taking me out into the woods. This April was no different. It’s cold when I arrive at John and Mary’s house early on a Tuesday morning, but I’m glad to see Bella and Blossom, the couple’s two black labs, and that …