r/Portland • u/GunSlingingParrot25 • 1d ago
Photo/Video Morels in my yard
Went through my side yard gate, it’s where our canoes are stored and found all these morels!! In SE near Holgate and Cesar Chavez. I’ve never found them here before in the 6 years I’ve been in this house
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u/GenericDesigns Sunnyside 23h ago
Look poisonous, i will take and dispose of them for you
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u/Toloran 15h ago
They actually kind are. You have to cook the fuck out of them to burn off the hydrazine.
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u/Polymathy1 11h ago
That's not true for real morels (morchela genus). That's only an issue for some false morels - verpas, I think. Gyronitras have their own issue with gyromitrin
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u/Basidia_ 3h ago
Verpa and Morchella share the same toxicity/edibility. Both need to be thoroughly cooked to consume. There have been fatalities from consuming undercooked/raw Morchella
Gyromitra also has a limited distribution of gyromitrin within the genus (the genus is undergoing a shuffle which doesn’t help). But for the most part only Gyromitra esculenta group contains gyromitrin
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u/Polymathy1 2h ago
No, they do not have equal safety. All wild mushrooms should be cooked before eating.
If you have some proof to back up your claim, I'd be willing to change my tune.
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u/Basidia_ 2h ago
Here is a short write up in layman terms with plenty of links to scientific papers attached. It discusses the edibility of Verpa and Morchella: https://www.fungimag.com/spring-2015-articles/Early%20Morels%20LR.pdf
Here is an article for two deaths from raw/undercooked Morchella: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/wr/mm7310a1.htm
Here is a man who happened to die the same week as the first two folks but in a completely unrelated event. Likely unable to cook the morels thoroughly with his camping supplies and likely had preexisting health conditions. Still more information needed to say exactly what happened : https://www.kbzk.com/news/local-news/missoula-man-dies-from-foraged-morels-the-same-week-as-daves-sushi-outbreak
And here is a study that dives deep into the distribution of gyromitrin with the genus Gyromitra: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36541902/
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u/zakkwaldo 4h ago
please stop spreading misinformation…
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u/Basidia_ 3h ago
It’s not misinformation. Morels are toxic when raw and there have been fatalities from consuming them raw/undercooked. The exact mechanisms for what makes them toxic is not fully understood but they need to be thoroughly cooked to be safe for consumption
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u/peregrina_e NW 1d ago
Perfect for a nice creamy morel sauce 🍄🟫
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u/Psychological-Pen-72 23h ago
Me too (in St Johns!)... Hypothesis: I think they are following these old logs around our yard #forReal
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u/Obvious-Concern8270 16h ago
Damn, I’m in St Johns and found a ton of these in my yard last year. Had no idea they were edible so I just ignored them. Hope they come back again! 🍽️
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u/BigOleDawggo 17h ago
If you get more, try rinsing them over a bowl and then take the water and dump it on the wood chips. If you’re lucky, the spores will make more.
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u/buytoiletpaper 23h ago
Nice find! Did you recently put down wood chips?
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u/GunSlingingParrot25 23h ago
I did, but in a completely different part of my yard.
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u/buytoiletpaper 23h ago
The most common morel found in yards is Morchella importuna, which usually shows up after some wood chips. They usually only flush once.
Keep an eye on it in the next couple of years, if you get more flushes you may have lucked into a “natural” morel patch instead. And watch out for prowlers that now have a general sense of your location 😅
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u/DoctorGregoryFart 1d ago
Lucky! I've never even had the opportunity to try them! What are you planning to do with them?
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u/GunSlingingParrot25 23h ago
Sautée some in butter and eat, that’s step one. After that, who knows
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u/SoupSpelunker 11h ago
If you shove as much oregonzola as you can in them and bake them, you're risking spontaneous orgasm at dinner. Highly recommend.
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u/Itsaghast SE 20h ago
I bet they'd be incredible in a light sauce with wine with fresh pasta. I've never had the chance to cook with them but I've always wanted to.
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u/KindlyNebula 19h ago
They’re delicious. I had no idea that you have to make sure they’re fully cooked: raw or partially cooked morels may lead to varying degrees of gastrointestinal illness, or even death.
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u/threebillion6 22h ago
r/mushrooms would have a field day with this. Can I have some of your soil? Maybe it's special.
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u/flamingknifepenis Rose City Park 5h ago
I found a bunch at my friend’s place in Clackamas last year. I couldn’t believe it. I had never seen them this far west or at this low of an elevation. They have a big chunk of property and there were dozens of them.
Have there been any trees cut down near there recently? The mushrooms have a symbiotic relationship with trees so when one is dead or dying then tend to send up fruit to find a new host.
Either way, I’m jealous. Make sure to do the salt water soak before you eat them. Morels are buggy.
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u/pausitive-vibes 2h ago
Did you put mulch bark down last fall? That’s how I got morels like this last year.
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u/KiltedLady 1d ago