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Mushroom hunting season is here

A Black trumpet fall mushroom, one of many mushrooms that can be found in Iowa. Contributed photo from Iowa DNR by Jim Frink.
A black trumpet fall mushroom, one of many mushrooms that can be found in Iowa. Contributed photo from Iowa DNR by Jim Frink.
By Thomas Nelson, tnelson@charlescitypress.com

Mushroom hunters young and old can now get out of their homes to begin looking for fungus around Charles City and Floyd County.

The unseasonably warm weather in April accompanied by the almost twice-weekly rainfall is the ideal climate to grow most varieties of fungi.

The best spots to look for mushrooms, morel or otherwise, is to find a dead tree, said Floyd County Conservation Director Adam Sears.

“What I target is dead or dying trees,” said Sears, a mushroom hunter himself. “Around the base of that tree I have the best luck.”

“One of the keys is to stop, slow down and look around because there’s probably more if you find one,” Sears said.

Sears suggested Tosanak Recreation Area, Mathers Woods and Wentland Woods for mushroom hunters to check out.

“The soil temperature has risen enough that we do have mushrooms in April, which is not uncommon. It’s not as usual as May,” Sears said. “We’re a little bit ahead this year in everything.”

Mushroom hunters who find morel mushrooms can make a profit off their find. A pound of morel mushrooms can be worth $10 to $20, Sears said.

Mushroom season is an evolving timeframe, sears said.

“If you’re looking for morel mushrooms you won’t see them past May or June. There are other species you can go after,” Sears said. “Hen of the woods or chicken or woods is another popular fungus people are going after.”

Different species of mushroom are around during different seasons.

If someone’s going go to mushroom hunting, Sears asks that they pick up after themselves.

 

 

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