Tis the season - morels & wild asparagus

From: Chuck Cole [mailto:cncole@earthlink.net]
Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2015 10:03 AM
To: 'FSSP Camera Club'
Subject: 'tis the season for morels and wild asparagus

Last Sunday's Star Tribune paper had an article on morel mushrooms.  This is the season for finding both morels and wild asparagus.

Perhaps Leon, now a vegan, would lead an expedition in his backyard Minnesota River Valley woods  :-)  This could be both a photo expedition and perhaps a culinary experience as well.  Might be some in FSSP areas also.  Common areas are likely picked clean by enthusiasts.  Morels sell for very high prices. 

The morel festival is this weekend in Wisconsin: 

2015 Muscoda Morel Mushroom Festival   33^{rd Annual Morel Mushroom Festival}

     ^{<http://muscoda.com/festivals/muscoda-morel-mushroom-festival/}>     ^{Saturday & Sunday May 16 & 17, 2015}

I've never seen or eaten a morel mushroom, but haven't done serious hunts for them.  I'm fond of mushrooms, but not a native, so I'm inexperienced and cautious.  Supposedly, morels are the safest mushrooms to identify and gather on your own, but there are some that look a little like them which are poisonous.

Wild asparagus is supposedly quite tasty but harder to find than morels.  The "secret" is to have spotted some "too mature" plants in the previous year and to look in those places when sprouts are just emerging from the ground or through light snow the next Spring.

Seems to me that each of these might be good "plant photography" subjects.  Nadine Blacklock's booklet, "Photographing Wildflowers", has great tips for photographing plants and flowers.  Used copies can be found for $1.00 or borrow a copy from a local library.  Nadine was a better photographer than Craig, and that's likely what led to their divorce.. etc.

Chuck