How to Make Current Morel Mushrooms Produce More

Harvest morel mushrooms in mesh bags instead of reusing convenient, plastic shopping bags. The breathable mesh bags allow morel spores to fall back to the forest floor while you continue hunting and when you head out of the woods. This promotes higher future yields in the hunting area. Create your own mesh bags by reusing the red, nylon onion and potato bags from your pantry.

Dry your harvest of morel mushrooms on a newspaper printed in soy ink before freezing or cooking. Mushroom spores will drop to the newspaper as the morels dry. Once the mushrooms have dried until crisp, store them in a freezer bag or soak them in water before cooking. Return spore-covered newspaper to a lush hunting spot and shake the spores off onto the ground. You may also bury the sheet of newspaper under a thin layer of decaying leaves and other organic material lifted from the forest floor to encourage higher future yields.

Disturb the forested area to encourage increased dispersal of millions of morel mushroom spores throughout your hunting spots and surrounding forest areas. Hire a professional team of firefighters to perform controlled burns of brush and forested areas to prevent dangerous forest fires and help disperse morel spores. Other disturbances that you may use to encourage future morel yields include timber harvesting and soil scarification.