# Mushroom and Ramp care on a roadtrip



## ssrhythm

Happy spring y'all. I moved from central Indiana to Wyoming last year, but in the two years before moving, I got hooked on hunting Morels (and chants and hens and oysters etc) and digging ramps. I will be returning April 20-May 5 to do some work on the house I'm still trying to sell, and I plan on shooting a turkey, finding some morels, and digging a bunch of ramps while I'm there. In the past, any morels and ramps I brought home ended up in a frying pan within a couple of days, so I am concerned about getting anything I find and harvest this trip back home to the family in Wyoming. I have a house with plenty of refrigerator space in Indiana. I will try to delay morel picking as long as possible where I can, and I am going to dig the ramps the day before heading back to Wyoming. I may take a 4 hour trip to SE ohio to my buds for a quick turkey hunt...and he says he has some good morel hunting too. If y'all were going on this cross country trip and wanting to bring back the harvest to your family...how would you prepare? Can morels picked on April 20 make it till May 5 with intermittent access to refrig and coolers? Can I get them back fairly fresh, or am I going to need to freeze or preserve somehow? Thanks for any advice y'all can give me.


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## ssrhythm

Also...we love ramps and wish we could eat them year-round. I have access to a ramp forrest. Has anyone on here had any success freezing ramps in large quantities for


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## jack

I would / and do slice ramps in half and dehydrate them. If you're making sauces, soups, gravies, or anything else, just throw them right in dried. I also take the dried ramps and grind them fine or course, like salt, and use it accordingly
I also freeze and dry the morels whole. Use the frozen ones within a few months. Sometimes I'll grind the dried morels too, add it to both sides of a steak, right off the grill. They say morels should be cooked but putting fine morel powder on a hot steak cooks them immediately. Hope that helps you out.


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## ssrhythm

Any new info is great, so it helps.


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## guff76

ssrhythm said:


> Happy spring y'all. I moved from central Indiana to Wyoming last year, but in the two years before moving, I got hooked on hunting Morels (and chants and hens and oysters etc) and digging ramps. I will be returning April 20-May 5 to do some work on the house I'm still trying to sell, and I plan on shooting a turkey, finding some morels, and digging a bunch of ramps while I'm there. In the past, any morels and ramps I brought home ended up in a frying pan within a couple of days, so I am concerned about getting anything I find and harvest this trip back home to the family in Wyoming. I have a house with plenty of refrigerator space in Indiana. I will try to delay morel picking as long as possible where I can, and I am going to dig the ramps the day before heading back to Wyoming. I may take a 4 hour trip to SE ohio to my buds for a quick turkey hunt...and he says he has some good morel hunting too. If y'all were going on this cross country trip and wanting to bring back the harvest to your family...how would you prepare? Can morels picked on April 20 make it till May 5 with intermittent access to refrig and coolers? Can I get them back fairly fresh, or am I going to need to freeze or preserve somehow? Thanks for any advice y'all can give me.


It's hard to say cause I've never let them sit for more than a day after picking them cause they always ended up in a pan with oil in it lol. I know it's not any advice but just throwing in a lil humor


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## scoondog

ssrhythm said:


> Happy spring y'all. I moved from central Indiana to Wyoming last year, but in the two years before moving, I got hooked on hunting Morels (and chants and hens and oysters etc) and digging ramps. I will be returning April 20-May 5 to do some work on the house I'm still trying to sell, and I plan on shooting a turkey, finding some morels, and digging a bunch of ramps while I'm there. In the past, any morels and ramps I brought home ended up in a frying pan within a couple of days, so I am concerned about getting anything I find and harvest this trip back home to the family in Wyoming. I have a house with plenty of refrigerator space in Indiana. I will try to delay morel picking as long as possible where I can, and I am going to dig the ramps the day before heading back to Wyoming. I may take a 4 hour trip to SE ohio to my buds for a quick turkey hunt...and he says he has some good morel hunting too. If y'all were going on this cross country trip and wanting to bring back the harvest to your family...how would you prepare? Can morels picked on April 20 make it till May 5 with intermittent access to refrig and coolers? Can I get them back fairly fresh, or am I going to need to freeze or preserve somehow? Thanks for any advice y'all can give me.


ship them next day air


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## ssrhythm

scoondog said:


> ship them next day air


Then they will eat them without me!


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## mmh

I harvest Ramps by shoving my fingers into the soil and attempt to pinch off the root and pull. I hope there is an easier way that any of you could share.


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## shroomsearcher

I just take a trowel with me. I sink it all around the clump and work it up. Depending on the soil, you may have to do this a couple of times. When I can work the whole clump up out of the ground I shake it off, bag it, and stash it in my back pack.However, I have picked ramps for folks looking to transplant some to their home turf. In that instance I'll leave all the dirt around the bulbs and roots, and put them in a plastic bag.


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## ssrhythm

I have a small, pointed shovel that I take, and I do what shroomsearcher does. I'd love to find some in soil that is sandy enough to be able to get the bulb out by hand, but the spots I dig have super sticky and thick clay-like soil with a ton of roots from nearby trees...so I have to use the shovel. I'm hoping to dig the ramps toward the end of the trip, leave a good bit of dirt around the bulbs, and transport them in a huge cooler. I love to wilt the greens and bulbs in olive oil, so I'm going to try to blanch what we don't eat right away and freeze them in big ziplocks. I'll report back about hen-of-the-woods time and let y'all know how it went. As far as the morels go...I guess I'll just be happy if I get on enough to actually try to haul back to Wyoming...my family is hopeful after last year's awesome fried wild turkey, wilted ramps, and sauteed morel feast. If I do find them, I'm hoping that they will keep for a while in a brown paper bag in the fridge...then in a cold cooler for the ride home.


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## ssrhythm

Pic that keeps me motivated.
one
more
week...


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## shroomsearcher

ssrhythm said:


> I have a small, pointed shovel that I take, and I do what shroomsearcher does. I'd love to find some in soil that is sandy enough to be able to get the bulb out by hand, but the spots I dig have super sticky and thick clay-like soil with a ton of roots from nearby trees...so I have to use the shovel. I'm hoping to dig the ramps toward the end of the trip, leave a good bit of dirt around the bulbs, and transport them in a huge cooler. I love to wilt the greens and bulbs in olive oil, so I'm going to try to blanch what we don't eat right away and freeze them in big ziplocks. I'll report back about hen-of-the-woods time and let y'all know how it went. As far as the morels go...I guess I'll just be happy if I get on enough to actually try to haul back to Wyoming...my family is hopeful after last year's awesome fried wild turkey, wilted ramps, and sauteed morel feast. If I do find them, I'm hoping that they will keep for a while in a brown paper bag in the fridge...then in a cold cooler for the ride home.


Oddly enough, my ramp patch is in a creek bottom with sandy loam soil. The first time I spotted them, I tried to just pull a bulb or two up out of the ground, and that was not happening! The tops would just pop off. They really put a grip on the soil, so you have to dig them up. And that was the first time that I actually found ramps. I was just trying to confirm what I had found. I had found some kind of wild onion on a farm where I turkey hunted. I learned that they were not ramps, and went and found these. Luckily, I had my pen knife in my pocket and was able to dig up a bulb or two! 



T tom said:


> That's a lot of small morels, but i think the flavor is even better when there small enough to cook whole. You have me jonesn now!


And if I don't miss my guess, those are all blacks! That's a feast!


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## old man

ssrhythm said:


> Happy spring y'all. I moved from central Indiana to Wyoming last year, but in the two years before moving, I got hooked on hunting Morels (and chants and hens and oysters etc) and digging ramps. I will be returning April 20-May 5 to do some work on the house I'm still trying to sell, and I plan on shooting a turkey, finding some morels, and digging a bunch of ramps while I'm there. In the past, any morels and ramps I brought home ended up in a frying pan within a couple of days, so I am concerned about getting anything I find and harvest this trip back home to the family in Wyoming. I have a house with plenty of refrigerator space in Indiana. I will try to delay morel picking as long as possible where I can, and I am going to dig the ramps the day before heading back to Wyoming. I may take a 4 hour trip to SE ohio to my buds for a quick turkey hunt...and he says he has some good morel hunting too. If y'all were going on this cross country trip and wanting to bring back the harvest to your family...how would you prepare? Can morels picked on April 20 make it till May 5 with intermittent access to refrig and coolers? Can I get them back fairly fresh, or am I going to need to freeze or preserve somehow? Thanks for any advice y'all can give me.


We used to pick morels in Wy up on Mts just below snow fields in June when one of my boys lived there. Enjoy WY, we hunt Elk, Deer there too. Love that state. We hunted Gravel Mountain close to Jackson, Hole.


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## old man

I am 88 yrs and still going. Will hit the woods when the ground reaches 50 degree or sooner. LOL


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## HawkeyeMerkels

old man said:


> I am 88 yrs and still going. Will hit the woods when the ground reaches 50 degree or sooner. LOL


Thanks for the post OldMan! I agree with You, my Boys & I Love Wyoming. Great area! Hit them woods hard & Hope Ya find boxes full!


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## celticcurl

ssrhythm said:


> Also...we love ramps and wish we could eat them year-round. I have access to a ramp forrest. Has anyone on here had any success freezing ramps in large quantities for


One year I found ramps in the fall (because of the seed heads) and dug them up and put them in the fridge thinking I would use them soon. I left them in all winter and much to my surprise I had fresh ramp greens in the spring. They are very hearty. 

I suggest drying your morels for transport. I brought hundreds home from Washington one year after drying them on a screen in the sun. They lasted 2 years before they were all consumed. Plus they are so easy to clean when dried. You can take a brush to them.


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## Nuggetman

ssrhythm said:


> Also...we love ramps and wish we could eat them year-round. I have access to a ramp forrest. Has anyone on here had any success freezing ramps in large quantities for


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## Nuggetman

Yes I have there's a lot you can do with them. They keep for sometime. Even canning them pickling them in Italian dressing they are great


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