Having short stems (no more than 1/4 inch) is the commercial standard where we live and is requested if you are selling morels to a buyer. This is for a number of reasons. Mainly because the the most grit and dirt contamination is on the stem, especially when harvesting in forest fires. Some other factors include: insect contamination often starts in the stems first, the morels are easier to handle and dry on large scales when there's no long stems in the way - as well as package. Also it is common to see a new flush of morels come from the same area, and they often grow right from the same spot as the previous flush so by cutting the stem short there is less risk of reducing later crop yield. When harvesting for only your own personal consumption having a long stem is fine, it's just best to avoid having to sit in front of a mushroom buying depot cutting off all your long stems for an hour when selling commercially. Thanks for the comment Luke!
@@northernwildharvest Thank you for explaining, that makes a lot of sense. Originaly I thought having longer stem is better for commercial purposes as it adds a bit of extra weight :)
@@LukesMushrooms We have tested the weight of the stems at our buying and drying stations before, by trimming other peoples stems and filling an entire basket and it weighed surprisingly little (less than 1/3rd the weight of the caps). The stems do however absorb quite a bit of water, which is not good for dry ratios, they also don't re-hydrate as well as the rest of the mushroom. It's a quality over quantity kind of thing. :) Glad you asked about it!
Sometimes we do find morels where are drying stations were but most of the species we’re harvesting in the burn, require burning to fruit again. It’s hard to say because the results of spreading spore from those species for this reason. We have seen true natural species grow where they previously had not grown, because of our dryer though.
You mean the privacy tarp? Haha we share a lot of stuff while we’re out there but not everything! We we’re out there for about a month and a half - 5 person group. That location was over 100km from nearest town.
