Each spring, Midwesterners head to the woods to find morel mushrooms. But some in the region are developing methods to reliably farm the delicacy. In a wooded area behind his Missouri mushroom farm, J.T. Gelineau sets out on a misty morning. He crosses a small creek and ducks under thick tangles of honeysuckle, scanning the ground.
There are a lot of lookalikes out here — walnut shells, pitted limestone rocks, leaves that have decayed to just a stencil. "All of these things initially have that kind of honeycomb appearance that, if they're the right color, will really catch your eye," Gelineau said.
Eventually he finds what he's looking for; a tiny morel mushroom, the size of Gelineau's thumbnail. "This is the smallest one I've found yet," he said, laughing with surprise.
Less than a mile away, in a brightly lit, humid room, Gelineau mimics spring conditions year-round. While he is able to cultivate a myriad of fungi indoors at his farm, Gelineau still has to hunt for morels in the woods.
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