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Thanks to a brief chat with a hiker a couple of weeks ago, I have discovered the best wild mushroom resource since “Wildman” Steve Brill. This group of mycologists call themselves COMA (Connecticut-Westchester Mycological Association); their newsletter is Spores Illustrated.

Besides being witty and willing to share their knowledge and their hunting places, these people even share mushrooms. Now that’s friendly.

Here’s a link to trek photos from this past week.

The first person I met in this group was George Johanson. He greets people by handing them a black walnut or a butternut, then demonstrates how to open the nut with a Vice Grip. This passionate forager and I connected immediately, but more about that later.

By the end of the first hike, I was captivated by this knowledgeable and generous group. We didn’t find morels, but we did find ramps, trout lilies, fiddleheads and wild garlic. We shared tree knowledge, flower knowledge and recipes, ending the trek with a pot luck lunch. Dianna Smith shared Spores Illustrated and membership information. This is a true gift. Most mushroomers I meet are secretive about their favorite hunting places.

This past Sunday I met Morrs and Bev Palmer on a COMA search for morels on their property. They live in my idea of heaven, I got there a bit early and shared waffles with home made maple syrup. I didn’t find morels, but two people offered to share their morels. The pot luck included Joe and Kathy Brandt’s Knotweed and Chicken Mushroom Salad, as well as a delicious range of home made treats, many using wild ingredients. Joe and Kathy are buddies with “Wildman,” so I feel well-guided. Bev was removing knotweed to make room for other plants, so I now have a new wild edible to explore.

Back to George Johanson, just when I thought I’d died and gone to heaven, George hands me a serious walnut cracker and about 30 walnuts and butternuts. I’ll be toting this beauty to all future COMA events.

When I told George that I needed two hands to squeeze my Vice Grip and a third to keep the nut from spewing pieces, this was his solution. I think the genius who invented this deserves a patent and royalties forever.

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Anyone can set the nut without getting fingers pinched, apply the right pressure, and keep the nut pieces safe.

Black walnuts are rounder and butternuts are longer and narrower. Without George’s manual dexterity or this wonderful nutcracker, getting large shell-free pieces of this treat is almost impossible.

Before I took these photos, I did make use of the rest of my wild harvest.

Click on these hot links or check out my Wild Food Recipes section for photos and recipes for trout lilies, ramps (wild leeks), fiddleheads and spring beauties.

I’m putting the knotweed salad to the test later and I will show my simple homage to the cooked morels.