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Tonganoxie student finds giant morel mushroom after heavy rain

By Shawn Linenberger - | Apr 26, 2016

Shawn Linenberger

Tonganoxie High School senior Heath Martin shows off a giant, 11-inch morel mushroom he found April 20 on his family's property.

Heath Martin tries to go morel hunting every year near his family’s house in rural Tonganoxie.

The Tonganoxie High School senior started the activity about four years ago.

“I just went down in the woods and found them,” Martin recalled about his first hunt.

He checked with his mother, Jennifer, whether the mushrooms were the kind that were safe to eat.

His mother gave him the green light, and he was on his way with a new hobby of gathering small morels.

Shawn Linenberger

Tonganoxie High School senior Heath Martin shows off a giant, 11-inch morel mushroom he found April 20 on his family's property.

Last week, though, the soon-to-be THS graduate found a whopper.

“I usually find them right after it rains on hot, humid days,” Martin.

It had just rained Wednesday, April 20, so Martin headed out.

While on the hunt, he found a large morel — as in a fungus measuring 11 inches tall.

“The ones I’ve found are not even close to that size,” Martin said. “I just got lucky I guess.”

His finds usually are mushrooms that aren’t taller than 4 inches.

Martin and his family started to do research to see if they might have had a world record on their hands. But it was inconclusive.

“We made some calls, but there’s really no research,” he said. “I looked online and found one that was a foot or so.”

One YouTube post by Chris Matherly shows a morel mushroom measuring 13 inches. It was found in 2010 in Georgia, according to the YouTube video.

The mushroom Martin found, which also is roughly 4 inches wide at certain points, certainly appears to rank up their with big morel discoveries. But he said it likely won’t be put on display.

“I guess we’re just going to cook it up and eat it,” Martin said with a laugh.

Some online recipes call for the mushroom to be stuffed. Some include ground sausage, while others call for bacon.

Martin says he keeps it simple with his preparations.

“We just fry them in butter in a skillet, or deep fry them,” he said. “I just add salt and pepper.”

Hunting the mushrooms has become Martin’s hobby, something he’ll likely continue to do as he pursues a degree in physical therapy at Washburn University in Topeka.