Our earliest morels are coming from olive orchards and vineyards in Central California, near Fresno. They grow naturally alongside the olives and grapes. A good rainfall early in the season brings on high volumes as is the case this year. Because olives and vineyards need a more sandy soil, these morels tend to harbor some sand in their honeycombed hollows. Orchard morels are also different from conica and grey morels - lighter in color and milder in aroma - because they sprout in the same place reliably every year. Other wild morels pop up in soil where a forest fire has occurred the prior year.