Grow your own morels?

A company selling "grow-your-own" morel mushroom kits e-mailed us here at The Enquirer. I remember looking at these last year, and the year before, and wondering, Do they really work? I grew up in White Oak with a yard full of huge oak trees and massive compost pile of leaves, and we always had morels growing up from underneath all the leaf litter, around May 15 every year. In case there is any doubt, let me make this clear: I LOVE MORELS. We'd soak them in water, then sprinkle the water (with the spores in it) outside, where they'd come up, to ensure more the following year. My dad would fry them up in butter in a cast-iron skillet, and I remember thinking, Mmmm, they taste like steak!

Can you replicate this with a kit? The web site doesn't really specify what climates it works in, though it does have a money-back guarantee. But from what I've heard, it's pretty hard to grow your own mushrooms - especially morels. Anyone have any experience with this?

(There are also a core group of dedicated morel hunters, but I just don't have the woodsy knowledge to know where to look. Unless, of course, you want to take me to your secret hunting spot...)

There's even a morel festival in Boyne City, Michigan. Mmm. Tasty... But if you're like me, you'll just buy yours from Madison's. Brian over there said they're coming in soon from California - maybe even this week!