Field Trip: Quiet Hunt for Forest Gold: Mushroom Foraging

Sunday, August 18, 2024
10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Tuition: $40

In this course, you will learn and practice the basic skills needed to safely identify and collect wild mushrooms. 

We will meet at the Ely Folk School and travel to a location near town to learn what to look for and how to identify mushrooms. 

This Course will be Great for:

• Beginning mushroom foragers seeking an introduction to mushroom hunting

• Experienced mushroom hunters wishing to add new skills and insights to their existing foraging practices

• Outdoor enthusiasts desiring better familiarity with the wild mushrooms they encounter in the field

• Parents who wish to teach children the safest ways of interacting with wild mushrooms

• Any mushroom-curious folks who want to identify the mushrooms they encounter!

Mushrooms are out there - let’s go and get them!

About the Instructor: Olena Johnson is a certified wild mushroom forager splitting time between Chanhassen and Sturgeon Lake, Minnesota. Here is her foraging story in her own words:

“I grew up in Ukraine and have been mushroom hunting since I was a young child. Back in Ukraine, every fall, my family frequented forests near the Belarussian border to hunt for mushrooms. 

This annual tradition ceased in 1996 after the Chernobyl nuclear accident polluted approximately 2,000,000 acres of forest. Foraging was prohibited in that area as all the wild berries and mushrooms were contaminated by radiation. 

I rediscovered my mushroom hunting hobby approximately 15 years ago while hiking in Banning State Park. There were huge clusters of Honey mushrooms (Armillaria Sp.) along the trail, and mushroom abundance brought back childhood memories as if I were back in the familiar forests. 

From that point forward, I was hooked on mushroom hunting again. I was very familiar with European mushrooms. However, I was very eager to learn about North American mushroom species and their common English names.  

Every summer and fall, I have been trekking up north in search of illusive ‘forest gold’. I purchased tons of mushroom guides, read a multitude of internet posts, and watched an insane amount of YouTube videos. Furthermore, I took mushroom classes and got certified. 

Lo and behold, I started noticing mushrooms everywhere and began sharing my knowledge with curious folks seeing me with baskets full of mushrooms. Each year, I challenge myself to find just as many mushrooms or more than prior years and learn about new species along the way.

Most of the time, I go on my ‘quiet hunt’ alone. I safeguard my ‘forest gold’ spots closely and prefer not to share them with anyone. Nevertheless, occasionally friends and acquaintances will convince me to take small groups on mushroom hunt in the new spots. I am always willing to teach and help ID mushrooms I know well. And when I come back with a large mushroom bounty, most of the time it will be shared amongst my friends. “