Intro to Mushrooms

Finding mushrooms in nature is a treasure hunt! Join us for a full day of learning about the wild mushrooms of Western Washington. During this workshop, participants will gain helpful identification skills, ecological insights, and a newfound confidence and joy in finding common mushrooms in the wild.

With a basis of knowledge of mushroom traits, tree associations, morphology, and behaviors, the fun in discovery is boundless. Increase your comfort level with foraging for delicious edible species, learn about potent medicinal mushrooms and their properties, and be amazed by some of the most unique and fascinating species in the northwest. This program is for both beginners and experienced foragers.

During this class, you will learn:

• Mushroom structure, biology, and reproduction
• Identification factors and methods
• Common edible and medicinal species
• Toxic lookalikes
• Substrate and tree associations
• Best foraging practices
• The role of fungi in forest ecology

Program Logistics

Class will take place at our school’s 60-acre property from 9am-5pm on Saturday, October 11th. Food is not provided. Participants will be out in the field and will need to dress accordingly. 

Meet Your Instructor

Daniel Winkler

Daniel grew up collecting and eating wild mushrooms in the Alps and is sharing his enthusiasm as a mushroom educator, photographer, and guide. Daniel managed to bend his career as an ecologist and geographer focused on High Asia towards researching Tibet’s enormous fungal economy. His ethno-mycological Cordyceps research has been featured in National Geographic, the New York Times, NPR, and the BBC. In the last decade, Daniel has been exploring neotropical fungi. With his travel agency MushRoaming, Daniel has been organizing mushroom-focused eco-adventures since 2007, with current destinations in Bhutan and Colombia.

Daniel published Fruits of the Forest – Field Guide to Pacific Northwest Edible Mushrooms (available at mushroaming.com). The 400-page, gorgeously illustrated book is the essence of a lifetime of mushroom hunting in the PNW, where Daniel has been living for the last 27 years. Copies of this book will be available for purchase.