Before I share a brand-new video with you, I’d like to mention that my newest online course, Exploring Wild Ecosystems, will reopen for registration on Monday, September 23.

This online course is designed to strengthen your relationship to wild places by introducing you to fascinating terrestrial and wetland ecosystems.  With a focus on the connections and communities that bind nature together, Exploring Wild Ecosystems will help you gain important ecological skills.

You can register here on Monday. 

Speaking of connections, forests are teeming with connections of all kinds.  Nothing in a forest exists in isolation.

Take the cauliflower mushroom, for instance. 

This edible mushroom grows in association with certain trees.  To find the cauliflower mushroom, it only makes sense to explore ecosystems where these trees grow.

During a recent hike, I discovered a cauliflower mushroom growing near a mature red oak.  Sensing the connection, I started checking every oak in the forest.  Within 30 minutes, I found two more cauliflower mushrooms — one of which I harvested and turned into a delicious meal.

Fortunately, I brought my camera along to document the experience.  To learn more about this lovely edible mushroom, check out the brand-new video.

Thanks for reading and watching!  If you want to develop ecological literacy and see how all the components within nature are connected, consider enrolling in Exploring Wild Ecosystems on Monday.

— Adam Haritan

“Is it edible?”

This question constantly runs through the forager’s mind.

As it turns out, the answer isn’t always a simple yes or no, particularly regarding wild mushrooms.

Some mushrooms are choice edibles.  Some mushrooms are toxic raw.  Some mushrooms are toxic no matter how thoroughly you cook them.

But there’s another category of mushrooms:  those that are no longer recommended for consumption even though field guides once listed them as edible.

Included in that latter category is a mushroom that grows in hemlock forests.  This lilac-colored mushroom causes unpleasant symptoms in many people who consume it.

But not everyone experiences unpleasant symptoms, and in some cultures, this mushroom is considered undeniably edible.

Why is this the case?  How can a mushroom poison some people and nourish others?

In this brand-new video, I share my thoughts.

Thanks for reading and watching!  Have you seen any neat mushrooms lately?

— Adam Haritan