Learning through foraging
A recap of The Mushroom Block x Chicago Mushroom Club’s spring foray in Minneapolis.
The Guided Mushroom Foray was a great time, bringing together the community for an educational and delicious afternoon in the woods. The day brought perfect spring weather for a foray, as it was consistently raining a few days before, which was ideal for mushroom growth. Moist soil and mild temperatures created the perfect conditions for a wide variety of fungi to emerge. We enjoyed learning the basics of mushroom foraging and identification from special guests Dylan and Mead Taylor of the Chicago Mushroom Club. Our group discovered a solid variety of wild mushrooms! Along the way, we practiced responsible mushroom etiquette, including minimal impact harvesting and respect for the natural environment.
We utilized the iNaturalist app to help document and identify our finds, contributing to community science while learning in real time.
At the end of the foray, we gathered around the Mushroom ID table to take a closer look at the day’s discoveries, including morels and a variety of other fascinating species. It was the perfect way to deepen our understanding, hanging out, and celebrating the joys of the mushroom season.
To wrap up the foray, we enjoyed a live cooking demonstration hosted by Tony from The Mushroom Block. We made mushroom tacos with some of our finds & previous ones from last year, practicing techniques that emphasize on texture and flavor, which are a huge factor when it comes to enjoying gourmet mushrooms.
It was a chance to take in spring and connect with other mushroom people. A big thank you to the land, Dylan and Mead for sharing their expertise, and to everyone that made it out.
Who are (CMC) Chicago Mushroom Club?
Mead and Dylan Taylor are the cofounders of Chicago Mushroom Club. They are amateur mycologists, public speakers, community organizers, writers, and educators.
Mead’s passion for fungi originated from a place of food insecurity; after learning enough to feed herself, she started noticing more non-edible species. This origin has imbibed Chicago Mushroom Club’s mission with activism for those who may not have access. It inspired her to begin to study urban fungi, an often overlooked sector of mycology. Mead has documented over 250 species of fungi within the city (not including nature preserves), often photographing the same species hundreds of times to highlight population density, climate effect, morphological variance, and substrate preferences.
Mead Taylor explaining mushroom foraging etiquette
Dylan is currently a volunteer curator for iNaturalist where he has contributed over 25,000 fungal identifications and extended multiple species range maps. His main focus is on identification of fungi through microscopic and macroscopic analysis, specializing in Midwest species.
Dylan Taylor leading a foray
As a pair, Mead and Dylan have documented over 500 species of fungi within Chicago’s city limits. Many of these fungi had not been documented in Chicago before, and many hadn’t even been documented in Illinois.
https://www.chicagomushrooms.org
2025 Spring Foray Official Species List :
Morchella americana
Cerioporus squamosus
Pleurotus ostreatus
Coprinellus sect. Micacei
Coprinellus sect. Domestici
Coprinellus flocculosus
Candolleomyces candolleanus
Psathyrella corrugis
Parasola sp.
Pholiota granulosa
Pluteus cervinus
Schizophyllum commune
Lentinus tigrinus (mutant and regular)
Neofavolus americanus
Gloeoporus dichrous
Trichaptum subchartaceum
Trametes versicolor
Trametes trogii
Fuscoporia gilva
Cyanosporus livens
Ganoderma sessile
Ganoderma applanatum
Stereum fasciatum
Irpex lacteus
Hydnoporia olivacea
Puccinia coronata
Daldinia childiae
Nitschkia sp.
Rosellinia sp.
Inocybe sp.
Hebeloma sp.
Parasola sp.
Slime Molds:
Metatrichia vesparium
Stemonitis sp.