FUNGI FORAY. Join a Wisconsin forager at Together Farms to take a journey into the forest, foraging as you go. (Photo via Unsplash)

Foraging is about walking into the forest, catching your eye on some twigs and stools, taking out your guidebook, and learning what is safe to touch and what isn’t. In the natural environmental of Wisconsin’s forest, all kinds of edible mushrooms and plants have different seasons of bloom. This July folks can learn about a few of them with Tavis Lynch, mushroom expert, at Together Farms (W93 Norden Road, Mondovi,).

“I’m always looking for something new to learn,” Lynch said. “I like being with the trees, I love having people come with me … (but I also like) deferring my grocery bill a little bit,” he laughed. Using forested mushrooms as his family’s sides, garnishes, sauces, and even main dishes, Lynch travels to revive the lost knowledge of mushrooms and other sources of food out in the woods. “There’s flavors out there that you’ve never had,” he said.

“Get away from the TV, from the traffic, and from the noise. Just get out there into the woods.” –Tavis Lynch, mushroom expert

At Together Farms on Sunday, July 16, Lynch will be hosting “Fungi Foray at the Farm,” when a group of interested foragers will walk and identify mushrooms in the woods that look a lot like our backyards. “It’s going to be a bit informal because the entire event is outdoors,” Lynch said. “I’m going to give a little talk on some basic mushrooming and foraging rules to keep everyone safe and healthy. We’re going to identify every mushroom that we see and a lot of the edible plants that I recognize,” he said.

“Northwest Wisconsin has the highest mushroom diversity in North America,” Lynch added.

With 40 years of experience and two of his own published books under his belt, including Mushroom Cultivation and The Beginners Guide to Mushrooms, folks who wander with him are sure to encounter safe, fun, and delicious mushrooms you have never tasted before. “Get away from the TV, from the traffic, from the noise. Just get out there in the woods.”

“We can supplement anything with wild mushrooms,” he said. “Why not (learn and) decorate your plate?”

Learn more about Tavis Lynch online and on his Facebook page (@mushroomtavis), and the Together Farms events on their website. Sign up for the Fungi Foray at the Farm event on July 16 and find more info here.