Online classes included in

2024 Mycophile Membership program:

All sessions will be led by Ari Rockland-Miller and moderated by Jenna Antonino DiMare, co-founders of the Mushroom Forager, LLC

Talk Wild Mushrooms with Ari :

2024 Monthly Online Class Series

Live online classes will take place on the 2nd Thursday of each month starting at 7PM EST. Attendees should expect that each class will last 60-75 minutes. 2024 live online class dates are as follows: May 9, June 13, July 11, August 8, September 12, and October 10

This monthly, members-only online class series will provide timely updates from Northeastern forests. Each month of the Northeast foraging season, from May through October, members can enjoy a presentation focused on highlight mushrooms currently in season. This is followed by audience participation with moderated Q&A.

We invite members to join as the season unfolds to discover what is fruiting now in the Northeast region as well as what to expect next. Learn how to use the ForageCast™ to pursue your favorite seasonal edibles at the optimal timing, including fruiting habits of each target species and how to use your forager’s eyes.

The format is dynamic, and the focus of each live online class will depend on what is fruiting most prolifically in the Northeast at that specific moment during the 2024 season. Please find a description below of each of the 2024 “Talk Wild Mushrooms with Ari” online class series, to be held on the 2nd Thursday evening of each month starting at 7pm EST from May through October.

May Wild Mushrooms

Thursday, May 9 starting at 7pm EST

May is a magical time of year in the Northeast, as ephemeral greens spring forth and elusive wild mushrooms burst from logs or hide just beneath decaying leaves. As streams swell with the mountain snowmelt, morels begin fruiting and oyster mushrooms start popping from the poplar trees.

In this May online class, learn how to distinguish a true morel from a false morel; as well as ecological patterns you must understand for pursuing the top wild spring wild mushrooms: black, yellow, and half-free morels. We will also learn how to pursue pheasant back mushrooms, or Dryad’s saddle, which is abundant on dead elm or box elder in May and offers a reliable consolation prize when the treasured morels are in hiding. To expand the scope, we will also cover our favorite May wild greens and herbs.

June Wild Mushrooms

Thursday, June 13 starting at 7pm EST

Positioned between May’s spring delights and July’s summer abundance, June can feel like a lull in the foraging season. Look more closely, and June offers a diverse array of wild mushrooms, as chunky chicken of the woods and oyster mushrooms fruit prolifically on the heels of rainstorms. Hemlock varnish shelf, popular with tea and tincture makers, brings color to the coniferous forest. Wild strawberries fruit at trailside clearings and brook trout dart playfully across streams. By mid-June, early Boletes (pored, mycorrhizal fungi) enter the picture, and the mindful mushroom hunter can even spot the season’s first chanterelles, golden specks slowly ripening in time for a July harvest. 

In this June online class, we will prepare you for an abundant summer season as we learn how to anticipate and recognize June’s top edibles. How early will you find your first chanterelle of 2024?

July Wild Mushrooms

Thursday, July 11 starting at 7pm EST

May morels are undeniably special, for those lucky enough to find any. But July is when the wild mushroom season truly heats up; when any passing thunderstorm could summon an eclectic array of summer fungi. 

Nature offers no guarantees, and recent Julys have brought inconsistent rainfall. When it rains, July can be epic – think forest floors ignited by golden chanterelles and lobster mushrooms – yet a dry streak in July can pause widespread fruitings. It’s not just edibles that arrive in July; toxic Jack-o’-lanterns and deadly destroying angels are equally eager to pop on the heels of the first balmy rainstorm. 

In this online class, Ari will discuss what he is finding this July, sharing colorful updates from the field and offering tips to facilitate a safe and productive foray.

August Wild Mushrooms

Thursday, August 8 starting at 7pm EST

August can be a delightfully diverse time for wild mushrooms in the Northeast. Rains tend to be more reliable than in July, and sustained warm temperatures, humidity, and summer showers yield myriad mushrooms. Highlights can include black trumpets as well as consistent chanterelles from cinnabar to smooth to golden.

In this online class, Ari will discuss what he is finding this August, sharing colorful updates from the field and offering tips to facilitate a safe and productive foray.

September Wild Mushrooms

Thursday, September 12 starting at 7pm EST

September is our favorite month for wild mushroom collecting, an idyllic moment in time when we still can enjoy summer favorites as new seasonal species join the entourage with each cold, rainy night. In September, you could fill up a basket of porcini and hedgehogs on a morning brookside waltz among conifers, and then encounter hen of the woods and lion’s mane that very afternoon in your local upland hardwood forest.  September offers a rare confluence of tender and hardy highlights, with elevation, aspect, and ecology playing a role in whether you encounter a heat-loving golden chanterelle or a yellowfoot ‘winter’ chanterelle on your early fall foray.

In this online class, Ari will discuss what he is finding this September, sharing colorful updates from the field and offering tips to facilitate a safe and productive foray.

October Wild Mushrooms

Thursday, October 10 starting at 7pm EST

Don’t underestimate October. In more southerly parts of the Northeast, and even further north with climate change, the season can easily sprawl past Halloween. October requires a more patient approach, as mushroom diversity drops along with the temperature, but there is still a hearty harvest to be found. Check dead and dying beech trees for a potential windfall of tasty, toothy Hericium, and don’t forget to return to your hedgehog and yellowfoot chanterelle spots for a second chance if they didn’t fruit in September this year.

Some of the season’s heaviest harvests can be found in October, and this online class will provide you with the context and clues to help you find the season’s finest fungi.

Bring your mushroom questions to these monthly interactive classes!