Dear Editor:
The following article is to inform your readers of the gifts provided by our Creator for our survival in fields and forests. Numerous plants and fungi are wonders for our health and well-being. Many mushrooms have helped people survive both hunger and infirmities since biblical times.
My particular mushroom journey started at an early age while foraging with my family. My parents met in 1945 after surviving the German work camps during WWII. They, along with many other souls whose fates were similar, were gathered at the refugee pooling center in Leipzig, Germany. From there they relocated to Goppingen, where they married in 1946. There was a string of 12 refugee DP (displaced persons) camps. In the beginning, the lack of nutrition and diseases took a great toll on the war’s survivors. Two of my siblings succumbed to those conditions - brother Marion died at 9 months of age in 1945 in Leipzig and sister Yolanta died at 10 weeks in 1947 at Schwabisch Hall. My sister Maria survived, being born in 1948 at Schwabisch Gmund. I was born in 1950 at Heilbronn in Bavaria.
My early recollections of foraging began in 1955 when my parents would go during mushroom season to the Black Forest area (Schwartz Wald) to gather mushrooms in August and September. They would travel on bicycles and pick Chanterelles (Cantharellus Cibarius) and King Boletes (Boletus Edulis). Dad and mom each had two large metal baskets mounted on the front of their bicycles. I fit into one on my dad’s bike and my sister fit into the one on my mom’s bike. Two wooden bushel baskets fit into the rack on the back of my father’s bike for the expected treasures to be gathered and with sandwiches and water for the day. The way back would be slower because we had to walk and we would make it back just before dark with baskets brimming with mushrooms. The mushrooms would then have to be cleaned. Some were pickled, some were dried, and some were fried and eaten. Those mushrooms preserved or dried were bartered for other food items at the local farmers’ market. I learned what to gather at an early age!
Reflecting on the past, I came to the realization that I have been picking mushrooms for 70 years, having recently reached 76 years of age.
Since coming to America in 1959 and graduating from school I continued to study mycology/foraging and eventually teach others.
Fast forward to spring 2026 and this year’s Morel season in early May. It was dry and the harvest was sparse. The price of morels at the Morel Festival in Muscoda, Wisconsin reached $60 per pound!
In early June, when we received adequate rainfall, I received a call from two of my former mushroom students Linda and Ken Lobacz. They asked me to come and identify what they had gathered. I was astonished at the volume of Oyster mushrooms they found. Two days later they found another two bushels of Yellow Oysters (Pleurotus Ostreatus). I went to Coconutz Health in Thorp to take a picture. The included photo is part of Ken and Linda Lobacz’s Oyster mushroom haul.
July and August we lacked rainfall but beginning in September we had enough rain to flush a short Meadow Mushroom season (Agaricus Campestris). Following came a spotty occurrence of Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus Sulphureus). We have had rain recently and I hope that we will have a good harvest of Hen of the Woods (Grifola Frondosa), which is also called Maitake and very sought after. After the first frost we will be looking for Honey Mushrooms/Stumpers (Armillaria Mellea). Another mushroom, locally known as Shrimps (Aborted Enteloma – a parasite that attacks edible mushrooms), will be found as well.
These are just a few of the edibles out there. I would caution new mushroom hunters to check with an experienced forager to check your pickings. (All mushrooms are good to eat – some only once!)
More information can be accessed through https://wisconsinmycologicalsociety.org.

Sir Hayseed
Chris Kulinski
Withee Wisconsin