Porcini, chanterelle, parasol, chicken of the woods, puffball, oyster… What's more iconic of autumn than brightly-colored mushrooms popping up out of the fallen leaves?

You probably already know that with a little searching, even us city-dwellers can find loads of delicious fungi almost right outside our front doors, thanks to the amazing forests around Berlin. Yet, you're likely also aware that when it comes to mushrooms, it takes knowledge and experience to distinguish the delectable from the deadly.

Join Simka (they/them) for a crash course in mushroom foraging in Grunewald Forest. Here we'll dive deep into mushroom identification and get you started on your path to mushroom foraging. As you learn the basics of how to find, identify, collect, and prepare the wild edible mushrooms that are currently in season, you'll start to understand which mushrooms to stay away from, and get confident enough to bring your own harvest home.

With hands-on examples and an interactive approach, we'll cover:

🍄 The 3 best edible mushrooms to start out with as an absolute beginner
🍄 How to look at and identify a mushroom
🍄 Some large & important families to be aware of
🍄 Common poisonous mushrooms and how to avoid them
🍄 Basic mushroom biology
🍄 Fungal growth habits
🍄 What you need to get started foraging
🍄 How to harvest and clean your finds
🍄 Where to look for edible mushrooms
🍄 Sustainable foraging practices
🍄 Cooking and preservation tips and recipes
🍄 How to keep learning
🍄 …and much more.

After the theoretical introduction, you'll have the chance to ask all the questions you've ever had about mushrooms and foraging!

The last hour of the class will be a self-paced practical immersion, where you'll have the chance to use your newfound knowledge to find mushrooms in the forest, then bring them back to your guide to double check and ask any more questions you might have.

This class assumes zero prior knowledge of mushrooms and foraging. If you wouldn't know a porcini if it bit you on the nose, question which mushrooms it's safe to handle, and love the taste of mushrooms but have no idea where to even begin with identifying them in the wild – this class is for you!

As with all Wild Path Foraging events, this workshop will be guided by Simka (they/them), a passionate wild food instructor and qualified PilzCoach through the DGfM with over 4 years' experience teaching about mushroom and plant foraging in Berlin.

You can check out what people have said about previous workshops run by Simka here and here.

Attendance is limited to 16 people to ensure everyone has time and space to get all their questions answered.

Where: Grunewald (~ 4km walking in total)

Cost: Full price 45€ / Concession 30€

Once you are registered, you will receive an email with all details on what to bring and the exact meeting location.

The meeting and ending point for the tour are accessible with public transportation. The exact meeting point, along with what to bring, will be sent via email after registration. Don't forget to read your confirmation email carefully!

Contact the host of Mushroom Foraging for Absolute Beginners: How to Not Get Poisoned