A close-up, low-angle shot of a vibrant, pinkish-red mushroom with a distinctive, deeply etched honeycomb or net-like pattern on its underside. The mushroom is growing on the broken, splintered wood of a fallen log. A dried, dark brown leaf lies next to the mushroom, and the wood splinters have a weathered, gray and brown texture.

MMS Blog Posts

2025 Photo Contest Awards

half_and_half_lobster_hypomyces_lactiflorum

By Nan Etzwiler – MMS Photo Contest Director 2025 Photo Contest AwardsBy Nan Etzwiler – MMS Photo Contest Director This year, we had three first-time submitters who were among the honorees at theMMS Annual Photo Contest awards. We announced the…

Field Guides and Mushroom Goals?

David King holding a mushroom

Here we are, preparing for another season of mushroom collection in Minnesota. Like you, I am ready to get into the woods and start finding my favorite mushrooms and making new discoveries. However, I have identified a problem. I’m sort…

Tater Tot Hotdish

Tater Tot Hotdish

The word “hotdish” originated in Minnesota in the 1930s. The Ore-Ida company invented Tater Tots in 1954, about 20 years after the introduction of cream of mushroom soup. Put them all together, and you get the classic Minnesota hotdish. I…

Fungal Discovery Day & Picnic

Cultivation Project from our 2024 Picnic

Save the Date for Fungal Discovery Day and the MMS Summer Picnic This summer, the MMS will be holding two events on Saturday, July 11, 2026, at Thomas Lake Park in Eagan, MN. The site is suitable for those with…

2026 MMS Scholarships Available

Marek Turowski, the namesake of our scholarship, with a basket of mushrooms

Each year, the MMS offers 2 types of scholarships. One is the Marek scholarship, which enables one of our members to attend a North American Mycological Association (NAMA) foray for the first time. The other provides funds for graduate students…

Foraging in Japan by David King

Trichoderma cornu-damae (Kaentake) - a red fat coral looking mushroom growing in Japan.

In September of 2024, Gretchen and I visited Japan, a big vacation. As part of that trip, we met a group of Japanese mycologists in the woods. I reported on this trip in the January 2025 monthly meeting of the…

Toadstool Tannenbaum: Our Arboretum Tree

A christmas trree decorated with mushrooms

Kathy Yerich shares how we created a mushroom-themed tree for the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum’s Winter Lights display. Magical Mycological?Mycelium Illumination?Toadstool Tannenbaum? The titles above may sound like a fungal version of a Hallmark made-for-TV holiday special, but they were names…

Being in the MMS Passport Program

Erica Tava Johnson Receiving her Level 2 Award from the MMS Passport Program from Heather Erickson

I joined the MMS Passport Program almost as soon as I joined MMS. It was a way to get involved while building identification skills and documenting my finds in a thoughtful, hands-on way. What appealed to me most was the…

Legislative Sustainable Foraging Task Force DNR Rulemaking

a basket of mushrooms on a wooden bench

A Message from the MMS President Update on the Legislative Sustainable Foraging Task Force Thank you to everyone who helped advocate for the creation of the Legislative Sustainable Foraging Task Force. Your outreach to legislators was instrumental in getting it…