Ariel's Mushroom Co.

05/17/2026

🌿 Foraging Camp • July 17–19, 2026 🌿
Spend a summer weekend immersed in nature at the Avon Hills Folk School! Join mushroom expert Ariel Bonkoski and plant forager Maria Wesserle for hands-on workshops, guided foraging hikes, and creative projects using wild plants and fungi.

🍄 Learn mushroom ID & citizen science
🌱 Explore edible & medicinal plants
🔥 Enjoy wood-fired pizza, bonfires & a UV night hike

Rustic camping available. Leave with new skills—and handcrafted goods.

Register now - https://loom.ly/DRgJnkY

05/17/2026

Just following directions!

My latest tattoo will forever crack me up when I forage! Aspen oysters, Pleurotus populinus, found today.

05/13/2026

My book is at Barnes & Noble at the Duluth location!! You can find it in the children's section on the Local Favorites endcap! I signed the 10 copies that they had on the shelves! They even put a fancy sticker on the signed copies.

What a fun surprise today!

04/28/2026

Interested in learning how to identify and forage wild mushrooms? Join mushroom identification expert and Author Ariel Bonkoski, to learn about foraging and identifying wild mushrooms. We will discuss basic information about mushrooms, steps for foraging mushrooms, common edible mushrooms, common toxic mushrooms, recommended resources and more!

Learn more about Ariel by checking out her page Ariel's Mushroom Co.

Register below for the 5/13/26 Wild Mushrooms 101
https://isd318.cr3.rschooltoday.com/public/costoption/class_id/16492/public/1/sp/

04/22/2026

I foraged my first mushroom ever from the Superior Hiking Trail almost 10 years ago! I'll be taking this challenge this year! Will you?

We’re excited to share this year’s Hike Challenge collector’s patch 🦫

Featuring Birchy the Beaver painting a classic blue blaze, the design is inspired by a real moment: volunteer Chris Nelson marking the trail by hand. And that saw at the bottom? It’s a nod to the 1987 log-cutting ceremony that marked the beginning of construction and celebrates 40 years of the Superior Hiking Trail.

In honor of this milestone, our Hike 50 becomes the Hike 40 Challenge for 2026. Complete and submit any 40 miles on the Trail—hike, walk, run, backpack, or snowshoe—and you’ll receive this beautiful commemorative patch.

Looking for ideas? We’ve outlined five suggested hikes, each highlighting a key moment in the Trail’s history.

Learn more and start your journey: superiorhiking.org/hike50challenge/

04/20/2026

Mushroom season is here!! It's a great time to grab a copy of Mushrooms & Fungi for Kids to get your kiddos (or even you?) learning all about mushrooms and Fungi! This book is also a Finalist for the Foreword INDIE Best Book Awards for the Juvenile Nonfiction category!!

Buy it here(or from most major book retailers):

An Introduction to Mycology

04/15/2026

Hello friends!

I've been getting a few messages/emails about spring events or hikes. I've kept my schedule pretty light this spring as my spring is a bit up in the air right now.

At the very end of December my cat, Gin, was diagnosed with a rare/underdiagnosed condition that is deteriorating her tendons. She needs a rare surgery or she will lose use of her arm and be in a lot of pain for the rest of her life. It took a few months to even find a pet surgeon in Minnesota even willing to do the surgery, as it seems no one has done this type of surgery in Minnesota. Took a while for estimates, research, and consultations. And now we are looking at having the surgery sometime within the next month and a half.

This has also caused me to get a bit behind in scheduling out my entire year. Please be patient with me! I'm hoping to have my schedule for the year to be mostly complete by the end of the month!

*the classes that I DO have scheduled this spring, were scheduled with intentional gaps to allow for surgery to be scheduled without needing to cancel anything! So no worries on current scheduled events!

04/06/2026

FINALLY!!! With morel season just around the corner for us in Minnesota, Northern Waters Smokehaus brought back the very delicious Morcella to their cheese case! A soft ripened sheep's cheese with morels!! If you haven't tried this stuff, you are missing out! This is a seasonal cheese, so grab some while you can.

YUMMMMM!!!

04/03/2026

03/28/2026

Did you know that some mushrooms react under UV light? This can even help with identification sometimes! I've been making more of a point to bring my UV lights with me on hikes in the past year or so, to test it on different mushrooms. And it comes with beautiful results!

Here are a few shots of some finds with UV light, and the same mushrooms without UV light.