WildWise Botanicals

10/12/2026

Today we present to you some beautiful mushroom artwork!

This piece was created by our amazingly talented daughter Everlee (age 9)! She's been hunting mushrooms her entire life and it's likely that she's familiar with more fungal species than 95% of adults.

We love all the bright colors and the variety of different mushrooms (including real ones and some stylized ones). The detail on some of these is impressive! It's worth noting that she selected all these species totally on her own and didn't even look at any photos or other pictures - all done from memory!

What species do you recognize? There are some really specific ones in there: Entonaema liquescens, Lactarius indigo, Mutinus elegans, Hypomyces lactifluorum, Baorangia bicolor, and even the very uncommon Leucocoprinus caerulescens.

We're proud to have such a great artist in the family, especially when she chooses fungi as her subject!! 🍄‍🟫🍄‍🟫♥️♥️😍😊

10/11/2026

We recently shared this excellent article about Mike's book that was in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, but it was behind a paywall so many of you likely did not read it. That's unfortunate, because it happens to be one of the best articles about Mike yet! Hopefully you can zoom in and read it here.

This is the most widely circulated newspaper in Arkansas, available in every county. It's really incredible to imagine this huge full-page photo of Mike with his big ol' COW score greeting Ozarkians over their morning coffee. 😁 We love seeing his handmade basket full of chanterelles prominently featured on the next page too. What an honor to be featured!

It's so much more impactful to hold it in-hand than reading it online. Major thanks to our friend Jay Justice for mailing us the physical article!!

10/08/2026

We had the extreme pleasure of throwing a foray and dinner party as a celebration of Mike's book, Foraging Mushrooms of the Ozarks!

This was our way of thanking those who contributed to the book with recipes, photos, guidance, and inspiration - it was incredible to have all these wonderful people in one place to help us celebrate!

What a memorable day! Although we didn't see many fungi on our foray (so dry!), we had a blast riding around in ATV's pretending there would be big mushrooms around the next corner. Then we retreated from the woods to share a ginormous charcuterie board (table?) and drinks. Mike regaled the audience with stories of each participant and their contributions to our successes and then we all ate a legendary dinner together!

What an unforgettable, one of a kind experience! Thanks so much to all of you for joining us and for all you've done for us over the years! Super special thanks to Rich and Therese Greene for hosting this wonderful extravaganza at their beautiful home and property and to Carley M. for the excellent food! (Foodie pics at the end!)

10/06/2026

Buffalo Chicken of the Woods dip!!

Here's the recipe, be sure and use fresh and tender chicken of the woods (COW) - older ones with a tough or chalky texture don't work well for this. To prepare the mushroom, pressure cook in an instant pot for ten minutes in enough chicken stock to cover then shred into small pieces.

Mix 2 blocks of cream cheese, a cup of ranch dressing, a cup of Frank's hot sauce, and a tsp of garlic powder together then add 4 cups of shredded, pressure cooked COW and 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese. Pour mixture into a baking dish, top with another 1/2 cup of cheddar, and bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy!

You can see clearly why Laetiporus sp. are known as chicken of the woods! When pressure cooked and shredded this mushroom is spot-on for actual chicken both visually and texturally. With this simple preparation you can make almost anything you would make with actual chicken!

The COW shown here was just a little guy, but a perfect example of exactly the stage of maturity when they're prime for harvest. Note the blunt shelf edges, vibrant orange top, bright yellow underside with still-tiny pores - all signs of a prime COW.

We were gifted some more and made this buffalo "chicken" dip to bring to a party. It was a big hit and so easy to make, although we're not exactly talking about health food here. 😆

10/03/2026

Thanks to the Rolla Public Library for having me out this past Tuesday to talk about Foraging Mushrooms of the Ozarks!! Also thanks to those who came out and enjoyed the evening learning about fungi!

09/30/2026

Mike had fun last week presenting about Foraging Mushrooms of the Ozarks to the St. Clair Library. It was a full house, lots of questions were asked, and he got his book into the hands of many!

Thanks so much Scenic Regional Library - St.Clair Branch for the opportunity to share the wonders of fungi with the community!

09/28/2026

Coming up tomorrow night, Mike is doing a FREE talk at the Rolla Public Library from 5-7 PM! This is a fantastic way to learn about the awesome wild edible mushrooms of the region (as well as the toxic ones).

He'll have copies of his book "Foraging Mushrooms of the Ozarks" available for sale and he'll also be signing books for those who already have a copy.

Come on out and support a local author while enjoying a fun and informational evening!

09/25/2026

Until the last week or so, our region has seen very little rainfall since July. That means we haven't seen very many wild mushrooms since then! Fungi are resilient though, and some species are able to form their fruit bodies even without much moisture or humidity.

This fabulous example of resilience is a polypore mushroom known as Aurantiporus fissilis, the greasy bracket. It was spotted in a parking lot growing from a wound in an oak tree. Despite zero rainfall and low humidity, this fungus has found a perfect niche to form its impressive fruit body.

Fungi require humidity to form mushrooms and some species are able to pull moisture from the wood they're growing on. You can see evidence of this in the droplets of guttation seen here. Such a cool way to ensure a fully formed reproductive structure even in less than ideal conditions!

Also note the interesting merulioid pore surface. What an incredible mushroom!

09/24/2026

Mike and his book have just been featured in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette!

What an honor! This is the most widely circulated newspaper in Arkansas and will probably introduce his work to a whole new group of folks we've never interacted with. The article is really well written and fun, one of our favorite articles about him yet! They also included a few recipes from Foraging Mushrooms of the Ozarks so you can get a peek at them if you don't have the book yet.

Sorry, the article is behind a paywall but it's only a dollar for a 2 month introductory subscription :)

His passion for all the beautiful and delicious edible varieties is contagious.

09/22/2026

Mike had the honor of representing the Missouri Mycological Society by giving a talk to the Licking Junior High science classes yesterday!

The kids were a little squirmy and some of them were obviously not into it, but there were some glimmers of interest (especially during the parts about entomopathogenic fungi and Entonaema liquescens). Although it's an age group that can potentially be a tough crowd, this was a really fun bunch! This was the first time Mike had ever presented to a public school and it went really well! He even got invited back to present to the High School Science Club about fungi!!

Thanks to the Licking School District for having us out to teach students about the world of fungi, and extra huge thanks to the principal of the school, Dr. Aibeen Holland, for setting this up! She's an avid forager and mushroom fanatic and it's really cool that she wants to instill that into the next generation of kiddos. This school is lucky to have her!

This is what it's all about, getting in front of as many people as possible to talk mushrooms and doing so to a crowd of young folks is especially rewarding.