Four Season Foraging

Have you heard that I have a merch store? That's right - I sell t-shirts, stickers, buttons, hats, and other goods through TeePublic. All items are designed by a forager (me!) for other foragers (you!)

In an exciting update, TeePublic recently upgraded my account to participate in their partnership program! This means that when you purchase items from my merch store, even more of those funds go directly to supporting me in providing you with accessible foraging education. Thank you!

New link is now in bio! Be sure to check it out when you get a chance. Everything is on sale for a limited time!

Exhausted in the best way possible after a magical weekend tracking elk in northern Wisconsin 💖

Though I've put lots of time into studying track and sign (who left that track? Who ate those acorns? Who deposited that s**t?) I have very little experience trailing (attempting to follow the tracks from one individual, often with the intent of finding that animal.) With its abundance of public land and herd of large ungulates (elk) Clam Lake is in many ways the perfect place to practice. So I helped organize a group of world-class trackers and amazing people to spend a long weekend honing our skills. It was a wonderful time!!

Special thanks to Kirsten Welge of for letting me use some photos (the one of the elk & the ones of me) and for being kind and patient enough to teach me proper trailing techniques! As she said, it can seem like magic to follow a trail across leaf litter, but really it's just a matter of engaging your senses and understanding what to look for. I have to say though, it did feel magical to notice what I thought was a deer track, lift an undisturbed leaf from the top of it, and find a perfect little hoof print underneath!

Trailing really reminded me more of mushroom hunting than track and sign identification. You create a search image in your mind and move quietly across the landscape, scanning the ground in front of you and keeping your eyes up so as to avoid missing clues. In both mushroom foraging and trailing, sometimes you become too wrapped up in looking around your feet to notice something obvious in front of you. It's a grounding and meditative practice, and I'm hooked!

There were many highlights of the weekend, but some of the best parts were hanging out in the lodge after a long day in the woods, sharing stories and laughing. Learning is most fun in community, and I'm lucky to have some great nature nerds as friends!