Are you ready for mushroom season?
We are still a while away from mushroom season here in Alberta. It’s halfway through March, but it’s still really, really cold.
But without a doubt, spring is coming, summer is coming, and soon it will be time to get out in the woods and hunt mushrooms.
I wanted to talk to you about some of the mushrooms I am looking forward to finding, and some tips for you to get best prepared for the awesome season ahead!
If you are new to mushrooms, you might be wondering if there are any special tools or equipment needed to hunt mushrooms - or if you can basically just go out in the woods and see what you find.
Well, first of all, one of the things I always forget is how bad the mosquitoes can be.
I get super excited for summer, for mushroom season, and I totally forget how absolutely miserable it can get with the mosquitoes.
A good mushroom year and a bad mosquito year go hand in hand….
Depending on where you live this might not be an issue, but here it is absolutely crazy and the only way to survive in the woods is to have adequate protection (bug spray, long sleeves, etc.).
The one thing I haven’t figured out yet is the best way to protect my foraging buddies (my dogs) from the mosquitoes. I don’t want to spray them down with bug spray, so if you have any tips, be sure to let me know!

A Mushroom Knife
Once the mosquitoes are taken care of, I like to be sure I have a good knife. Believe it or not, there are knives that are specifically made for hunting mushrooms. They even have a brush on the end of them for brushing the dirt off your finds. Although they are helpful, you definitely don’t need a special foraging knife, any kind of pocket knife will do just fine.