Minnesota’s Mushroom Man Kicks Off The Foraging Season

SAGINAW, Minn. — Springtime for one Minnesota man can only mean one thing; time spent outside mushroom foraging.

Trading in his suit and tie for a basket and pocket knife, Mike Kempinich has called the woods his office for the past 15 years.

“It’s like a big Easter egg hunt. There is always something fun, and finding it is just almost as fun as eating it,” said Mike.

In this case, those Easter eggs are actually mushrooms and wild foods gathered from nature.

Mike is a certified mushroom harvester. While he might not have a degree in fungi studies, he says, much of his education comes from experience.

“I as an average person can elevate myself to being in a position to make potentially new discoveries,” stated Mike.

Not to mention, he has plenty of room to roam around the nature state. Minnesota might be the land of 10,000 lakes, but it’s also home to a wide variety of mushrooms.

“Minnesota has all the same mushrooms that the pacific northwest has with very few exceptions. The difference being our season is shorter, and we don’t have to climb mountains like billy goats.” Mike went on to say, “I am willing to give up a shorter season so that I don’t have to climb mountain sides to find these things.”

One of those “things” is Chaga, which is typically used to make tea, mushroom coffee and supplements. It grows on birch trees.

“Chaga has been studied for a long time. It’s actually used within hospital settings in many countries.” Mike further explained, “It has an adaptogen quality to it that helps regulate a lot of different body functions in a positive way.”

He doesn’t just come across wild mushrooms, but other sources of food including fiddlehead ferns and ramps. Like any hunt, you never know exactly what you’ll find.

“I still get just as excited like a kid when I come around a corner and there’s a massive patch of chanterelles or porcini in front of me it really just doesn’t lose it’s appeal it’s really fun for me,” said Mike.

What began as a pastime and became a passion is now a way of life for Mike. Creating a business, Gentleman Forager.

“I think there is a lot of things that feed into it over the years coming to learn more about food in general and food delivery and the healthy nature of foraged foods.”

He offers classes, events, wild catering and most recently, headwater, which is a new mushroom-infused non-alcoholic seltzer.

“You know it’s been a bit of a journey and I think now we’re very concentrated on the healthy aspects of especially a lot of the mushrooms that are getting more and more studies showing their medicinal properties and so developing ways to introduce those foods and those products and those healthy properties to just average people,” Mike stated.

With that said, he urges caution before heading into the woods and picking the first thing you see.

“We do have toxic mushrooms in Minnesota that are very bad and potentially kill you, we have a couple of really baddies,” Mike emphasized.

One that he is referring to is the Genus Amanita. He says all foragers should learn to recognize this mushroom by its bulbous base. It’s responsible for the greatest number of poisoning incidents.

“Yeah you absolutely don’t want to be out there picking things that you don’t know what they are and giving them a try you could get yourself in trouble,” said Mike.

Part of Mike’s mission is to get more people involved in smart mushroom harvesting. “It’s a great fun activity. You can be four years old or 94 years old and you can still do it.”

Something that still brings him true pride and pleasure. “Every spring I think to myself, “am I going to enjoy it as much as I’ve been enjoying it?”” Mike continued, “and every spring I get out in the woods and think, “Yep!” I enjoy it every bit as much.”

In Minnesota, you can legally pick small amounts of mushrooms in state forests, state parks, wildlife management areas, and some cities. Commercial harvesting, however, is not permitted.