At the end of September 2023 we were able to accompany Moritz from “Into the Woods” on one of his mushroom collecting workshops southeast of Berlin. The location was communicated to us only a few days before the workshop. We had high expectations – and the excitement and anticipation were even higher. You won’t read anything here about richly laden baskets full of chestnuts, porcini, red caps or chanterelles – because the light autumn rain in the last few days has done quite little for the forest floor after 6 weeks of drought and summer heat. As contradictory as it may sound, that is not what this mushroom workshop is mainly about. Moritz worked successfully in commercial photography until a few years ago, before he made the decision to devote himself entirely to his passion – the forest and its creatures, and especially the world of mushrooms. And he wants to share this knowledge with everyone in his workshops. How can you identify mushrooms by the trees or soil conditions under which they grow? How do fungal spores behave and what exactly is a mycelium? In turn, what does this have to do with the Tokyo subway system? Moritz’s wealth of knowledge seems to be immeasurable and so he has an exciting anecdote to tell about every find, whether inedible or edible mushroom.
In addition to a mushroom basket and a knife, you will need a lot of patience and calm. With awareness exercises we left the daily routine behind us together with Moritz and discovered the silence and beauty of the forest. By the way, Moritz is not only a professional mushroom picker, but also a professional forest bather, called “Shinrin Yoku” – he also offers regular workshops for forest bathing. After a few hours in the forest, stocked with a variety of mushrooms, a delicious curly hen, colorful leaves, special lichens and berries, Moritz invited us to enjoy homemade onion tart, hawk mushroom, sourdough bread with porcini butter and coffee on his garden terrace. To conclude our workshop, we spread out our collected treasures on a large cardboard – Moritz snapped a photo as a souvenir. Whether it’s a mushroom picking workshop, forest bathing or retreat in Brandenburg, Moritz’s passion not only makes the activities fun, but you’ll also go home with plenty of new knowledge!
Text: Laura Luisa Iriondo / Photos: Moritz Schmid
Into the Woods
The next mushroom collecting workshops take place on 22.10. and 05.11.2023. You can book your spot here.
@intothewoods_mushrooms
