Wild Wisdom: Foraging, Herbalism, and Building a Business from Nature | E061
Join me in this enlightening episode as I chat with Michael Wilson, an expert forager, herbalist, and entrepreneur. We delve into the fascinating world of foraging, discussing the ethics, techniques, and joys of harvesting wild mushrooms and herbs. Discover how Michael turned his passion for nature into a thriving business, crafting medicinal extracts from sustainably sourced plants. From the healing power of mushrooms to the art of ethical wildcrafting, this conversation offers valuable insights into reconnecting with the natural world and harnessing its gifts for wellness.
Join us as we wander through the forest.
Michael Wilson is a forager, homesteader, and rewilding enthusiast. He regularly takes trips out to the local forests of Pennsylvania for foraging and rewilding experiences. He has been an organic farmer off and on for the past decade. He is a permaculture designer, and incorporates elements of nature into his gardening practice. His business is based around wild medicinal mushrooms and herbs and turning them into extractions, with most of his focus and work dedicated to the Amanita muscaria mushroom. He leads wild walks where he shows people local wild foods that we can procure from the beautiful abundant nature all around us. Michaels biggest passion in life is education and health and showing others the abundance of wealth we can find in nature.
In This Episode
00:00 Wild foraging and rewilding with Michael Wilson
03:29 How Michael got into the foraging world
12:38 Michael learns about edible plants and mushrooms
15:01 Approach to Foraging Ethics
20:36 Understanding the seasons, ecology, and intentionality behind successful foraging
24:02 Embracing a sensory approach to nature
28:13 Torea's desert foraging experience
35:47 Transitioning from foraging to crafting medicinal extracts and starting a business
39:45 Where to find out more about Michael’s products
Resources Mentioned
Connect with Toréa
Website: https://www.torearodriguez.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/torearodriguez/
Connect with Michael Wilson
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harmony_acres
Harmony Acres Website: https://harmonyacresfarms.org
Amanita Website: https://allthingsamanita.com
Newsletter signup:
15% off www.allthingsamanita.com using coupon code: WOW15
Join the Optimized Wellness Community:https://torea.co/Premium
Transcript
Toréa Rodriguez 0:00
Welcome to the Wildly Optimized Wellness. I am your host Toréa Rodriguez, and I've had a lifelong fascination with the natural world, and its impact on our well being. For over a decade, my work as a functional practitioner has been exploring how our relationship to our environment, to our thoughts, beliefs and emotions can have a profound impact on our physical and mental wellness. And because of that neurology, and brain based rewiring is a core focus of my practice. I am passionate about helping people not only feel better, but actually achieve that vibrant, no holds barred version of themselves. They've been missing for a long time, and how we actually get there. Well, that is what this show is all about. Please keep in mind that this podcast is created for educational purposes only and should never be used as a replacement for medical diagnosis or treatment. And if you liked what you hear today, I would love it. If you would leave a review, hit that follow button or share it with a friend. Because we never know how much we can impact others when we do. Let's start today's adventure, shall we?
Toréa Rodriguez 1:11
Well, hello, Toréa here. And this week, I'm interviewing Michael Wilson. So last episode, you heard a special replay I was on Michael's GabLab Podcast where we talked about healing and transformation and all of the things that go in between. And I wanted to get a deep dive on the world of foraging. So Michael comes back to talk with us about wild foraging. So Michael, just so you know, is a forger. He's a homesteader and a rewilding enthusiast. He here regularly takes trips out into the local forests of Pennsylvania, for foraging and rewilding experiences, and he's been an organic farmer on and off for the past decade. He's a permaculture designer, and incorporates elements of nature into his gardening practice, which is really cool. His business now is based around wild medicinal mushrooms and herbs, turning them into extractions, with most of the focus of work dedicated to the Amanita muscaria mushroom. And so he will lead wild walks where he shows people local wild foods that can procure from beautiful, abundant nature all around us, he helps people be able to identify and figure out what those are. And his biggest passion in life is education and health and showing others the abundance of wealth that can be found in nature. So what a perfect guest for the podcast. And without further ado, here's the show.
Toréa Rodriguez 2:41
Okay, welcome back to the Wildly Optimized Wellness podcast and we've got Michael Wilson here and we're going to have a fun conversation as a follow up to the replay that we issued from his podcast, GabLab podcast where we talked about all sorts of fun things, but Welcome, Michael, to the Wildly Optimized Wellness podcast.
Michael Wilson 3:01
Thanks, Toréa . I'm happy to be here with you.
Toréa Rodriguez 3:04
Yeah, this is awesome. So Michael, as I have discovered is there expertise in this area, I'll just call you an expert forger. And I thought it would be a great topic to talk about on this podcast in terms of foraging. So how did you get started foraging in the forest? For edible items? Like, let's just start there?
Michael Wilson 3:29
Yeah, um, so I started foraging back in like 2016, and the reason why I did it was, well, I've been an organic farmer since 2000. I don't know, for like, the last 10 years. And then I started to learn about foraging through, actually, I think it was maybe Daniel Vitalis' podcast Rewild Yourself at that time, he has another one. Now, The Wild Fed podcast, both really great resources of information on foraging. And the reason I started foraging was because it felt like, more natural to me than farming. There's just wild food everywhere, and you know, why not eat it? First of all, it's easier than Farming. Farming is very hard work.
*Toréa Rodriguez 4:23
Yes.
Michael Wilson 4:23
Was very accustomed to that.
Toréa Rodriguez 4:24
Yep.
Michael Wilson 4:25
Yeah. And then two on top of that, I just started to learn that wild foods are more nutrient dense and more full of minerals and medicinal compounds. They're more robust. And so it just kind of like was a win win and made sense. And yeah, that's kind of how I started to get into it was from a culinary standpoint. And
Toréa Rodriguez 4:52
Oh yeah,
Michael Wilson 4:52
Then I started to learn this in all aspects.
Toréa Rodriguez 4:56
Yeah. So say more about the culinary aspect because you know, when I've thought about foraging food, one of the things and maybe this is just me, I don't know if I'm unique here, but I have learned this about myself, I have an irrational fear of starvation. So whenever I go backpacking, I pack way more food than is required and my knees, pay for it and the weight of the backpack. You know, so when I think about foraging, that activates that fear right away, what if I don't find enough? And tell us what you found in terms of foraging. Is there enough? Are you really only finding like, one, you know, young Fern coil, And that's it? Like, is there enough and what would you cook with these? Like, what kinds of foods are you finding to cook with?
Michael Wilson 5:51
Yeah, that's, that's a really great question. And it's, it's something that I actually was addressed. And Daniel Vitalis' podcast with a guest of his I believe it was, Arthur Haynes, tried to try to do 80% of his food intake as wild food. And it was so difficult. He did that, I think maybe for six months or a year. And it was so difficult that basically, he spent all this time gathering food. And that was only 80%. So, you know, it's really, I don't really think it's realistic, especially if you live in a city. I mean, you can eat fruit from fruit trees, and you can eat, you know, dandelions, and clovers, and berries and stuff. But, you know, until you actually, you know, really sorry, vegetarians, but until you're starting to hunt, you know, game, you know, specifically big bigger game like deer and moose and you know, larger animals, you're really going to probably be in a calorie deficit with the amount of energy, you know, I mean, the the gathering is, you know, I think of it as more of like, a kind of icing on the cake for my diet, you know, if I come across a really nice chicken to the woods or some chanterelle mushrooms, you know, that's, that's like a bonus dinner. I'm not depending on that, you know, I, I, you know, I'm depending on the food system. But if I had to survive, I would definitely have a hard time. You know, realistically, that's why something I want to get into more is actually hunting. I know fishing, but actually hunting game, you know, I butchered and, you know, a butcher to deer and I've tanned to a deer hide before. So I'm comfortable with doing that. It's just a matter of of hunting. You know, I think that it's just for most people, it's a way to get in touch with nature a little bit more, getting more of a relationship with your food. And some other ways that people can do that is by having a small garden too so.
Toréa Rodriguez 8:15
Yeah. And what kinds of foods do you forage? Is it 100%? Mushrooms? Are you finding other species? And what kinds of things are you able to find? And oh, by the way, maybe we should add, what part of the country are you living in? Because it's going to be very different than where I am?
Michael Wilson 8:32
Right. Right. So I'm in western Pennsylvania. I'm in Zone 5B, so it's way colder.
Toréa Rodriguez 8:39
That's a gardener,
Michael Wilson 8:40
Yeah,
Toréa Rodriguez 8:41
Right there.
Michael Wilson 8:42
Yeah. So and, you know, I, I live an hour north of Pittsburgh. And because I'm in a different climate zone, my season is about two weeks later than Pittsburgh. So if I drive an hour south, things are blooming and they will not be blooming for the next two weeks up where I live. And so, you know, the kind of things that I'm foraging just depends on the season, obviously. I mean, in the springtime, it's a lot of fresh greens. You know, going for dandelion greens and dandelion flowers. fiddlehead ferns. One of my favorites is Japanese knotweed shoots. Those are really tasty. That tastes like rhubarb. They're really good.
Toréa Rodriguez 9:28
Wow, really? That's impressive.
Michael Wilson 9:32
Yes.
Toréa Rodriguez 9:32
Cool.
Michael Wilson 9:32
Yeah, they're really good. And then morel mushrooms in the spring. Definitely. Like, you know, those are, those are a treat. And so now it's July and the kind of mushrooms on foraging for now are chanterelles chicken of the woods. Bolete mushrooms. Berkeley's polypore to make jerky has been something that's been really cool and new to me this year. made really, really good mushroom jerky.
Toréa Rodriguez 10:07
Very cool.
Michael Wilson 10:09
Yeah. Yeah, just you know, there's a lot of berries right now to basically, every morning I walk out in my backyard, and I pick a handful of blackberries or black raspberries and put them in my oatmeal for breakfast.
Toréa Rodriguez 10:25
Amazing.
Michael Wilson 10:25
And it's just been such a treat.
Toréa Rodriguez 10:27
Yeah, yeah. So the the kind of area where you live? Would you describe it as Suburban? Or is it rural, fully rural? Or are you like, on the edge of National Forest? Like, what's the ecology that you live in right now.
Michael Wilson 10:46
So I kind of live in like a little village. It's not Suburban. And it's not rural. I live, I live on a dead end road at the edge of a small town of small rural town. My house overlooks a privately owned lake called Sandy lake. And I live on a dead end, I have five acres here. So I have quite a bit of stuff growing here. And some of which I have planted and brought. And I also have access to private lands from owners that was within walking distance that I basically use as my grocery store. So I just go, I walk down the road to my neighbor's property, he has like 36 acres, it's surrounded by other big properties. And I'm pretty much the only mushroom forager out there as far as I know. So
Toréa Rodriguez 11:41
Wow that's cool.
Michael Wilson 11:41
It's quite a treat.
Toréa Rodriguez 11:43
Yeah. no kidding. And to be able to have access to that kind of space, you know, it's, I'm in Central Oregon, I live in Bend. And it's kind of city-ish inside city limits. I mean, you'll definitely see berry vines that are growing, that all populate in the fall. But, you know, in terms of mushroom foraging, there isn't a ton inside city limits. So we have to go outside of city limits to be able to find those kinds of things. But it's cool that you're able to start to look at these different wild plants that are around us and learn what's edible and what's not. How did you get your education in terms of what's edible? And what, what isn't? I know, you mentioned that podcast before. Do you do have other resources that kind of taught you which plants are safe to eat and which ones aren't?
Michael Wilson 12:38
Yeah, so for the most part in my life, I'm mostly self taught. And that's through YouTube University and listening to podcasts and talking with friends. I haven't really gone on a whole lot of, you know, foraging walks. But if I were to talk to somebody that was starting out, they wanted to learn about foraging, I would highly recommend looking up your local mycology society, or your local mushroom club. Also looking for scheduled wild walks or forays, foraging trips, things where you can go with an expert and just learn from them. You know, you There are apps you can use, but most of them are inaccurate. They're not, they're not something that you would want to solely base, whether you're going to eat something or not. Because they can be they can be, that could be a deadly mistake. You know, there are definitely a lot of things that will kill you. But you'd be surprised at how many things are not only edible, but delicious, and full of minerals full of nutrients. I mean, the kind of food that we're eating, even really good organic, healthy food from like Whole Foods, like the nutritional content of it is pales in comparison to what kind of things we were eating generations ago, and
Toréa Rodriguez 14:13
Absolutely.
Michael Wilson 14:13
That's just because of oils are depleted. So wild foods are grown in uncultivated areas, in biodiversity, and they are tenacious and wild plants, that the kind of cultivated foods that we have in an agrarian society would not survive in the wild. We've hybridized them to make them weak in in their stems and, you know, big in their fruit. And they're, you know, they're just not the kind of food that we our original ancestors were eating. So, you know, the more we can forage, the better. I mean, there are ethics to foraging too
Toréa Rodriguez 14:59
Yeah let's talk about that.
Michael Wilson 15:01
Yeah, I mean, so it's, I take a little bit of a different approach than the way that most people talk about ethics of foraging. And so, you know, there's an asterisk side to this, it's depending on where you live. All right. So where I live in a very rural area, I have so much access to land, there's barely anybody foraging. But if I were to be going to say, a park, that isn't a city, there's limited resources, there's hundreds or 1000s of people there every day, there may be wildlife that is also competing for that food. And that kind of area, I wouldn't even forage there. Now, if I was going on a wild foraging, walk and teaching people, you know, maybe we would take a small percentage, like less than 20% of what is there. Because there's, you know, there, some people go by the rule of thirds, okay, so like a third is for animals and wildlife. A third is just for nature, just to be to, you know, maybe to sporulate, or to go to seed, and spread his genetics. And then 1/3 is for all humans, you know, so in all those humans, you know, you would take like, a small fraction of that, right? Because you're just one. And out here, where I live, that rule is kind of ridiculous. I mean, I, you know, I could take a large percent of things, and it really would not make any impact, because there's more nature than humans out here. So I think that, you know, that that's my approach to things, and I only take what I need. Now I have a business based around foraging wild mushrooms, you know, herbalism, and I utilize pretty much everything that I pick, and maybe I'll pick something if I don't know what it is to bring it home and identify it. If I can't identify it out in the field, and that way, I can get a better look at it. Maybe I can dissect it a little bit. See the, you know, inner parts, but, you know, it's, it's really important to pick with purpose, I would say, you know, like, what is my intention for taking this, not just a plant or a mushroom, but this is a living being, and you're removing it from its its environment, and, you know, potentially ending its life. Now, if it's a fruit, that's a different story, but even still, it's you're taking a part of nature out of nature. So what is the purpose? Right?
Toréa Rodriguez 17:46
Yeah, I like your, your focus on the intention, right? Like, what is the intention here? Because as you were talking, I was thinking, well, certain types of berries, for example, have a seasonality. So, you know, we don't want to harvest them too early, they won't be suitable for consumption, right. And we don't want to harvest them too late, because then we've wasted potentially some of the resource, but at the same time, when something like blackberries here in the Pacific Northwest are in abundance, you would want to take enough for yourself, but then maybe enough to preserve for the winter, for example. Right. So really kind of balancing out those kinds of harvests. I'm curious in your part of the country, and we have this out here in the West, do you need to have permits in certain uncertain lands to be able to forage?
Michael Wilson 18:46
Yeah, technically, you should have. There is something I looked into for like commercial forager's license, and that would be in the state and national forests. Now, parks are different story. Parks are a little more strict about everything.
Toréa Rodriguez 19:08
Like state parks and county parks and state parks,
Michael Wilson 19:11
State parks, county parks, maybe even local parks and national parks.
Toréa Rodriguez 19:16
Definitely.
Michael Wilson 19:18
Yeah, some of them will let you remove anything. Like
Toréa Rodriguez 19:21
Correct.
Michael Wilson 19:21
If you get caught if you get caught with a feather that you found, like you're gonna get a fine.
Toréa Rodriguez 19:27
Yep.
Michael Wilson 19:28
So you know, I have I have a family member and who is a national park ranger. So I hear stories all the time. And so the best thing to do is to check with that jurisdiction, you know, go on their website, call their office, go into the office, ask them, you know, directly what you can take. Sometimes you're allowed to have like a small personal bag or you can have like, you know, a certain amount of volume or weight of mushrooms are herbs. Private land is, is up for grabs. You can take whatever you want, as long as you have permission,
Toréa Rodriguez 20:10
Permission from the owner, right? I mean, that's kind of where it comes from. Yeah. Yeah. And as you've been learning this art of foraging, I'm curious, how many seasons did you go through? Before you really felt confident about what you were doing? And does that perpetuate even still today as you learn new species?
Michael Wilson 20:35
Yeah, so that's a great question. I think that in my first maybe my first year I was very not like, I was very eager, I will just say that one of my first experiences you know, what I did, I did not pick with intentionality was a giant basket full of honey mushrooms, right? Okay. Anybody knows anything about honey mushrooms, you know, they grow like they're parasitic to, to trees, and they grow like, like bonkers, just, they, they'll have massive flushes. They're edible. The Armillaria species. I believe all of them are edible. I'm not positive on that. But the honey mushroom is. And it you know, personally, I don't like the taste of it. But I realized this is a honey mushroom. So I picked a giant basket full of it. I'm like, Oh my gosh, like, look at all these mushrooms, were gonna eat all these mushrooms. And then the next day, they just turned into like, liquid soup on my floor before I could do anything with them. And it was, you know, there's flies, and it was disgusting. And so now whenever I see honey mushrooms, I'm just like, okay, that's nice, you know, maybe I would eat a few of the younger ones, they their stalks aren't as tough because they don't have as much chitin in them, which is the compound that makes mushrooms tough. And can cause gastrointestinal upset. And so, you know, it's very eager, naive. You know, that was also like back in 2016. And so now I'm, I'm more, I'm more seasoned, I would say one of the biggest things, especially for mushrooms, if you want to really spend your time well in the woods and find the right kind of mushrooms is know the trees that they're associated with, and know the seasons that you should be looking for. And then once you figure that out, you will basically just it's a matter of rain and temperature, you know, whenever it's warm, and as you know, a couple days after a rain, like you could spend most of your days looking for mushrooms and finding them. But if it's been dry, like we had, we had a drought, right whenever chanterelles season would have been. And now all season is kind of like delayed and I haven't seen a single chanterelle. And, you know, there was a 21 day drought, so I just knew I'm not going to find anything. Now it's it's fun to go out and scout. I like to, you know, have little favorite things on my google maps everywhere like in my whole map is littered with them, like with little notes that said, you know, found old chicken the woods, you know, so then I would go there during chicken that would season. And lo and behold, find the chicken of the woods. So I think it's really important to just scout and spend time out in the woods, getting familiar with the types of forests, the types of types of trees, it's kind of cool to go back to different areas, throughout different times of the year.
Toréa Rodriguez 23:52
Yeah
Michael Wilson 23:52
You'd be surprised you might find something you didn't expect and
Toréa Rodriguez 23:56
Interesting.
Michael Wilson 23:57
It gets you out in nature more, which is really healing just in itself.
Toréa Rodriguez 24:02
It's kind of the whole point, right? To get out in nature, like I know somebody here in town in Bend who does forage mushrooms for his mushroom business. And you know, he creates wonderful culinary products with with these foraged mushrooms. And that was the first question I asked him was, hey, ill you take me out in the forest and go foraging with you? And he's like, No. And I was like, Oh, okay. And he's like, don't get me wrong, it that is my time, my alone time where I get to reconnect to nature, and I value that a lot. And I was like, all respect to like, of course, of course. That's his time in nature, right. And that's what I love about foraging and what you were talking about in terms of look how how you're learning. We're not just looking for the mushroom or we're not just looking for the berry or the herbs. We're looking for the ecology, the ecological signs, what are the other species that are dependent on or symbiotic with these, these are the ones that we're looking for, because then it's going to be a lot easier to see. You know, I remember when I first started looking for mushrooms, my eyes on the ground, like the whole time, and it doesn't need to be that way. Like, you can look for the trees and look for the signs and oh, you're gonna find morels when they're closer to water than away from the water. You know, those kinds of things are the cool details that you get to learn as you're learning this craft.
Michael Wilson 25:35
Definitely, it's also a spiritual thing, it's a way to become more present with your surroundings, it's a way to slow down. You know, you're taking in information in a way through your senses, you're not using your your phone, you're not using a computer, you're using your natural inputs for sensory information, digestion. And so it really does teach you to slow down because it's really hard to find mushrooms when you're walking fast. And whenever you're distracted, you know, I have friends that like to hike. And I have friends that like to go through a jaunt in the woods, and those are different people.
Toréa Rodriguez 26:22
Yeah.
Michael Wilson 26:33
If you're a if you're a hiker, you're goal oriented, you know, I want to go to this location, I want to do this many miles, you know, we'd have to walk at this speed. And if you're going on a mushroom foray like, and you're a hiker, you're gonna get pissed off, because we're gonna stop and look at all this slime mold on a log for like, five minutes and like, you know, put our finger on it. And, you know, it's a different kind of experience. And I like both. I mean, I prefer mushroom foraging. You know, I've gone on mountaineering trips, I've done a lot of hiking throughout my life, I've always been into the outdoors. But, you know, something that I like, you know, concept I like to talk about is, whenever you are out in the woods, you may be appreciating nature. But for the most part, it's kind of like this green wall, right? Like, it's just like, there's green stuff. There's like trees, there's bushes, there's grass, there's plants. And it's just all just nature. And I think there's something cool about getting to know, the individuals that you're walking around, there's something really cool, and it doesn't even have to be about the taxonomy and the names, but like just getting to know them. And I think that every plant, mushroom tree has its own type of personality is different than humans. Yeah. But whenever you really get to know them, you realize that you're kind of like walking into a big community. And it makes you feel more a part of something. And not just like, I am an explorer in this place. But I'm actually like, participating in this experience.
Toréa Rodriguez 28:13
Yeah, that's really beautifully described. And it reminds me a lot of, I have a dear friend who forages for something a little bit different. And we were in the desert. And she took us on an exploration walk, basically. And we were looking for bones, right and trying to find remains of animals that live in this ecology. And it was so much fun, because we discovered all sorts of cacti and plants and rocks and all of those things and you know, and got to find some cool bones and try and figure out like, Who is this belong to? And what what is this that we're looking at it it's very different way of interacting with a desert environment that that I ever have before. Usually, it's just a mass of rocks as dry and boring. Doesn't have trees. It's so it's not my typical environment that I go into. But she had that same approach. And it was really delightful because it is really taking the land and kind of like you were saying, we're listening to what the stories are, that the land is telling us we're smelling what the stories are. We're seeing what those stories are, we're feeling it tactfully. Like feeling the moss or feeling the slime mold or, you know, feeling the rock like we're really starting to take that in and it's oftentimes on, you know, retreat experiences or some of these other experiences that I take people out into the outdoors. Oftentimes, I will have them do a five, six sensory experience when we're going outside, like, touch the bark of the tree. What is that feel like? And you know, really start to immerse ourselves from a sensory standpoint. I really thought that was beautiful. Thank you.
Michael Wilson 30:01
Yeah and it reminds me of an especially, I think probably the exact same exercise of what you're talking about. I had a, I had the coolest fifth grade teacher, Mr. Takis shout out, he would have us go out. I think it was maybe for science class, like we'd go out like, past the playground like into the woods. And it was owned by the school, I guess. But we go out with our journals. And we do what we call the magic spot journal. So we would record everything we see hear, smell, touch, you know, feel. And it was so cool. Like we literally were doing like this mindfulness nature practice in fifth grade.
Toréa Rodriguez 30:41
Yeah. So cool. So cool. I'd love to spend the last few minutes just chatting about, you know, you've used foraging now to build an entire business. So tell us a little bit about, you know, your business, and what kinds of herbs and things that you are forging and turning into products for people to be able to use?
Michael Wilson 31:03
Yeah, absolutely. So whenever I started foraging it was culinary purposes, and then I quickly learned that there are medicinal mushrooms out there, and that the number of benefits to these mushrooms are innumerable. And I'm all about self sufficiency and kind of like, you know, if we can rely if we don't have to rely on you know, big pharma and, you know, farm pharmaceutical medicines, then all the better, and
Toréa Rodriguez 31:36
Which so to be clear that all pharmaceutical medicines actually do come from some kind of plant or fungus anyways, so
Michael Wilson 31:43
Right that's exactly right. So let's get back to the real stuff. And to me, it felt like renegade medicine. And I'm also kind of rebellious. I was like, Yeah, you know, at the system kind of thing. And so, I learned that I could make extracts out of these mushrooms and herbs. And I got really excited. So I started to make them for friends and family. And then people really liked them. So like, Hey, man, I want to buy that like, and I was like, Okay, I guess I should price this out and like, get some bottles and do things. And eventually, during the pandemic, I was able to spend more free time on kind of, you know, making this dream a reality. And then, you know, soon after that, it took a life of its own, and I had to quit my contractor job that I was, you know, I had all these clients and I slipped, I told him, I'm sorry, I'm doing this now. And this is really what I want to do. And I have not looked back since. So that's been over two years, maybe three years, but I don't know time flies. So the things I work with, you know, it started out with things like Turkey Tail, Birch, polypore, reishi, mushroom Chaga, Lion's Mane Codyseps, What else, Hen of the Woods Chicken of the Woods. You know the these are all medicinal, medicinal, functional mushrooms that have polysaccharides and beta glucans and terpenes various medicinal compounds. And traditionally the easiest way to make them and consume them and store them is in a double extracted tincture. So it's you know, alcohol and water based tincture. Other mushrooms I forge, you know, Amanita muscaria mushroom, that's the main part of my business. That's what I work with the most. And then I also have different herbs and I'm starting to get into more herbs. I actually know way more about wild mushrooms and wild herbs but I'm like an organic farmer that grows plants that doesn't do farming mushrooms. It's kind of funny, but you know i The herbs I'm working with I grow Tulsi basil the holy basil plant I've been growing natural while so I make that. Also I forge Japanese knotweed and I have blue lotus, as you know, a tincture now too. So I'm expanding more into those. And also CBD from organic local grower. I tried to source things as ethically as possible. If I'm not foraging them, they're either a friend of mine as foraging them or like a local, ethical forger. And so, you know, it's all about purity, and there's a way to forge in a responsible, ethical way. Also, you know, it's really important. Anybody who's new to foraging, avoid areas that are near roadways. Avoid areas that are clearly are sprayed with Roundup, you know, avoid golf courses, things that herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers, you know, it's, it's really important to make sure that you're going somewhere that's really clean. And another reason why I don't really forage anywhere near cities.
Toréa Rodriguez 35:19
Yeah.
Michael Wilson 35:20
The cities are toxic. Sorry, yes.
Toréa Rodriguez 35:22
Yeah. Unfortunately there, there's way too high use and chemicals in urban environments. And that's a really, really great point. One last question before we wrap up your so you mentioned double extraction. And I'm curious, did you have any chemistry background? Before you started this? Are you self teaching yourself, these methodologies to be able to make the extracts and that kind of thing.
Michael Wilson 35:47
So ironically, the first tincture I ever made, I was like, maybe 15. And I wanted to make patchouli oil, but I put it in like vodka. I didn't know what I was doing. So I made a Patchouli tincture, like, you're not going to use that. But I'm basically self taught. I mean, I went to school for a little bit, I dropped out of college, because it was boring. I was going for biology. Because I like nature. But you know, I took chemistry 101 That was my favorite class, I had a tutor in it. I studied for it more than any other class combined. And I got a C. And I was like, I earned that C, I was so proud of that. See, because the way I learned things is I really, really want to understand them. And it's hard to truly understand things while you're taking college courses, because it's all about regurgitation. Yeah, yeah, it's memorization regurgitation. And that's just not how I work. If I don't understand something, I can't create a foundation of learning. And so I quit that, and I went, and just joined a farm. And so I've just really been like, you know, grabbed myself by the bootstraps, kind of independent learner. And because of YouTube and the internet, like, it's so easy to learn things, you know, cross referencing things, making sure that there's a general consensus that like, this is the proper way to do it. And then trial and error, you know, and I've gone from. So you know, the most basic method of extraction, which anyone can take mushrooms and herbs, and put it in alcohol water in a mason jar, and leave it for four to six weeks, and make a tincture, you can make a really good tincture that way. I have very fancy equipment, because that's just where my business has evolved to. anybody. Anybody can start like today, right now. So
Toréa Rodriguez 37:48
Well that's awesome and thank you. And that's exactly why I asked that question. Because I think when we start talking about things like learning how to forage and going out into the forest and learning these different species, and ecologies, and now we're talking double extractions in a lab, and it can sound very intimidating. And it's not like everything is figured out double. And that's exactly why I asked that question. So anybody who's listening, right now, if this feels like way over your head, that's okay. But you can start somewhere. And I love your advice that you gave us early on. It's like, start with a guided mushroom forage experience. Start there, and you'll pick it up over time. Where can people find more about you and your products? Tell us how they can find you?
Michael Wilson 38:37
Yeah, the best. I think the best way to keep up with what I'm doing is my Instagram, my main Instagram is @harmony_acres. And I have another one.
Toréa Rodriguez 38:46
Great well have it in the show notes, too.
Michael Wilson 38:50
Yeah. And I have the All Things Amanita one. I do have a mailing list I don't send anything out except for like product updates.
Toréa Rodriguez 38:58
That's okay. And they can get on that for product updates. Fabulous
Toréa Rodriguez 39:01
Yeah. Yeah.
Michael Wilson 39:02
And I'll give you that information as well. You know, I have the two websites. But you know, the the main thing where I'm updating things and like, you know, this is what I'm doing today, like I'm foraging today on Instagram Live or whatever. It's the harmony acres, Instagram. So cool. That's really the place to go.
Toréa Rodriguez 39:22
Cool. Well, everybody give Michael a follow and make sure that you sign up for product updates. And thank you so much for coming on the podcast again. I mean, I say again, because we had that other conversation. So it was delightful to kind of take it in a slightly different direction with you. And yeah, maybe we'll have to do some more. Do a deeper dive.
Michael Wilson 39:41
Yeah, definitely. Toréa Thank you for having me on.
Toréa Rodriguez 39:44
Hey, thanks for joining me for this episode of the Wildly Optimized Wellness podcast. If you're looking for new ways of thinking about your wellness, you can check out my website torerodriguez.com. Want to have a peek into what it's like to work with me? Check out the Wellness Curiosity Collective or any of my other programs or retreats. And if you found something helpful in today's episode, don't forget to leave a review hit that follow button or share it with a friend because they're gonna love that you thought of them. Until next time, See You Outside.
