Ep. 65: Forage Colorado - Finding Wild Food & Connection in the Rocky Mountains (feat. Orion Aon)

Today on Mushroom Hour we are privileged to get to speak with Orion Aon, founder of Forage Colorado. Orion is a Colorado transplant with a lifelong passion for the outdoors and anything there is to do in them. He loves to hunt, fish, forage, camp, wander and wonder, look at trees, you name it! Orion grew up in Santa Fe, NM where he first started mushroom hunting with his family looking for king boletes, chanterelles, and hawk's wings - like a treasure hunt in the woods that got him hooked. In 2008, he moved to Colorado to attend CSU where he would study Natural Resource Management and Fisheries Biology. In 2015 Orion started Forage Colorado as a place where he could share his passion for Colorado foraging with others. His first big project was writing a series about Colorado morels, which has helped a lot of people who didn’t even know there were morels in Colorado to find their first ones. He now offers private foraging classes and does talks, events, and leads forays for his local mycological society.  Topics Covered:   Family Tradition Becomes a Passion for Foraging  Colorado Mycological Societies  Unique Mushroom Habitat of the Southwestern US  Mysteries of Colorado Morels  Finding Mushroom Spots on the Rocky Mountain range  Foraging as a Source of Connection  Wild Food Sustainability  "Forage Colorado" Passion Project  Cooking with Foraged Finds  Educating Through Social Media  Studies in Natural Resource Management  Career with Colorado State Seedling Nursery  Treatise on Dandelion  Foraging Books and Future Plans  Episode Resources:   Forage Colorado Website: https://www.foragecolorado.com/  Forage Colorado FB: https://www.facebook.com/foragecolorado/  Forage Colorado IG: https://www.instagram.com/foragecolorado/?hl=en  Colorado Mycological Society: https://cmsweb.org  Fort Collins Mycological Society: https://www.facebook.com/FoCoMycoClub/  Pikes Peak Mycological Society: pikespeakmyc.org  Colorado State Seedling Nursery: https://csfs.colostate.edu/seedling-tree-nursery/  Samuel Thayer Website (Inspiration): https://www.foragersharvest.com/  Briana Wiles (Inspiration): https://www.instagram.com/rootedapothecary/?hl=en  Erica Davis: https://wildfoodgirl.com  Mushrooms of the Rocky Mountain Region (Book): https://www.amazon.com/Mushrooms-Rocky-Mountain-Region-Timber/dp/1604695765  Rocky Mountain Mushrooms by Habitat (Book): https://www.amazon.com/Essential-Guide-Mountain-Mushrooms-Habitat/dp/0252081463