Webinar #5: Forest Farming and Foraging, June 25, 2025

Join Minnesota Women in Conservation (MNWiC) for a Welcoming Wednesday Webinar! These interactive Zooms are intended to provide relevant and actionable information about land and water stewardship, while also connecting like-minded women over lunch hour conversations. They recur on the fourth week each month.

June 25, 2025 Topic: Forest Farming and Foraging

Webinar Hosts:

Allison Rian, AlliCat Farm, Renewing the Countryside, MNWiC North East Region Coordinator

Maddy Bartsch, Salt of the North, Sustainable Farming Association, MNWiC South East Region Coordinator

Conservation Practitioner: Gretchen Polkinghorne, Certified Wild Mushroom Harvester, Dye Plant Forager, Calu Homestead in McGregor

Conservation Professional: Stesha Warren, Agroforestry Technical Trainer, Appalachian Sustainable Development, Eliana’s Garden

Gretchen Polkinghorne, an experienced forager who uses mushrooms and other forest gifts for food, tea, and natural fiber dye, will take us through a primer on the basics of foraging. Delicious and healthful mushrooms and plants are abundant in Minnesota, but gathering them responsibly requires some knowledge and forethought. Gretchen will give us an overview of the what, the where, the how, and most importantly, the safety and ethics of wild foraging. Stesha Warren, Agroforestry Technical Trainer, Appalachian Sustainable Development, Eliana’s Garden Stesha joined ASD in March 2022. She leads the Agroforestry Trainings for Technical Service Providers (ATFNRP) initiative with focus on increasing technical assistance capacity in Central Appalachia and with partners across the USA. Outside of ASD, Stesha is a forest farmer, a forager, the Vice Chair for the Association for Temperate Agroforestry, co-owner of Eliana’s Garden, instructor for Mushroom Mountain, and homeschooling mother of two.

About Minnesota Women in Conservation

Minnesota Women in Conservation (MNWiC) is a project of Renewing the Countryside in partnership with the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). MNWiC's mission is to engage women in conservation conversations, connecting them with the tools and resources needed to develop their own goals. We facilitate Regional Networks to help all women of every experience level to learn and to implement practices in their own spaces, both urban both rural. We are here to nurture land and community. Join us!

Disclaimer

While the MNWiC project strives to make the information provided to individuals as timely and accurate as possible, we make no claims, promises, or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the content of our webinars. The information presented is solely the speakers’ expressed views and MNWiC expressly disclaims liability for errors and omissions in content.