Cooking outside is not just for summer, our series shows you the magic of cooking seasonal ingredients over the fire all year long. Rain or shine – or snow, Ashley Rodriguez and her guests will show you how to embrace cooking outdoors with the wild foods we find.

Foraging Forecast: Your guide to August mushroom hunting in Oregon (no, really).

One of the most delightful things I learned early in the development of my love for mushroom hunting was how continuous the season really is. As one mushroom fades away into mush, a life cycle completed, another is preparing to reveal itself just below the surface. The trick is knowing what — and where — to look for while hunting.

Explore Oregon Podcast: Talking all things mushroom hunting with educator Rachel Zoller

In this episode, outdoor intern and fungus enthusiast Skyla Patton talks all things mushroom hunting with pro forager and educator Rachel Zoller, better known as Yellow Elanor.

Now that the rain has come, it’s prime mushroom hunting season in Oregon. But serious foragers are super-secretive about their best spots. So today on City Cast Portland, lead producer John Notarianni talks with Rachel Zoller, a mushroom educator and founder of Yellow Elanor. We’ll see if she spills a few of her secrets.

In the online enclave of fungi fanatics, Rachel Zoller made a name for herself—literally. She assumed the moniker Yellow Elanor, a reference to Tolkien lore, when she started an Instagram account dedicated to mushroom foraging in the Pacific Northwest. Since then, the nom de ‘shroom has grown into a brand with fans of its own, and Rachel now balances the demands of running a small business with her job as an elementary school teacher, all while parenting her two children alongside her partner, Trevor.

Mushroom Hunting with Yellow Elanor and the Biwa™

Climbing closer to our secret destination in Washington’s Gifford Pinchot National Forest, the sun struggles to break through the thick layer of stormy gray clouds looming above us. We weave through the canopy of towering ponderosa pines, gravel crunching beneath our tires as we pull off to an inconspicuously unmarked area on the side of the road. Ahead of us, seasoned mushroom hunter, Rachel Zoller—otherwise known as Yellow Elanor—steps out of her Subaru Forester, greeting us with a bright and knowing smile. It’s the look of someone who just can’t wait to reveal a thrilling, well-kept secret.