Meet Michael Heim of Ensō Farm and Forage in Boulder

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Heim.

Michael, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
As a young boy in Nebraska with an outdoorsman father, I enjoyed annual hunting trips to the western panhandle of the state. We’d arrive before daybreak, spend hours lying on snow-covered sandhills, and watch the world open its eyes each new day. This fresh spirit of adventure and discovery has been locked within my DNA ever since. Throughout my life, this spirit has taken many forms: vinyl records, thrift stores, flea markets, estate sales, the culinary arts, and most recently foraging for wild food.

While in college and working in restaurants, I became interested in gardening, horticulture, food and agricultural policy, ecology, and sustainability. Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, really brought it all into focus for me. During this profoundly revelatory period in my life, it only made logical sense to accept a friend’s invitation to go mushroom hunting along the Platte River. Ever since that fateful misty Nebraska spring morning, I have been a mycophile. I joined the Colorado Mycological Society after moving to the state in my early thirties. Unofficially I started teaching wild mushroom basics in 2013.

I started Ensō Farm and Forage in 2015 because of an increase in demand for mushroom foraging and cultivation classes. I wanted to formalize what I had been doing already. Since then, I have taken hundreds of curious people into the woods, offering them a new lens from which to view the forest. All through the front range and other beautiful locations across Colorado, Ensō leads workshops on cultivation, foraging, cooking, and soon, photography. In addition, we sell wild-foraged mushrooms to restaurants, shops, and markets.

Check the website (www.ensofarmandforag.com) for updates and opportunities to get involved or to sign up for the newsletter. Look for workshops, fresh and dried mushrooms for sale, a new online store, the beginnings of a regional cookbook, a new cultivation/lab space, and general excitement about all things mycological. You can find Ensō’s delicious wild mushrooms at various locations across the front range, including Blackbelly, Arcana, Frasca, Morin Denver, Cured Boulder, Grower’s Organic, Potager, Acreage by Stem Ciders, and more.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
My road hasn’t been smooth by any means. Over the course of my adult life, I have struggled with depression, anxiety, and substance abuse issues. Every day offers me an opportunity to get better and be better. I wake up, sit on my cushion, finish with a serenity prayer and start my day. Most recently, my sweet mother was diagnosed with dementia. This has added another layer of challenge to life. The way I choose to view these obstacles is really what shapes my worldview. I’m learning patience, love and the power of grief. Life is hard. Suffering is a noble truth. Acceptance and groundlessness is the only path.

Please tell us about Ensō Farm and Forage.
Ensō Farm and Forage lead workshops on mushroom cultivation, foraging, cooking, and soon, photography, all across the front range, and other beautiful locations across Colorado. In addition, Ensō sells wild-foraged mushrooms to restaurants, shops, and markets.

I have been leading groups of curious students into the forests of Colorado since 2013. I am certified by the State of Colorado as a Wild Mushroom Expert (2016). Additionally, I am a board member and former president (2018) of the Colorado Mycological Society. I have led forays for the CMS, Denver Botanic Gardens (Denver), The Living Arts School (Erie), Walking Mountain Science Center (Avon), Chef’s Collaborative and many more. With my extensive background in the culinary field combined with my expertise in the field, I am uniquely suited to educate students on wild edible mushrooms that grow in our region. I find great joy bringing curious epicureans and citizen scientists alike into the wilderness to show them how to find food as nature/god/the universe/higher power intended it.

Best Practices.
⤉ Harvest less than 10% of what’s available ~ This is a wildcrafting standard. Use your judgment and always be gracious. It’s a blessing to be out there!!!
⤉ Bring Field Guide and/or someone that knows what you’re looking at/for. Join a club and learn from your peers!
⤉ Make sure you know where you’re going and whether or not you should be there. Colorado has many governing entities to consider: County gov, City gov, State gov, Open Space, National Park, National Forest, Wilderness, Private land, and so on and so forth. Educate yourself on the dos and don’ts of harvesting wild products from nature. Get the proper permission and save yourself the headache of a summons or the pain of removing buckshot from your body (read: private land).
⤉ Stay on the trail unless there is ample opportunity for movement off-trail that does not damage or destroy vegetation, habitat or ecosystems.
⤉We will only harvest if given permission by the Ranger Station or when participants have acquired proper permitting for personal harvest. If this is the case, I will teach participants how to harvest in a way that does not destroy habitat or ecosystem.

Quick Facts.
NOLS Certified Wilderness First Responder.
Certified Wild Mushroom Expert Colorado Dept. Health.
Former President, Board Member, & Member Colorado Mycological Society (2010-Current).

What were you like growing up?
I was a regular middle-class kid growing up in the middle of the country during the 80s and 90s. I loved soccer, my BMX Mongoose, basketball, the 1986 Chicago Bears, and being in the outdoors with my dad. I loved Michael Jordan, the Goonies, Tony Hawk, Revenge of the Nerds (1, 2, & 3!), and Every Which Way but Loose. I had two older sisters (9 & 10 years respectively) with divorced parents (age 12) so I basically grew up an only child.

Pricing:

• Please check the website and Instagram for pricing

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ensofarmandforage.com
• Phone: 402-218-6285
• Email: michael@ensofarmandforage.com
• Instagram: @ensofarmandforage @michaelbheim @waitermouth
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ens%C5%8D-Farm-and-Forage-1154005661393861/?eid=ARA60A16pyX_aR9yhlB49yCySSfI0O0qHcTQs8SqdcR60L2D934xiK_NZ77ad_kCLFsoO4zaC1NuYRbx&timeline_context_item_type=intro_card_work&timeline_context_item_source=1393393831&fref=tag
• Twitter: @michaelbheim @waitermouth

Image Credit:
Michael Sandoval
Michael Heim

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