Abode Outside Blog

The Ultimate Guide to Minnesota's Specialty Outdoor Retailers & Outfitters

Minnesota is home to an incredible network of independently owned outdoor retailers and outfitters. These businesses do much more than sell gear. They share local knowledge, outfit adventures, support conservation, and build the outdoor community that makes Minnesota special.

A wild mushroom on the forest floor, the visible tip of an underground fungal network.

Conservation

What Mushrooms Tell Us About the Forest

The mushroom you spot on the trail is only the fruit. Beneath it runs a vast web of fungi doing the real work of the forest. Here is what mushrooms, mycelium, and the "wood wide web" are actually doing, and where the popular story gets ahead of the science.

Conservation

How to Read a Lake

No two lakes are alike, one runs tea-brown, the next clear blue, another green and weedy. Here's how to read what the water is telling you about a lake's health, its fish, and whether it's safe to get into.

A single firefly glowing against a dark Minnesota forest at dusk in late June

Conservation

Why Fireflies Are Disappearing And How to Bring Them Back

Firefly populations are declining across North America — and most people don't know it's happening until the field they grew up watching goes dark. Here's the science behind why fireflies are disappearing, what light pollution and lawn chemicals are actually doing to them, and what a genuinely firefly-friendly yard looks like.

Conservation

Dragonflies: The Most Effective Predator on the Trail

Dragonflies catch 95% of what they chase, more than any predator on Earth, including sharks and lions. Most people walk right past them on the trail. Here's the biology behind the most effective hunter in the Northwoods: how they see, how they hunt, how to identify the species you'll find at the lake's edge, and what their presence tells you about the water beneath them.

Billions of mayflies swarming over the Mississippi River at sunset during the June hatch

Conservation

The Mayfly Hatch: The Mississippi River's Most Spectacular Event

Every June, billions of mayflies rise from the bottom of the Mississippi River in one synchronized surge of wings. It shows up on weather radar. It shuts down bridge lights in southeast Minnesota. And it only happens because the river is clean enough to support it. Here's the full story of one of the Midwest's most dramatic, and least understood, natural events.

Common loon swimming on a glassy Minnesota lake at dawn with mist rising from the water

Conservation

The Secret Life of Loons: What Minnesota's State Bird Is Really Telling You

You hear it before you see it. Across a still Minnesota lake, a sound rises that you can't quite name and can't quite forget. That's a loon.

Company Updates / Observations

Questions with the Founder

The essential questions everyone should know about their business. The why, what and how. Why does Abode Outside exis...

Company Updates / How To

Our EcoPromise™

Abode Outside · Minnesota · Knitwear Engineered for Life Outside EcoProm...

Company Updates / How To / Observations

Knitwear vs. Cut and Sew

Instead of cutting shapes out of fabric, knitwear garments are knit directly into shape on specialized machines. The garment panels are programmed and constructed through the knitting process itself, often referred to as knit-to-shape construction. This method creates several meaningful advantages.