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EVENTS

Here are some exciting mushrooms events on Vancouver Island this fall. There are festivals, forays, wild mushroom dinners and cooking classes! Most notably, mushroom expert David Arora, author of "All that the Rain Promises" and "Mushrooms Demystified" (the mushroom bible), will be leading a foray in Cowichan October 10th!!!

Have fun

  • Beginner's Wild Edible Mushroom Workshop (For registration forms click here.)
    This 3 hour workshop with biologist Jessica Wolf helps you develop skills to find and identify a dozen edible mushrooms. We gather around a fire for the first two hours for a fungal "show and tell" of many easy-to-identify edibles and look-a-likes, then stroll around Wildwood Ecoforest to look for specimens in their habitat. This is not a mushroom foray where we collect mushrooms to take home, but rather an opportunity to learn the skills to forage with confidence for your own wild edibles.
    The workshop costs $40 and will be offered November 6,7, 8 and 9 at Wildwood Ecoforest, 20 min south of Nanaimo BC. Workshops fill up quickly, so call (250) 722-2292, or email photo@jessicawolf.ca before sending in your payment to ensure there is still space.
    One workshop will also be offered Nov. 14 on Gabriola, with spaces reserved for members of Gabriola Land and Trails Trust until November 1.
    To help preserve special wild places, $100 from each workshop will be contributed to The Land Conservancy of BC. A donation will also be made to the Gabriola Land and Trails Trust.


  • WildSpirit Adult Workshops with Bruce Carron (Click here)
    This Fall's workshops will be:
    • Oct 18 Wild Plants - Discover the edible, medicinal and poisonous properties of local wild plants, with emphasis on learning to connect with plants.
    • Nov 15 Shelter Building - Learn how to build a debris hut "survival shelter".
    • Nov 29 Firemaking - Working with the elemental Nature of fire, reconnect to your primitive ancestors. Learn to make fires in the rain and a bow-drill friction fire.
    Each workshop is from 10am - 4pm and costs $50.00 To register call 250-338-8431, or email wildspirit@shaw.ca.
    WildSpirit - Rediscover the Connection


  • Bamfield Mushroom Festival Saturday, October 3, 2009 (click for details)


  • Cowichan Salmon and Mushroom Festival October 24 & 25th, 10am-4pm (click for details)


  • South Vancouver Island Mycological Society (Click for upcoming events.)


  • Bill Jones, Magnetic North Cuisine Celebrated chef, author and mushroom lover. For more info click here to visit http://www.magnorth.bc.ca/events.htm
    Bill Jones has organized all the mushroom events posted below (wild mushroom forage with David Arora, dinners and cooking classes. Contact Bill at 250-748-7450 or email bill@magnorth.bc.ca to make a booking.
    • Wild Food Forages This fall we will be offering opportunities to learn about wild foods and mushrooms in the outdoor environment. Small groups will be taken into the backwoods of the valley to show the habitat for wild foods and to forage in their natural state. An overview of the pleasures, challenges and dangers of wild food harvesting will be demonstrated.
      At the end of the class we will return to the cottage and serve an array of wild food treats made from a bounty of foraged foods. Please note the forest is a harsh environment and participants must be able to hike and be in reasonable fitness. Due to the potentially hazardous nature of wild food foraging, all participants will be require to sign a waiver before confirming their enrollment in the forage program.
      For individual groups we will have a limited schedule of times available for private foraging activities. These can be tailored to the group and can offer a meal before or after the event. Please contact us for more information.
    • David Arora Forage Weekend A special thrill will be our Wild Mushroom Weekend October 10-11 with Special Guest David Arora (celebrated author of two of my favorite books Mushrooms Demystified and All the Rain Promises and More). Saturday October 10 will feature a wild mushroom themed dinner. David will then lead a forage on Sunday October 11 from 10 am - 4 pm (remember the thanksgiving holiday is Monday). This is a rare chance to meet one of the planets foremost mushroom experts as David visits us from his home base in California.
      The cost for this special forage event will be $125/person. The dinner on it's own is $90/person. If you book the dinner and forage as a package it's $200/person.
    • Wild Mushroom Feast - Italian Flavours Oct. 10, 2009
      - Wild mushroom and caramelized onion flatbread
      - Duck minestrone soup with crispy pancetta, vegetables and cauliflower fungus
      - Salad of grilled radicchio and sausage with garlic aioli and porcini
      - Venison and wild mushroom ragout over herb gnocchi
      - Olive oil pound cake with spiced pear compote
      $90 / person including recipes
    • Wild Mushroom Feast - Pacific NW Style Saturday, October 24, 2009
      - Terrine of pork, mushrooms, ginger and edamame beans
      - Salad of local scallops, Deerholme greens and Japanese seasoned mushrooms
      - Pureed soup of squash with Thai spices, basil, crispy leeks and chanterelles
      - Baked chicken in miso, mushrooms, bacon and onions over truffle-scented rice
      - Saskatoon berry and apple tarte with a hazelnut crumble topping and vanilla ice cream
      $90 / person including recipes
    • Wild Mushroom Feast - Spanish Style Saturday, November 7, 2009 (Spanish-style) - Frittata with mushrooms, potatoes, chorizo and red pepper
      - Clams and smoked pork hock with a wild mushroom, rosemary and tomato sauce
      - Braised pork belly with a warm salad of mushrooms and olives
      - Roast Pork with herbs, apple cider and porcini crust, served with Spanish-style bean casserole
      - Upside down quince cake with cinnamon ice cream
      $90 / person including recipes
    • Pine Mushroom Dinner (Masutake Feast) Saturday, November 21, 2009
      - Grilled quail rolls with pine mushroom and apricot compote
      - Soba noodles with pine mushroom and squash salad
      - Rice congee with pine mushrooms, braised greens and spice braised duck
      - Roast leg of lamb with a pine mushroom stuffing, served with roast vegetable polenta cake
      - Blackberry, mint and chocolate cake with pine mushroom ice cream
      $90 / person including recipes
    • Truffle Dinner Saturday, December 12, 2009
      - Truffled deviled eggs with artisan smoked bacon
      - Fresh egg pasta with butter, fresh truffle and artisanal parmesan cheese
      - Terrrine of scallops and prawns with a black truffle aioli
      - Fresh truffle risotto with red wine braised lamb shank
      - Chocolate truffle tarte with hazelnut ice cream
      $125 / person including recipes
    • Cooking Classes Wild Mushrooms and truffles
      Hands-on limited size classes with Bill Jones. These are opportunities to expand your culinary horizons cooking with the finest local ingredients and working along side an accomplished chef and culinary instructor. Classes include a valuable primer on the topic and recipes to follow along in class and back home. Suitable for all levels of cooking skill but a prime opportunity for those looking to develop their skills and to ignite their creativity. Bill is the author of 9 cookbooks including The Savoury Mushroom and a recognized regional expert on mushrooms and wild foods.
      - Wild Mushroom Cooking for Health - October 15 Cost: $100 per person including all materials, content and recipes
      - Pine Mushrooms Japanese Style - November 7 and Triffling with Truffles - December 5 Both Cost: $125 per person including all materials, content and recipes. All Classes: 12:00 noon - 5:00 pm. Please call for availabilty (250) 748-7450
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