A Taste Of August
July flew by in a flash, and now August seems to be disappearing right before my eyes!
I hope your summer has been just as wonderful as mine.
My days have been packed with loved ones visiting from Europe and other parts of Canada, exploring our gorgeous Nova Scotia coastlines, cooking, dinner parties, sharing wonderful foods and wines, enjoying precious time spent together.
It’s also the busiest time of the year for Terroir & Wild Ecotours and Olde Forest Herbals. We’ve been busy guiding foraging tours, wildcrafting, and gathering this year's harvest of medicinal plants. If you could step into my basement drying room today, you'd be greeted by the most incredible aroma: a fragrant blend of Tulsi, Mint, Rose, Lemon Balm, and Calendula. And, as always, William is right by my side making sure the whole operation runs smoothly!
We have brought back one of our most popular products and added more Sea Vegetables to the ingredients.
Every little bag is the result of a six-month journey, carefully gathering diverse Sea Vegetables from the shores of Nova Scotia.
It comes in a beautiful little pouch, designed to brighten any spice cupboard.
Our Mushroom Powder is also back in stock, containing a wonderful variety of medicinal mushrooms.
You can purchase Olde Forest products directly from me, or find them stocked locally at the Vegetorium Farm Market in Fall River and Levantic Bakery in Bedford.
Our tours have been incredibly busy this season, and it has been an absolute joy welcoming travellers from across Europe, Australia, America, and other provinces right here in Canada!
Chef Emily, who joined our team this spring, has truly found her groove, crafting beautifully inventive and delicious cuisine for our guests. She is already planning a spectacular 6-course lunch for our upcoming Wild Mushroom Foraging Adventure on September 13th.
We would love for you to join us! Thanks to the recent rains, our forests are thriving and absolutely teeming with wild mushrooms.
The forest has always been my ultimate escape—a sanctuary where I can truly rest, rejuvenate, and lose myself in the simple wonder of staring at mushrooms and trees. Lately, my obsession with Amanitas has been deepening, especially with all the beautiful specimens I’ve been finding throughout the season. It’s inspired me to think about writing a book dedicated entirely to them. But since this would actually be the second book I want to write, I’m realizing it might be best to honour the one I’ve been planning for a while first, letting that story pave the way before I dive into the world of Amanitas.
There are about 600 described species of the Amanita genus worldwide.
This large family of fungi includes some of the world's most famous edible mushrooms, psychoactive varieties and deadly poisonous species, responsible for the majority of fatal mushroom poisoning, such as:
Death Cap (Amanita Phalloides)
Destroying Angel (Amanita Bisporigera)
It is easy to see why many confuse the Fly Agaric (Amanita Muscaria var. Guessowii) with Amanita Flavoconia (Yellow Patches). While both are absolute beauties, they hold entirely different charms. The var. Guessowii has long been one of my absolute favourites.
This one has a stouter body, bulbous stem base and shaggy white, cream warts (universal veil remnants).
Guessowi contains psychoactive compunds like muscimol and ibotenic acid.
Flavoconia on the other hand generally grows more slender and delicate. It displays distincltly yellow stem, with a smoother yellow-orange cap.
Some will say its not toxic, others say that it is not recommended for consumption. Its official edibility is classified as unknown.
There is something mesmerizing about watching them unfurl into its elegant shape; I always tend to think of Amanitas as sophisticated women, completely cloaked in mystery.
To end I will leave you to reflect on a post that I saw today, by mycologist Darren Le Baron. He has a theory that you are a mushroom, having a human experience. And it kind of makes sense.
Biologically we are closer kin to fungi than almost anything else alive. Maybe our DNA really does carry the fingerprint of fungi as the original spark of life in Earth?
What do you think?
See you in the wild my friends!!!
Comments