Deerholme Farm

I attended the mushroom foraging and cooking weekend at Deerholme Farm this past weekend, and all of my hopes and expectations were met, and then some! Having just moved to the Island and Cowichan Valley, I was hoping to gain some local knowledge allowing us to better understand this place we had moved to, opening the wonders of the forest in my backyard. Bill shared with us his wealth of knowledge and experience of edible mushrooms in a captivating show and tell of exemplars of types of mushrooms found in this area (with funny stories interjected), and fed us a beautiful lunch of wild mushroom congee and mint tea from the garden his wife grows. He then led us out after some lucky rainfall over the week and described territories to look for, taking our newfound understanding into the experiential realm. It was a fun walk on the Canada Trail and into farms in the area that was energetic and relaxing at once. When we returned, he answered questions and made us a deliciously grapefuity, white fir tea and apple crumble. Yum! We left filled to the brim with knowledge and wonder, our bellies and minds satisfied. The next day we sampled the various types of mushrooms cooked simply to showcase their natural flavour, and then learned 3 fabulous dishes using the mushrooms. Bill is a fantastic chef. The food he served us from our team-​effort of chopping (thrown in knife skills class, demonstrating the skill accumulated with 10 years of teaching cooking experience), wowed with every bite. Now we have the capacity to follow the recipe to a hopefully similar result. If you are looking for an authentic, warm, enriching, learning experience that opens up how to appreciate being able to access the abundant fruits of rainforest in the autumn, this is not to be missed. I also hear that his themed dinners served in his home are beyond exceptional, we are sure to try one as soon as we possibly can!