OFFSITE: August Civic Holiday 2026 Mushroom Hunting Expedition with Puck's Plenty

Spend a beautiful summer day in the woods with an expert guide to educate you on the seasonal species of fungi available in our own backyard. Danijela Pulcini from Puck’s Plenty, has been foraging wild mushrooms and plants her whole life, first in her native Serbia and for many years right here in Ontario. She will show us how to safely identify wild species and will discuss medicinal and culinary uses of what we find. We will be searching for the Bolete family of mushrooms, Black Trumpets, Turkey Tails, Crown Tip Coral, and possibly Summer Oyster mushrooms (depending on rain a few days beforehand). It's always an adventure — you never know what we'll find, but as an added bonus all participants will get to take home a sample of assorted cultivated mushrooms from Fresh and Tasty Mushrooms. As an added bonus each participant will receive some Hen of the Woods (aka Maitake, an especially delicious and medicinal mushroom) from Shogun Maitake for their cooking pleasure. We will meet at 10am at a location within 90 minutes of Toronto. Note: For this seasonal excursion we will be exploring a new bioregion in the Cambridge/Kitchener area. N.B. The Dep will NOT be able to offer lifts on this occasion, but we will do our best to try and help coordinate ride sharing among the participants if possible. (No guarantees). Dogs are welcome to join! ----- Puck’s Plenty was established in 2010 by Peter Blush, who has become a renowned wild mushroom expert here in Ontario after years as a military news correspondent and novelist. Featured for his mushroom expertise on The Oprah Network’s ‘Fearless In the Kitchen’, The Global Network’s Morning News and many others, he now delights in taking groups of intrepid foragers into our wooded spaces to enjoy the natural spoils of the land we all share. pucksplenty.com ----- The Depanneur is where Interesting Food Things happen. For more than a decade The Dep has been showcasing Toronto’s remarkable culinary diversity by hosting unique food events. @thedepanneur