Who, What, Where, & Why
Who We Are
We are passionate naturalists and educators committed to reconnecting individuals with the wild abundance of our local landscapes. As the premier foraging guide service in our region, we specialize in uncovering the hidden treasures that flourish in our forests. Our excursions are thoughtfully aligned with the wheel of the year, offering an opportunity to engage mindfully with nature's cycles while sharing the richness of traditional ecological knowledge. Through immersive, hands-on experiences, we aim to foster a deep appreciation for nature's bounty and promote responsible stewardship of the environment.
What We Do
Spore & Lore provides various types of guided excursions into wild spaces in order to engage and educate the local community on a number of topics including...
- Stewardship Principles
- Basic Trail Safety
- Mushroom Identification
- Mushroom Safety
- Sustainable Foraging
- General Forest Knowledge/Skills
...all with a dash of humour and frequent digressions into related lore (including folklore from around the world, paganism, etc.).
Why We Do It
We do what we do to encourage understanding of wild species (especially mushrooms) and spaces, and in doing so generate a wider appreciation of and respect for our remaining natural areas in South-Western Ontario. We also aim to support larger conservation efforts and the study of mushrooms by participating in open-data citizen scientist movements like iNaturalist and Marine Debris Tracker, and redirecting a portion of our profits to organizations that directly work toward these goals. At present this includes the organizations below, and we're actively working to add more:
- The Bruce Trail Conservancy (BTC)
- The North American Mycological Association (NAMA)*
- The Mycological Society of Toronto
- The Ontario Woodlot Association (OWA)
*A long term goal of our operations is to begin contributing to NAMA's Scholarship Funds. If feasible, we hope to begin directing additional profits toward this goal in 2026.
Where We Do It
We primarily operate in teh following regions of South-Western Ontario:
- Elgin County
- Chatham-Kent
- Lambton County
- Middlesex County
Special events are hosted seasonally elsewhere throughout the province of Ontario, Canada.
