You may only have thought of mushrooms you buy at the supermarket, "psychedelic mushrooms", or maybe even wild gourmet mushrooms, but have you thought about how they grow and what benefits mushrooms contain, not only nutritionally, but environmentally?
Mushrooms can save the world, I think they can, and so does author Paul Stamets, who has dedicated the last 30 years proving so. Over this time he has discovered 4 new species of mushrooms and pioneered countless techniques in the field of edible and medicinal mushroom cultivation. In 2008, Paul received the National Geographic Adventure Magazine's Green-Novator and the Argosy Foundation's E-chievement Awards. He was also named one of Utne Reader's "50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World" in their November–December 2008 issue.
He has written six books on mushroom cultivation, use and identification, his latest, Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World. This one lists 4 exciting branches of what Stamets has coined "mycorestoration," as well as chapters on the medicinal and nutritional properties of mushrooms, inoculation methods, log and stump culture, and species selection for various environmental purposes.
The basic science goes like this: microscopic cells called "mycelium" (the fruit of which are mushrooms) recycle carbon, nitrogen, and other essential elements as they break down plant and animal material in the creation of rich new soil. What Stamets has discovered is that we can capitalize on mycelium's digestive power and target it to decompose toxic wastes and pollutants (mycoremediation), catch and reduce silt from steambeds and pathogens from agricultural watersheds (mycofiltration), control insect populations (mycopesticides), and generally enhance the health of our forests and gardens (mycoforestry and mycogardening). He goes into this science in a great TED talk he did, "6 Ways Mushrooms Can Save the World".
I just picked up this book at Haslam's Book Store after close to 3 years of research into Paul's work. I was first turned on to Paul Stamets from his website: fungi.com. I ordered their certified organic indoor shiitake mushroom kit, which is a bag of wood chips and sawdust inoculated with shiitake spores, with easy to grow instructions for these gourmet mushrooms (picture at right).
In the book he starts with a brief history and introduction of the mushroom life cycle and habitat, where he explains "animals are more closely related to fungi than to any other kingdom". And how mushrooms, from dead plants, increase moisture, recycle carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, phosphorus and turn minerals into nutrients for living plants, insects, and other organisms sharing their habitat.
He connects mushrooms with a healthy ecosystem and lays out solutions for our current unsustainable society. "Living in harmony with our natural environment is key to our health as individuals and as a species. Want, only destroying our life support ecosystems, is tantamount to suicide. Enlisting fungi as allies, we can offset the environmental damage inflicted by humans by accelerating organic decomposition of the massive fields of debris we create." "The rule of nature is that when a species exceeds the carrying capacity of its host environment, its food chains collapse and diseases emerge to devastate the population of the threatening organism." Paul Stamets believes that we can come into balance with nature using mycelium to regulate the flow of nutrients. "Now is the time to ensure the future of our planet and our species by partnering, or running, with mycelium."
In Mycelim Running he also goes into all aspects of growing, cultivating, species, nutrition and medicinal teas, but what really grabbed me was all of the info on "mycorestoration", which is the use of fungi to help repair or restore ecologically harmed habitats. There is a part in the book as well as numerous videos online covering an experiment on remediating a brown field at The Washington State Department of Transportation Diesel-Contaminated Maintenance Yard. There were 4 test piles, 3-4 feet tall by 20 feet long and 8 feet wide. On one of the piles they mixed in pure culture spawn of oyster mushrooms which have proven to break down chemical contaminants and covered them with a shade cloth. The other piles received no mycelia, two other piles received bacteria treatments, and one pile was left untreated; all were covered with black plastic tarps. After 4 weeks, the 3 piles that were not innoculated with mycelium were black, lifeless and stank like diesel and oil. As the shade cloth of the myceliated pile was pulled back, onlookers gasped in astonishment as they were greeted by a huge flush of oyster mushrooms, numbering in the hundreds, some measuring more than 12 inches in diameter, which is only seen where nutrition is especially rich. The pile, now light brown, no longer smelled like diesel. By the 9th week, plants appeared and were flourishing. Researchers reported that total petroleum hydrocarbons had plummeted from 22,000 ppm to less than 200 ppm in 8 weeks! Subsequent analysis of the mushrooms showed no detectable petroleum residues.
It seemed like when my interest reached its peak, mushrooms of all types were making themselves apparent, more abundant than I have ever seen and have since seen. Everywhere, all over my yard, in the park, at the studio and after reading this book and watching some videos, I have a better understanding of how they got there and what they are doing. I also enjoy taking pictures of them, here are some shots of the ones I found on my property.
For more information and videos, google Paul Stamets, there is a ton of video and discussions you can also visit his website, www.fungi.com, where he offers seminars on mycorestoration, organic mushroom products, books and photos.
This article appears in Jun 24-30, 2009.