MUSHROOMS!

ZAVIEN FAYAD

06 Feb 2024 • 5 min read

Hi everyone, today I wanted to talk about mushrooms, and how integral they are to earth, our ecosystems, recycling, and ultimately, to us!

Now, mushrooms are quite complicated and there are literally millions of varieties of fungi all over the world. They also have so many little details that could decide whether a mushroom is poisonous, or edible or even safe to touch.

Mushrooms are super interesting to learn about! Mushrooms are very unique and every mushroom is different. Some are poisonous, edible, tall, or short and small. they come in a wild variety of colours, size and textures, some even glow! The lines and details of each variety are magnificently artistic and magical. Mushrooms have visual facets to them that remind me of what the life and landscape of dinosaurs must have resembled with the sizes, colors, Mushrooms are extremely essential to growth on earth. How you may ask? Let me tell you!

Schizophyllum commune: The Split-Gill Mushroom Benefits & Identification

Fungi, along with bacteria, are amazing recyclers, they can turn dead materials (such as leaves, and dead animals found in forest) into soil! This promotes new growth, and helps forest expand and grow. Without them, we would be buried in dead materials.

They also help most plants grow by developing mycelium associations, microscopic fungal threads which are the language lifeline between the vegetative parts of fungi and plant roots to help increase access to water and minerals for the plants and allow the fungi to access the carbohydrates made by the plant! This occurs through chemical signals sent between the mushrooms root systems and the plant root systems all below the surface of what we see....deep into the soil in which everything grows.

The Anatomy of a Mushroom Explained | Teelixir

Mushrooms are even being studied to clean up oil spills and breaking down PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyl, an organic environmental pollutant). There are strains and varieties that are also being studied because they eat plastic (poylurethane)! Excitingly, there are 2 common varieties that do this which are the Oyster Mushroom and the Split Gill Mushroom. Just recently it was proven to show that readily available mushrooms are the solution to our plastic pollution, contamination and circumstances. Mushrooms are so adaptive, and they are found growing everywhere in any climate or environment.

Fundamentally, we know mushrooms as a food and medicinal variety we can choose from, and if knowledgeable enough and properly guided about the poisonous kinds and what to look for, we can forage for some of the more easily identified ones like chanterelles ourselves in the grass and forested areas where the mushrooms thrive. Drying them is easy, and you can put the edible mushrooms and true morels out on table in an air conditioned room or cooler room with a fan. Once dried, you can just put in air sealed containers for long term storage. Most edible mushrooms are easily available in grocery stores and farmers' markets. Foraging on your own is truly risky, so learning about them and using the resources so readily accessible is the first step. Here is a great link for a wealth of knowledge from a mushroom expert.

As a bonus and used for generations are more and more positive and proven treatments for our own Human immunity, Anti aging and energy boosters, and cancer related treatments through the use of special mushrooms like Red Reishi and Lion's Mane.