Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World
I had been hanging on to a little thread of hope that we would get some rain and I would find some motherload of mushrooms here in Topanga Canyon. I wanted the thrill of coming into an old shady oak grove to find chanterelles….but I’ve finally let it go. This is poised to be the driest year in California history….not really mushrooming weather. Above is my last store of dried morel mushrooms I had brought from Minnesota, wrapped in a California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum) crepe. I ate them in honor of that crazy fungi kingdom and fun guy Paul Stamets. I was lucky to hear Paul speak here in LA a few weeks ago at Farmlab.
Paul believes we need to engage mycelium to help repair much of the damage we’ve inflicted upon nature. Mycelium are in every landscape in the world, and could be used to a much larger degree in habitat restoration and bioremediation. He has a visionary book called Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World, which you can purchase on his website. Did you know that the common button mushrooms, as well as portabellas found in grocery stores, contain the same dangerous carcinogens as those produced when you smoke cigarettes? And that mushrooms in general contain more vitamin D than any land-based organism, with the ability to enhance that vitamin D content further by leaving them in the sun with the gills facing up for 2 days.
Daryl Hannah did a video blog on Paul through her site dhlovelife.com. Watch her cool little video of Paul by clicking here.
Hey Sunney,I really love watching your videos on your website and youtube.I watched one yesterday the one where you in a national forest in N.C. I saw a plant that I have seen in the woods in my area that I live in.My question is how this plant used? it was called the gall of the earth.I think that the latin name Peranthus trifoilata. I have tried all kinds web sites and nun of them had any information on food value just what it looks like and that kind of thing.I have been planning for years to do what and tom brown do for years.but I need more time and experence. Let me know if your ever in micigan the metro detriot area for one of your food or skills summits Iwould be honored to meet you and maybe I share some things with you.Thank You, sunny I love wacting and listening to you. Allen
Hello Allen,
thanks so much for the message! I was told that Gall of the Earth greens can be eaten when they are young and tender in the spring. You can eat the stems as well, as long as they’re tender. They are mountain men, having eaten them for years, so although there may be limited info I do trust what they say. I’d love to get together again sometime, would be good. Hopefully you folks out in Michigan will get something like that going there. Take care and happy trails! ~sunny