"as beautiful as it is powerful"

posted by Melissa
This post is an informative piece on one of my favorite medicinal mushrooms, Reishi.  I use it for immune support and mood support, as many of my teachers and herbalist friends have described it as "grounding".   In fact, it is often used herbally as an adaptogen.  An adaptogenic plant or mushroom is one that is used as a tonic, a restorative, to bring the body back into a balanced state.

Below is a more in depth look at the mushroom, medicinally and otherwise.
All information is cited from Mycellium Running, by Paul Stamets, unless otherwise stated.


Reishi mushroom,    
Ganoderma lucidum


Other common names:   ling chi, ling zhi (Chinese for "tree of life mushroom"), the panacea polypore.

Ganoderma lucidum, from Wikipedia

Description:  It is kidney shaped and woody textured.  It grows 5-20cm in diameter and has a shiny surface that appears lacquered when moist and dulls as it dries.  The cap is dull red to reddish brown, and even black at times.  It often has a white area of new growth at the outer edge of the cap and white pores underneath.  Spores are brown.  Sometimes spores from the underside collect on the cap, giving a powdery brown look when it dries.

Natural Habitat/Distribution:  This saprophytic mushroom is found on a wide range of hardwoods.  It is found throughout the world, from the Amazon to the southern regions of the US and across most of Asia.  It is mostly found in warm subtropical regions and less in temperate climates.

Fragrance:  Musty, mealy, fungoid.  (I am guessing that means it smells like a mushroom.)

Natural Method of Cultivation:  Being a saprophytic, I know from PSMS class that it is one of the kinds of mushrooms that can be cultivated.  Indeed,  Stamets states that it grows well on logs, stumps, and buried blocks of sawdust spawn.  (The book is a great resource of you are thinking about cultivating mushrooms.)

Season and Temperature Range for Mushroom Formation:  Summer to early fall.  Temperature 60-95 degrees F.

Medicinal Properties:  Stamets cites studies showing that reishi is a direct antimicrobial, but is not anti-tumor as many other mushrooms have shown to be.  He points out that it is helpful for cancer patients by stimulating the production of macrophages, activating the host's production of natural killers cells, T cells and tumor necrosis factors. Many of the over 100 distinct polysaccharides and triterpenoids identified in the reishi mushroom demonstrate immunomodulatory properties.  

Quick, Mushrooms to the Rescue

posted by Melissa

It all happened so quickly.  I went to a meeting to discuss the possibility of being able to go to school while still collecting my unemployment, and I left that meeting registered for classes.  That was less than two weeks ago, and yesterday I started school. 

My first class of the day is Intermediate Algebra, every day at 8am.  Homework every night, a quiz every Friday, and a graphing calculator...all included.  I have never even held a graphing calculator, did they have those the last time I took an algebra class in the early 90's?  Then I run home to take my kids, that were hopefully well behaved at home, to their school.  And  back to my school for Introductory Chemistry.  This class is also meets every day and has a lab once a week.  Home work also every day, quiz every Friday and worst of all, I have to find a small group to get together with every week for a worksheet project.  I also have a short, Healthy Families class that meets a few times this quarter.

I am very excited.  I love school.  I love a traditional school, the comfort of the textbook matching the lecture.  The clear rules and grades.  I love science and math, the way everything is logical and makes sense, fitting into equations and graphs.   I didn't know I loved those things so many years ago in my undergrad.  I thought passion and love were things only the arts and literature could accommodate.

April seems to be starting off quickly as well.  Mushroom month is five days in, only 25 more days to go.  I better get going on the fungi finding!  Much like Amy, I have been incorporating mushrooms into my grocery market foraging.  My mother-in-law was  in town this past weekend and she shared that market foraging was the only kind of mushroom foraging she felt comfortable with me doing.  I assured her that Amy and I are going to be taking a legit class, backed with scientific research, to learn how to safely forage in the wild. 

My plan for the month is to:
1.)  Continue to cook with mushrooms, and master the art of photo sharing the cooking process like Amy.  I love seeing her cooking in every stage. 

2.)  Attend the classes I mentioned above through the PSMS, Puget Sound Mycological Society, every Thursday.

3.)  Impart some knowledge I have learned through my herbal medicine education on medicinal mushrooms throughout the month on the blog. 

Paul Stamets, the man in the video that Amy posted earlier this month, is a wealth of knowledge on medicinal mushrooms and mushrooms in general.  After reading his interview in The Sun magazine a few years back, I really got excited about mushrooms and what they can do for the body and for the future of humanity and the Earth.  I urge you to read this two page section of the interview, and perhaps find a copy of the magazine or Paul's book and read on some more.  In fact, if I can fit it into my homework/school/blog/family schedule, I am going to try to read his book as well.  Here is another article on Paul Stamets from the Seattle Times. 

Maybe by the month's end, we'll see if we all think mushrooms can save the world as well.

-Melissa

Far Out: Mushroom Foraging Month!

Posted by Amy Baranski

Welcome to April everyone! Last night in my dream I was talking to Jamie, getting his advice on removing and replacing the old-lady contact paper that covers our hallway walls and ceiling. As we were discussing the recent trendiness of wall paper we saw a giant mushroom growing out of the wall. Everyone was amazed. Then I decided to touch it. It became separated from the wall and slowly deflated. I hope this is not a foreshadowing of the month as I am so excited to explore the world of mushroom foraging.

We've begun our adventures into this mystical magical world by joining the Puget Sound Mycologial Society (PSMS). They use a Yahoo group, so I get a daily member's e-digest that covers topics such as whether this guy should or should not eat the Agaricus augustus that come up in his yard. He lives in near the Asarco Smelter in Tacoma, one of the Superfund Cleanup sites. The safe answer was probably not. Apparently the mushroom genus Agaricus (and apparently others) concentrate heavy metals. Latin I love you.

Next Thursday, Melissa and I will start a four week Beginner's Mushroom Identification Class sponsored by PSMS at the Center for Urban Horticulture (one of my favorite places on the Seattle planet). This should give us a good foundation for identifying mushrooms (including those toxic ones), along with basics on mushroom hunting and common mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest (PNW). We're supposed to try and bring mushrooms to every class so we'd better be on the lookout this weekend.

The PSMS also organizes field trips for members, and there are a few happening this Spring. I'm excited to meet some new (and undoubtedly interesting) friends/people and to get out in the woods. Also on the menu this month will be a lot of funky. I meant fungi. That was weird. Anyway, I checked out  Mushroom Cookbook by Mimi Broudeur from the Seattle Public Library. Since I'm a Mimi to my favorite littlest person I had to check it out. Tonight I will try to make Chicken Mushroom Fajitas! Off to the store, but before I go I wanted to leave you with this far out TED talk by Paul Stamets. Get that mushroom cloud out of your head and behold the power of Mycelium: