CAPE COD MUSHROOM

No More Bananas!!!...Nuts.

2016-08-17T20:03:00.001-04:00

Fungi Could Wipe Out Bananas. And since more songs have been written about the banana than any other fruit(2), this could put a lot of songwriters out of business..."daylight come and me wanna go home", thank you Mr. Belafonte. Ok. This is really serious. 51% of the nearly 100 billion bananas consumed annually are eaten for breakfast(2). Without the banana, what will mornings be like? Since bananas are technically berries, perhaps we could begin to rely more on the bright blueberry, or sweet strawberry. I think it's time to purchase stock in oatmeal. What will happen to all those banana knock-knock jokes? Will the Banana Republic have to change it's name? What will monkeys eat? What will become of the famed banana split? This really is a serious problem.

"We have demonstrated that two of the three most serious banana fungal diseases have become more virulent by increasing their ability to manipulate the banana’s metabolic pathways and make use of its nutrients,” says University of California, Davis plant pathologist Ioannis Stergiopoulos, who led the effort to sequence two of the fungal genomes. (1).

Basically, the fungi are doing what they do best, utilizing a readily available food source. Evidently, many of the lessons of the Great Irish Potato famine, caused by the plant fungal pathogen Phytopthera infestans, have been ignored by those monocropping farms. Diversification anyone?...It works in investment portfolios and in healthy agricultural ecosystems.

Perhaps the banana will slip away quietly. Perhaps it will peel out. Perhaps humans will rediscover the importance of biodiversity. After all banana's Latin translation Musa sapientum means 'fruit of the wise men'.(3)

(1) Fungi Could Wipe Out Bananas
(2) http://thebananapolice.com/fun-facts/
(3) http://www.chiquitabananas.com/banana-information/banana-fun-facts-and-trivia.aspx

MYCOWORKS

2016-08-07T20:29:00.000-04:00

Yes, I know. It's hard to imagine. The world as we know it has ended. Don't worry, it's not apocalyptic. Leather has now gone vegan. Literally. A research team has reimagined leather. It is now made from mycelium. Yes, this is a true story. Mycelium - the root like structures which all fungi utilize to transport water, nutrients and produce enzymes. Mycelium, the underground web which supports the cycling of nutrients in all ecosystems.

The team at Mycoworks led by Philip Ross (see Cape Cod Mushroom Blog interview with Philip Ross from January 2013), Sophia Land and Eddie Pavlu have decided to forego conventionally recognized limitations regarding new materials development (like our friends at Ecovative). Instead they are helping to redefine sustainability. Mycoworks has partnered with some of the premier research institutions in the world, including Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Columbia University, and ETH Zurich and they have determined that the future looks a lot like mycology (the study of Fungi). Enter vegan leather.

"We love the qualities of leather, but it’s a resource–intensive product that is tied to the livestock industry. At MycoWorks, we found a solution in nature. We have created a new kind of leather grown rapidly from mycelium and agricultural byproducts in a carbon-negative process. Our custom-engineered material is sustainable, versatile, and animal–free. Best of all, it feels and performs like leather." (1)

"At San Jose’s Tech Museum of Innovation, visitors can see for themselves at the new interactive exhibit, BioDesign Studio. MycoWorks has set up a station there where one can build bricks out of mushroom material while sitting at a table made from the same.

The first thing you notice is that there is no characteristic loamy aroma in the resulting bricks. Second, the bricks are surprisingly light. In fact, depending upon the density desired, the material can even be fashioned into buoys that float. What’s more, the mushroom matter is fire-resistant and has vibration-dampening qualities that might be especially useful in earthquake-prone areas. The stuff is so strong that a teahouse was built from it in Germany." (2)

(1) Www.mycoworks.com

(2) http://modernluxury.com/silicon-valley/story/sprouting

(3) http://grist.org/living/your-next-leather-accessory-might-be-made-from-mushrooms/

This Week in the Mushroom Research

2015-12-27T14:38:00.002-05:00

Here's Headlines From the World of Mushroom Research

Week of 12/27/15

from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/basicSearch.do?inputFieldValue%280%29=international+journal+of+medicinal+mushrooms&inputFieldName%280%29=OQE&inputFieldName%280%29=OQE&nwf=y&searchType=BasicSearchForm&userGroupName=mlin_s_brewster&prodId=AONE&method=doSearch&dblist=&standAloneLimiters=LI

Full-text:

Report

Reports Outline Connective Tissue Cells Study Findings from Tohoku University [The Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Lion's Mane Culinary-Medicinal Mushroom, Hericium erinaceus (Higher Basidiomycetes) in a Coculture System of 3T3-L1 Adipocytes and ...].

Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week. (Dec. 19, 2015)

(Dec. 19, 2015) p1873. Word Count: 434. Reading Level (Lexile): 1450.2015 DEC 19 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week -- New research on Connective Tissue Cells is the subject of a report. According to news reporting from Miyagi, Japan, by...

SaveSaved

Full-text:

Report

Reports from Iowa State University Provide New Insights into Ethanol [Hypolipidemic and Hepatic Steatosis Preventing Activities of the Wood Ear Medicinal Mushroom Auricularia auricula-judae ( Higher Basidiomycetes) Ethanol Extract In Vivo and In ...].

Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week. (Dec. 19, 2015)

(Dec. 19, 2015) p120. Word Count: 414. Reading Level (Lexile): 1370.2015 DEC 19 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week -- A new study on Ethanol is now available. According to news reporting originating in Ames, Iowa, by NewsRx journalists,...

SaveSaved

Full-text:

Article

Transcriptome Analysis Revealed Highly Expressed Genes Encoding Secondary Metabolite Pathways and Small Cysteine-Rich Proteins in the Sclerotium of Lignosus rhinocerotis.

Hui-Yeng Y. Yap, Yit-Heng Chooi, Shin-Yee Fung, Szu-Ting Ng, Chon-Seng Tan, and Nget-Hong Tan. PLoS ONE. (Nov. 25, 2015)

10.11 (Nov. 25, 2015) Word Count: 8991. Reading Level (Lexile): 1450.Author(s): Hui-Yeng Y. Yap 1 *, Yit-Heng Chooi 2 , Shin-Yee Fung 1 , Szu-Ting Ng 3 , Chon-Seng Tan 4 , Nget-Hong Tan 1 Introduction The polypore Lignosus rhinocerotis (Cooke) Ryvarden, or generally known as tiger milk...

Full-text:

Article

Uridine from Pleurotus giganteus and Its Neurite Outgrowth Stimulatory Effects with Underlying Mechanism.

Chia-Wei Phan, Pamela David, Kah-Hui Wong, Murali Naidu, and Vikineswary Sabaratnam. PLoS ONE. (Nov. 13, 2015)

10.11 (Nov. 13, 2015) Word Count: 5818. Reading Level (Lexile): 1350.Author(s): Chia-Wei Phan 1 2 *, Pamela David 1 3 , Kah-Hui Wong 1 3 , Murali Naidu 1 3 , Vikineswary Sabaratnam 1 4 * Introduction The economic burden of neurodegenerative disease is enormous and is expected to grow...

Full-text:

Report

HPTLC fingerprinting, antioxidant potential and antimicrobial efficacy of Indian Himalayan lingzhi: Ganoderma lucidum.

Vandana Kirar, Shubhi Mehrotra, Prem Singh Negi, Shoma Paul Nandi, and Kshipra Misra. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research. (Oct. 2015)

6.10 (Oct. 2015) p4259. Word Count: 5018. Reading Level (Lexile): 1430.Ganoderma lucidum (Fr.) Karst., known as medicinal mushroom and it contains several bioactive phytochemicals such as polysaccharides, nucleosides, alkaloids, coumarin, ergosterols, ganoderic acids, lactones, mannitol,...

Full-text:

Report

Attenuation of Inflammatory Mediators (TNF-[alpha] and Nitric Oxide) and Up-Regulation of IL-10 by Wild and Domesticated Basidiocarps of Amauroderma rugosum (Blume & T. Nees) Torrend in LPS-Stimulated RAW264.7 Cells.

Pui-Mun Chan, Yee-Shin Tan, Kek-Heng Chua, Vikineswary Sabaratnam, and Umah Rani Kuppusamy. PLoS ONE. (Oct. 1, 2015)

10.10 (Oct. 1, 2015) Word Count: 7974. Reading Level (Lexile): 1310.Author(s): Pui-Mun Chan 1 2 , Yee-Shin Tan 1 2 , Kek-Heng Chua 1 3 , Vikineswary Sabaratnam 1 2 , Umah Rani Kuppusamy 1 3 * Introduction Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are products of normal cellular metabolism. The...

Full-text:

Report

New Antioxidants Study Results from Al-Azhar University Described (Medicinal Mushroom Extracts Possess Differential Antioxidant Activity and Cytotoxicity to Cancer Cells).

Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week. (Aug. 1, 2015)

(Aug. 1, 2015) p737. Word Count: 469. Reading Level (Lexile): 1550.2015 AUG 1 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week -- Research findings on Antioxidants are discussed in a new report. According to news originating from Cairo, Egypt, by...

SaveSaved

Full-text:

Report

New Complementary and Alternative Medicine Findings Reported from Hungkuang University [Antiproliferative Activities of Hot Water Extracts from Culinary-Medicinal Mushrooms, Ganoderma tsugae and Agrocybe cylindracea (Higher Basidiomycetes) on ...].

Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week. (Aug. 1, 2015)

(Aug. 1, 2015) p1820. Word Count: 385. Reading Level (Lexile): 1470.2015 AUG 1 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week -- Fresh data on Health and Medicine are presented in a new report. According to news reporting from Taichung, Taiwan, by...

SaveSaved

Full-text:

Report

Proteome Exploration to Provide a Resource for the Investigation of Ganoderma lucidum.

Guo-Jun Yu, Ya-Lin Yin, Wen-Hui Yu, Wei Liu, Yan-Xia Jin, Alok Shrestha, et al. PLoS ONE. (Mar. 10, 2015)

10.3 (Mar. 10, 2015) Word Count: 8601. Reading Level (Lexile): 1450.Author(s): Guo-Jun Yu 1 , Ya-Lin Yin 1 , Wen-Hui Yu 1 , Wei Liu 1 , Yan-Xia Jin 1 , Alok Shrestha 1 , Qing Yang 1 , Xiang-Dong Ye 1 , Hui Sun 1 2 3 * Introduction Ganoderma lucidum is a basidiomycete white rot fungus and...

Full-text:

Report

Antioxidant activity of cultured mycelium of ten different species of oyster mushroom, Pleurotus: a comparative study.

B. Nitha, T.P. Smina, R. Janardhanan, and K.K. Janardhanan. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research. (Mar. 2015)

6.3 (Mar. 2015) p1210. Word Count: 3118. Reading Level (Lexile): 1470.The antioxidant activity of cultured mycelia of ten species of the oyster mushroom, Pleurotus species namely P. ostreatus, P. flabellatus, P. sapidus, P. citrinopileatus, P.roseus, P.sajor-caju, P.florida, P.cystidouses,...

Full-text:

Report

Medicinal mushroom science: Current perspectives, advances, evidences, and challenges.

Solomon Wasser. Biomedical Journal. (November-December 2014)

37.6 (November-December 2014) p345. Word Count: 8984. Reading Level (Lexile): 1590.Byline: Solomon. Wasser The main target of the present review is to draw attention to the current perspectives, advances, evidences, challenges, and future development of medicinal mushroom science in the 21 [sup]st...

SaveSaved

Full-text:

Report

Hydro-ethanolic extract of Ganoderma lucidum (HEGL) shows anti-inflammatory activity on THP1 cytokines and NF-[kappa]B P65 response.

Richa Rathor, Rajkumar Tulsawani, and Kshipra Misra. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research. (June 2014)

5.6 (June 2014) p2337. Word Count: 5382. Reading Level (Lexile): 1400.The present study is aimed to elucidate the antioxidant property and anti-inflammatory activity of hydro-ethanolic extract of Ganoderma lucidum (HEGL) known to possess medicinal activity against numerous diseases. The...

Full-text:

Report

Comparative antibacterial study of different extract of Claveria rosea fries against gram negative and gram positive pathogens.

Ashok Chittaragi, Raja Naika, S. Shravanakumar, and K.S. Avinash. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research. (Feb. 2014)

5.2 (Feb. 2014) p392. Word Count: 2329. Reading Level (Lexile): 1520.Objective: To compare the antibacterial activity of different solvent extract of Clavaria rosea. Method: Different solvent extract of Claveria rosea was prepared. Standard cultures of Escherichia coli (MTCC-1698),...

Full-text:

Report

Comparison of extraction methods of chitin from ganoderma lucidum mushroom obtained in submerged culture.

Sandra Patricia Ospina Alvarez, David Alexander Ramirez Cadavid, Diana Marcela Escobar Sierra, Claudia Patricia Ossa Orozco, Diego Fernando Rojas Vahos, Paola Zapata Ocampo,, et al. BioMed Research International. (Annual 2014)

(Annual 2014) Word Count: 4399. Reading Level (Lexile): 1380.The chitin was isolated from the Ganoderma lucidum submerged cultures mycelium as potential source of chitin under biotechnological processes. The extraction of chitin was carried out through 5 different assays which...

Full-text:

Report

A novel laccase with potent antiproliferative and HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitory activities from mycelia of mushroom Coprinus comatus.

Shuang Zhao, Cheng-Bo Rong, Chang Kong, Yu Liu, Feng Xu, Qian-Jiang Miao, et al. BioMed Research International. (Annual 2014)

(Annual 2014) Word Count: 4772. Reading Level (Lexile): 1400.A novel laccase was isolated and purified from fermentation mycelia of mushroom Coprinus comatus with an isolation procedure including three ion-exchange chromatography steps on DEAE-cellulose, CM-cellulose, and...

Full-text:

Report

Inhibitory effect on in vitro LDL oxidation and HMG Co-A reductase activity of the liquid-liquid partitioned fractions of Hericium erinaceus (Bull.) persoon (lion's mane mushroom).

Mohammad Azizur Rahman, Noorlidah Abdullah, and Norhaniza Aminudin. BioMed Research International. (Annual 2014)

(Annual 2014) Word Count: 6005. Reading Level (Lexile): 1360.Oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) has been strongly suggested as the key factor in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Mushrooms have been implicated in having preventive effects against chronic diseases due...

Full-text:

Report

Synthesis, physicochemical properties, and antimicrobial studies of iron (III) complexes of ciprofloxacin, cloxacillin, and amoxicillin.

Fabian I. Eze, Uzoechi Ajali, and Pius O. Ukoha. International Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. (Annual 2014)

(Annual 2014) Word Count: 2571. Reading Level (Lexile): 1210.Iron (III) complexes of ciprofloxacin, amoxicillin, and cloxacillin were synthesized and their aqueous solubility profiles, relative stabilities, and antimicrobial properties were evaluated. The complexes showed improved...

Full-text:

Report

Synthesis, characterization, x-ray crystal structure, and antimicrobial activity of 1,1'-(3,4-diphenylthieno[2,3-h]thiophene-2,5-diyl)diethanone.

Yahia Nasser Mabkhot, Fahad D. Aldawsari, S.S. Al-Showiman, Assem Barakat, M. Iqbal Choudhary, and Sammer Yousuf. Journal of Chemistry. (Annual 2014)

2014 (Annual 2014) Word Count: 2315. Reading Level (Lexile): 1310.Synthesis of 1,1'-(3,4-diphenylthieno[2,3-b]thiophene-2,5-diyl)diethanone (4) is reported here. The structure of compound 4 was deduced by [sup.1]H-NMR, [sup.13]C-NMR, FT-IR, MS, microanalysis, and single-crystal X-ray...

Full-text:

Report

Inflammatory modulation effect of glycopeptide from Ganoderma capense (Lloyd) Teng.

Yan Zhou, Song Chen, Ran Ding, Wenbing Yao, and Xiangdong Gao. Mediators of Inflammation. (Annual 2014)

(Annual 2014) Word Count: 3869. Reading Level (Lexile): 1460.Glycopeptide from Ganoderma capense (Lloyd) Teng (GCGP) injection is widely used in kinds of immune disorders, but little is known about the molecular mechanisms of how GCGP could interfere with immune cell function. In...

Full-text:

Report

Mushrooms: a potential natural source of anti-inflammatory compounds for medical applications.

Elsayed A. Elsayed, Hesham El Enshasy, Mohammad A.M. Wadaan, and Ramlan Aziz. Mediators of Inflammation. (Annual 2014)

(Annual 2014) Word Count: 7590. Reading Level (Lexile): 1550.For centuries, macrofungi have been used as food and medicine in different parts of the world. This is mainly attributed to their nutritional value as a potential source of carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, and...

Insect Eating Fungi poised to Provide a Non-Chemically Based Insect Control

2015-08-23T20:36:00.002-04:00

An entomopathogenic Cordyceps mushroom fruiting on an ant in Peru

Non Chemical Insect Control - Just a matter of time

Entomopathogenic fungi metabolize insects, but until recently no one had figured out how to get insects to approach and consume the pathogenic fungi. Then mycologist Paul Stamets had an idea. He cultured a morphological variant (via subculturing/sectoring over eight weeks) of an entomopathogenic fungi which did not produce spores. Spores from entomopathengenic fungi are deterrents to insects and insects stay away from them. This non-sporulating entomopathogen acted as a chemoattractant to the carpenter ants Paul was trying to remove from his home. He grew out the non sporulating form of the fungi on rice and then left it in a location where the carpenter ants would visit...and visit they did. The carpenter ants took the rice innoculated fungi and brought it back to their colony, where they summarily innoculated the entire ant colony. The ants were then gone. No chemicals were used in the process. The cost is pennies on the dollar when compared to conventional chemicals.

Paul is in the process of bringing this biomimicry product to market. It works and its safer and cheaper than the alternative chemical treatments.

a recent headline noted the excitement around this discovery: Paul Stamets patents “universal biopesticide” that Big Ag calls “the most disruptive technology that we have ever witnessed.”

another article headline reads: "The Man Who Can Destroy Monsanto" http://mindyourdirt.com/2015/03/09/the-man-that-can-destroy-monsanto/

yet another article headline reads: Paul Stamets holds the patent that could put Monsanto out of Business http://disinfo.com/2015/04/paul-stamets-holds-the-patent-that-could-put-monsanto-out-of-business

What is great about Paul's discovery is more than insect control, it is the ethics which he encourages and the understanding of interdependence which he exemplifies.

(Patent # 8,753,656)

Controlling zoonotic disease vectors from insects and arthropods using preconidial mycelium and extracts of preconidial mycelium from entomopathogenic fungi

The present invention utilizes extracts of the pre-sporulation (preconidial) mycelial stage of entomopathogenic fungi as insect and arthropod attractants and/or pathogens and can be employed to limit the zoonotic diseases they transmit. The fungus can be cultivated on grain, wood, agricultural wastes or other cellulosic material and extracts can be made thereof. More than one fungus and substrate can be used in combination with one or more antimicrobial, antiprotozoal, antiviral, and genetically modified agents that result in reduced spread of contagions and lessens the damage they inflict on animals, and plants.

Book Review - Tradd Cotter's -"Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation"

2014-09-15T12:11:00.002-04:00

Welcome to

Cape Cod Mushroom

Mycologist Tradd Cotter has published a collection of experiential writings which aims at changing the way the reader understands and interacts with the Kingdom of Fungi.

Tradd's writing style and detailed explanations gleaned from decades of experimentation reveals an intimate knowledge of interconnectedness; a knowledge which engages and inspires the reader. This book should be added to your collection of well worn tools to guide you into a world of limitless possibilities.

Chelsea Green Publishing has once again proven why they are the industry leader "both in terms of content—foundational books on renewable energy, green building, organic agriculture, eco-cuisine, and ethical business—and in terms of environmental practice..."

...That's the review...time to start reading!!!

To purchase direct from Chelsea Green Publishing, click here

Disclaimer: Cape Cod Mushroom has no financial interest in selling books from Chelsea Green, we just believe in the subject matter.

Fungi Ally

2014-02-13T19:05:00.002-05:00

Welcome To Cape Cod Mushroom

Visit the Cape Cod Mushroom Club

Spring Mushroom Cultivation Workshops presented by Fungi Ally www.fungially.com

Join Fungi Ally this spring for hands-on workshops to learn the basics of growing medicinal and culinary mushrooms in your backyard. Upon completion of a workshop students will be capable of explaining and implementing techniques for mushroom cultivation. For more information and to sign up go to www.fungially.com.
March 1st, 12-2:30, Amherst MA, Outdoor Cultivation on Wood.
-Growing mushrooms on stumps, woodchip beds, totems, and logs will be discussed, demonstrated, and students will participate in implementing each technique.
March 22nd, 10-1, Gloucester, Mushroom Cultivation on Wood
-Growing mushrooms on stumps, woodchip beds, totems, and logs will be discussed, demonstrated, and students will participate in implementing each technique.

March 23rd, 10-1 Gloucester, Mushroom Cultivation on Straw and Paper
-Learn different methods of preparing, inoculating, and fruiting mushrooms off straw. We will also discuss easy indoor growing methods using toilet paper and phone books.

March 29th, 9-5, Amherst MA, Community Log Inoculation
-Join us for a day long workshop focusing on log inoculation. Participants will receive a tour of Fungi Ally Farm, a local lunch, and spend the day inoculating logs and totems with a variety of mushrooms.
April 5th, 10-12, Hadley MA, Simple Indoor Cultivation

-Learn how to grow mushrooms inside on straw, toilet paper rolls, and phone books
April 26th, 3-6, Belchertown MA, Gardening with fungi
-Learn how to pair the plant and fungi kingdoms in symbiotic relationships. Improve your plant health and utilize your garden space more efficiently with edible mushrooms.
Mushroom Cultivation
Workshop Series
Sign up at: http://fungially.com/workshops/
Info: willieciv@gmail.com 978-844-1811
Like Fungi Ally on Facebook

“Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations…If you adopt their attitudes, then the possibility won’t exist because you’ll have already shut it out … You can hear other people’s wisdom, but you’ve got to re-evaluate the world for yourself.” Mae Jemison

Make Your Own Medicinal Mushroom Capsules

2014-01-04T21:16:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Cape Cod Mushroom

(this post is reprinted with permission from Radical Mycology)

Click here to help fund Radical Mycology's Book Project

How to Make Medicinal Mushroom Capsules

At $0.50 – $1.00 per pill, commercial medicinal mushroom capsules are prohibitively expensive for most people. This is rather unfortunate as the powerful abilities that these fungi have for increasing immunity, suppressing tumor growth, and healing the body are incredibly beneficial to most people. It is also remarkable when one discovers that the cost of actually producing these capsules can be as low as 5% of their retail cost. That’s a 95% markup!
Thankfully, there are means for one to make their own medicinal mushroom capsules at a fraction of the retail price. Making your own medicinal mushroom capsules is not only cheap and easy, it is also an empowering means to providing your own medicinal mushroom products for increased longevity.
In the short video below, Peter McCoy of the Radical Mycology project demonstrates a simple method of producing a large quantity of medicinal mushroom capsules using a minimum of equipment. In summary, one introduces mushroom mycelium into jars of sterilized brown rice. The mycelium is then allowed to grow on the rice for several weeks, at which point the resultant “myceliated brown rice” is dried and powdered. Myceliated brown rice is the main ingredient in many commercial medicinal mushroom capsules. The main differences between the capsules that Peter makes and the commercial products are as follows:

Some of the higher quality commercial products include powdered whole mushrooms (their fruiting bodies) along with the mycelium. However, as Peter points out in the video, there are some medicinal mushrooms that can be fruited “in the jar,” thereby allowing one to still obtain the benefits of the fruiting bodies.
Commercial products are freeze dried, not air dried. While freeze drying allows for a longer shelf life, it is not easily accomplished for the home medicine maker and herbalist (but cheap methods do exist). Air dried mycelium should be stored in the fridge and occasionally checked for quality.
Some commercial products (but not necessarily all of them) utilize mushroom “strains” that have been tested and shown to contain higher than average quantities in their medicinal constituents. What this means is that the genetics of the mycelium you are working with–and the capsules it ultimately produces–may not contain as high of a concentration of medicinally active constituents as a commercial product would. While this can be true (just as plants can vary widely in their relative medicinal compound concentration), there are some ways to tackle this argument. One simple solution is to simply consume more capsules. Considering that they are quite inexpensive to produce and that there are no documented deaths associated with an overdose of medicinal mushroom capsules, this is an easy work around. Another perspective is the idea that if you are working with a mushroom that was harvested locally, the medicinal compounds that it produces might be of a more beneficial constitution than that of an imported variety. This is a commonly held belief in the world of plant herbalism: that the natural medicine that is most beneficial for a person can often be found in their own region of the world.

Ultimately, the home creation of medicinal mushroom products is a valuable skill for one to learn for self-sufficiency and resilient living strategies and can compete in quality with many expensive commercial products sold today.
This technique for integrating fungi into your everyday life, and many more like it, will be covered to an even greater depth in the Radical Mycology Book. If you would like to learn more mushroom-related skills like this for healing yourself and your community, please visit the Radical Mycology Book Fundraiser.

Label Genetically Modified Mushrooms... - Right to Know!!!...

2013-11-30T22:29:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Cape Cod Mushroom

Cape Cod Mushroom Club

Lately there has been a lot of discussion about the fact that, in the United States of America, there are no coherent federal labeling laws relative to the use of Genetically Modified Organisms as ingredients in the foods that we consume, and mushrooms are no exception.

The very real possibility exists that genetically modified mushrooms will be commercially cultivated in the not so distant future. An article written by Peter Flegg of the International Society for Mushroom Science (link to article) discusses brings this possibility to light.

I encourage all of my readers to visit http://www.labelgmos.org/ and get actively involved in the national movement to label Genetically Modified Organisms. We all have the right to know what we are putting into our bodes and into our children's bodies. It is that simple.

Additional Related Articles Below

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/07/us/politics/food-companies-claim-victory-against-labeling-initiative-in-washington-state.html?_r=3&

Is GMO Labelling the Wrong Food Fight

Organic Consumers Association - TAKE ACTION TODAY

eFungi LLC - Website Launch

2013-11-23T00:47:00.002-05:00

Welcome to Cape Cod Mushroom

Marbled King Oyster (Pleurotus eryngii)

After many months of late nights and preparation the new website www.efungi.com was launched on November 22nd, 2013.

At eFungi, we specialize in providing:

- Certified Organic Mycoceuticals (mushroom supplements) for Human, Canine, Feline, and Equine -

- High Quality Mushroom Growing Kits, Spawn & Cultures -

- An Expanding inventory of Mushroom Cultivation Tools -

Reishi (Ganoderma lucidem)

- Symbiotic Mycorrhizal Solutions for Commercial and Residential Applications -

- An Extensive Library of Field Guides and Books -

- Mushroom Themed Originaal Art (Painting, Photography, Sculpture) -

- 100% Natural, Herbal Based, Body Care Products -

- A Growing Collection of Fair Trade Certified Products -

- Certified Organic Edible Mushrooms -

Our Core Values at eFungi are:

1) We believe in the ‘Cradle to Cradle’ and 'Upcycling' design principles that 'Waste equals Food'.

2) We strive to provide high quality products at a great value.

3) We are committed to preserving planetary biodiversity. We promote stewardship of the planet by carrying products which encourage ecological and human health to help ensure multigenerational sustainability.

Lion's Mane (Herecium erinaceus)

4) We are committed to promoting and providing certified Fair Trade products.

eFungi will continue to build our

Shiitake Grow Kit

inventory of products and looks forward to becoming your trusted resource for mushroom health, cultivation, education, mushroom art and certified fair trade products.

If you are unable to find what you are looking for in our current offerings, please let us know at:
info@efungi.com,
or call us at 1-866-888-1919.
If you are an artist whose has mushroom themed artwork and would like to have your work carried on our website, please contact us.

www.eFungi.com -
"Where Everything is Connected, Naturally"

Visit us on Facebook

A very special thank you to my fiance for her past and continued patience and support,

without which this website would not have been possible.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

eFungi is proud to offer mushroom products from the following companies and happy to be a part of this growing community.

www.efungi.com
info@efungi.com
1 866 888 1919

eFungi
231 Main Street #835
Yarmouthport, MA 02673

Microbiomes at the Root

2013-11-15T21:42:00.003-05:00

Welcome to Cape Cod Mushroom

the below article is reprinted in entirety, with permission from Yale e360

07 Oct 2013: Analysis

Microbiomes at the Roots:
A New Look at Forest Ecology

With advances in genetic sequencing technology, scientists are now able to readily identify the microbes living in and around the roots of trees. This information is proving to have important implications for everything from tropical forest restoration to climate change planning.

by richard conniff

Not long ago in Guangdong Province in southeastern China, botanists were working to save the last remnants of an obscure tree species, Euryodendron excelsum. Fewer than 200 hundred individuals in the species are known to survive, and they are scattered around the most densely populated corner of the most populous nation on Earth. Woodcutting and land clearing are constant threats.

Past studies had focused on the obvious biological and ecological aspects of these trees. But the species was still critically endangered. The new study, by researchers at Yunnan University, looked instead at a hidden world — the microbes living in and around the trees’ roots.

View gallery

Marcos Guerra, STRI

Researchers looked at the role microbes play in this tropical forest in Panama.

The basic conservation strategy was to grow seedlings in nurseries and transplant them out into new populations in protected areas — and the life-or-death factor turned out to be the mycorrhiza (literally "root fungi") in the soil. Inoculating the seedlings with these fungi gave them an 80 percent survival rate, the study found. On their own, only 46 percent survived.

That result might not surprise most botanists, who have long recognized the critical role of microbes in mediating a plant’s uptake of nitrogen, phosphorous, water, and other essential nutrients. But until recently, this underground world was "a black box," says ecologist Tom Horton of the State University of New York in Syracuse. The only way to study microbes was to grow them in culture or on seedlings. It took months, and it was sometimes hard to know what species you were looking at, much less how it functioned. The enormous diversity of microbes around a tree tended to get lumped into a few nebulous categories.

But that has changed dramatically over the past decade. Because of the increasing sophistication and affordability of genetic sequencing technology, researchers can now characterize the changing microbial community around a plant in precise detail in a matter of hours. As a result,

Ecologists have come to recognize the vital importance of microbes to the survival of endangered species.

the microbiome of trees is changing forest ecology much as the human microbiome now promises to transform the way we practice medicine.

Ecologists have come to recognize the vital importance of microbes to the survival of endangered species from Palm Beach, Florida, to Rajasthan, India. They are now also beginning to sort out the role of microbes in tropical forest restoration projects, climate change planning, bioremediation of toxic waste sites, pest or disease control, and commercial forestry.

Some of this new work involves using microbes to manipulate narrow environments in ways that can seem weirdly precise and powerful. In one recent study in Italy, for instance, researchers at the University of Verona took a bacterial strain they had found in an oil refinery’s discharge drain. Because these bacteria seemed to have developed the power to transform a variety of hydrocarbon pollutants into less noxious forms, and because another strain in the same species had recently turned up living in the soil around hybrid poplars, the researchers set out to test the oil refinery strain in poplars. In bioremediation projects, these fast-growing trees often get planted at mines, abandoned factories, and other hazardous waste sites because they can efficiently pull contaminants out of the soil. Untreated poplars in the study removed between 82 and 87 percent of the hydrocarbon contaminants. But tweaking the process with the oil refinery bacteria boosted that to 99 percent abatement.

Other research on trees and their microbes seems to touch on the fate of the Earth itself. A study published this month in Nature,

One study found young tropical forests took up 40 percent of the carbon they would ultimately store after 300 years.

for instance, looked at forest regrowth on abandoned agricultural land in Panama. Just in the first 12 years of life, Princeton University researcher Sarah Batterman and her co-authors found, these young forests took up about 40 percent of the carbon they would ultimately store after 300 years. It worked out to 79 tons of carbon stored per acre, equivalent to the carbon emissions of an average American car driven 500,000 miles.

How does reforestation work this magic? Tropical forests benefit from an early surge of tree and vine species that fix nitrogen from the atmosphere — a process that is utterly dependent on the nitrogen-fixing bacteria that colonize their roots. For conservationists attempting to restore tropical forests, the take-home from the study is that it can be critical to ensure the diversity of nitrogen-fixing plants (and microbes) in the early re-growth.

That kind of surge happened naturally at the research sites in Panama, says co-author Dylan Craven, who worked on the study as a doctoral candidate at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. But in nutrient-poor or drought-prone areas, he suggests, conservationists might need to take a more active approach. "It’s not like there’s a manual for how to do this," he says.

In some restoration projects, workers already collect tree seedlings from nearby forests and thus import the nitrogen-fixing microbes in the soil along with the seedlings. Elsewhere, the most efficient strategy might be to plant scattered patches of nitrogen-fixing seedlings on a site, to stimulate re-growth around them and eventually fill in the gaps.

Given that half of tropical forests are secondary growth on abandoned farmlands, these microbial strategies can be a factor in the debate about using reforestation to offset climate emissions. (They matter less in

Microbes may determine whether tree species will be able to adapt to climate change.

temperate forests, where nitrogen-fixing species are scarce.)

Microbes may also determine whether different tree species will be able to adapt as the climate changes. At the University of British Columbia, forest ecologist Suzanne Simard looks at how Douglas firs will handle a projected shift in their range 500 kilometers north into the Yukon over the next 50 years. These trees depend on a community of about 2,000 species of fungi, as well as an unknown variety of bacteria, and together these microbes form a tightly connected network trading nutrients back and forth from one side of a forest stand to another.

"We really haven’t determined whether the mycorrhizal fungi will migrate along with their tree hosts," says Simard. "And without an appropriate web of fungi to help the establishment of seedlings, forests may not migrate to new locations where climate becomes hospitable for them." When commercial forestry companies first attempted to introduce Douglas fir trees to New Zealand in the mid-twentieth century, she notes, the trees sickened and died, until researchers figured out that they had to inoculate seedlings with the soil fungi from back home.

It’s possible that sort of strategy might also work in the Yukon. Moreover, inoculating seedlings with microbes has by now become standard practice for commercial forest companies, and they could perhaps make it happen. (Commercial nurseries often fumigate their seedlings to kill off fungal or bacterial pathogens. But fumigation also kills off the beneficial microbes, so a thriving business has grown up around reintroducing them to the soil.)

MORE FROM YALE e360

Research on Microbes Points
To New Tools for Conservation

Improvements in DNA technology could have profound implications for everything from protecting amphibians from a deadly fungus to reintroducing species into the wild.
READ MORE

The new ability to identify microbes and understand their function has even raised the tantalizing possibility of treating forests with microbes to boost disease resistance or tolerance to unfamiliar climate conditions.

"Everybody is always looking for the silver bullet, some way to inoculate seedlings and improve growth," says Simard. "But in my research, the introduced microbes get wiped out by the native fungi right away. You go back in ten years, and they’re not there. It would be nice to think that we can add something to the forest that would make trees magically grow. But all the evidence suggests that we can’t."

What the new microbial research can do is at least shift forest managers and biologists away from thinking simply about trees as board feet, or diameter at breast height, or even as habitat for birds, insects, mammals, and other creatures. Instead, the microbial underworld of a tree is turning out to be as diverse and complex as the canopy overhead, and it is the world on which all those other worlds depend.

Support Research on Plastic Degradation

2013-10-15T15:23:00.001-04:00

Welcome to Cape Cod Mushroom

click here to visit the Cape Cod Mushroom Club

Let's get this research funded! Click Here!

Biodegradation of plastics by the endophytic fungi Pestilotiopsis microspora has a lot of potential. This fungi has already been proven to be able to digest polyurethane in a laboratory environment.

Continued research on this fungus, which was found deep within the Ecuadorian Amazon is going to require a little financial push.

Researchers are looking to raise a total of $8,000.00 by November 14th...and you can help!!!

DONATE TODAY, Click Here!!!

The massive and rapid accumulation of our plastic and rubber waste is a problem that we cannot afford to ignore. Since certain types of plastic and rubber are held together by the same chemical bonds that are found in natural plant polymers, we are investigating the ability of fungi that live inside plants to degrade synthetic plastics and rubbers.

What are the goals of this project?

(text below from excerpted from https://www.microryza.com/projects/can-we-use-fungi-to-break-down-our-plastic-and-rubber-waste)

Research on synthetic polymer biodegradation has been steadily growing over the past forty years. Several bacteria and fungi have been identified that produce enzymes capable of plastic and rubber degradation in various laboratory conditions. However, this field is still in its infancy and much work needs to be done to determine the viability of plastic and rubber biodegradation.

Several plastics and rubbers contain the same chemical bonds that are found in natural plant polymers. Therefore, we are specifically targeting endophytes, organisms that grow symbiotically inside plants, in order to harness the endophytes’ ability to degrade natural plant polymers for the degradation of synthetic plastics and rubbers.

Our group has previously identified degradation of the plastic polyester polyurethane by the endophytic fungus Pestalotiopsis microspora. This fungus secretes a small enzyme that is responsible for plastic degradation. Going forward, our project goals are to:

1) Characterize enzymatic degradation by Pestalotiopsis microspora
- Isolate and characterize enzymatic degradation
- Compare enzyme efficiency to other polyester-degrading enzymes
- Evaluate degradation of solid polyester polyurethane and other plastics
- Evaluate degradation of plastic by P. microspora in simulated landfill conditions (collaboration)

2) Screen for new plastic- and rubber- degrading fungi
- Screen fungi collections for degradation of different synthetic polymers
- For promising candidates, sequence the genomes and look for possible novel plastic- or rubber-degrading genes
- Analyze candidates using gel permeation chromatography (molecular weight changes) and scanning electron microscopy (visual degradation)

Click Here to Donate!!!

Reishi and Cancer Tumor Inhibition

2013-10-01T23:41:00.001-04:00

Welcome to Cape Cod Mushroom

click here to visit the Cape Cod Mushroom Club

New study unlocks mushroom’s anti-cancer secret

Article reprinted in entirety, with added explanatory comments in italics by Wesley Price

2013.09 04., 09:30 A research team from Academia Sinica has solved the mystery of the anti-cancer properties of reishi mushrooms, the Taipei City-based institute said Aug. 30.
Medicinal benefits of the reishi mushroom, Ganoderma lucidum, have been known to Chinese herbalists for over two thousand years. Laboratory studies on mice have shown reishi extract can inhibit tumor growth, but the anti-cancer mechanism has until now remained unknown, the institute said.
The team, led by Academia Sinica President Wong Chi-huey and assistant research fellow Wu Chung-yi of the institute’s Genomics Research Center, showed that fucose-based polysaccharides (these are complex sugars with the simple sugar 'fucose' attached to the polysaccharide chain) in reishi extract inhibit cancerous tumors in mice, and they also found the molecular pathway by which it acted, the institute said. The research was published in the Aug. 20 issue of the US-based Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Hsu Hsien-yeh of Taipei City-based National Yang-Ming University had previously shown that a crude reishi polysaccharide extract known as F3 can slow tumor growth when injected into mice. The Academia Sinica team found that sera (blood serum) from mice immunized with F3 (polysaccharide extract) contain antibodies that recognize tumor antigens Globo H and related structures, with inhibition of tumor growth directly related to the amount of these antibodies. (Essentially, the blood serum of mice was tested after being treated with polysaccharide extract, and tumor fighting antibodies were found)
The researchers further showed that a fucose enriched F3 fraction called FMS was even more effective at inhibiting tumors, marking fucose residue as the key anticancer component.
A GRC team led by Lin Kuo-i then found the mice’s immunocyte B1 was producing Immunoglobulin M antibodies, which recognize Globo H and kill the cancer cells.
The center’s Khoo Kay-hooi performed mass spectrometry analysis to elucidate the effective structures of the fucose-based polysaccharides, completing the investigation of the molecular pathway by which the reishi extract kills cancer cells.
The research was completed with the support of the National Science Council, Academia Sinica said.

Bessettes Boletes

2013-09-18T00:49:00.003-04:00

Welcome To Cape Cod Mushroom

Click Here to Visit the Cape Cod Mushroom Club

(All Photos by Wesley Price, unless otherwise noted)

Somewhere, deep in the woods of Maine lives an elusive creature. Try as we might to guess its arrival and departure, we often find ourselves standing in the woods scanning, straining for a hint of its presence. Certain conditions must be met to ignite its fruition. Certain evolutionary symbioses must work invisibly, just beyond our ability to perceive. And then, when perhaps our perception is at it's keenest, it slowly reveals itself.

A recent week long seminar at Maine's Eagle Hill Institute on Boletes, taught by husband and wife mycology team of Alan and Arleen Bessette, brought together a group of mycological enthusiasts from California to Massachusetts. The photos below are from Bessettes Bolete Seminar. A sincere thanks to Alan and Arleen for their guidance throughout the week. A thank you to all the attendees, whose excitement proved conatagious. And a thank you to the staff at the Eagle Hill Institute. The pictures below are a sampling of the seminar.

Debbie and Gary tame the kitchen, while Alan and Arleen Bessette enjoy the view of wild edibles.

from Left to Right (top row: Craterellus ignicolor, Cantharrellus cibarius) (bottom row: Lobster Mushrooms, Hydmum repandum)

Morels in cream sauce on thinly sliced baguette

Table of Maine mushrooms

View of Chanterelle's false gills, under the stereoscope

Alan Bessette dives into the guide of North American Boletes

Arleen Bessette guides the Leccinum identification

Lobster Mushrooms (Hypomyces has parasitized a Russula, or Lactarius, making a choice edible)

Hygrocybe species

Amanita species: note the veil separating from the cap

Hygrocybe flavescens

Fomotopsis pinicola (considered a medicinal mushroom)

Clavinolopsis fusiformis? or other species

Hygrocybe springs from moss

Hydnum repandum (Hedgehog)

Craterellus ignicolor

Gomphus floccosus

Color Palette

Alan Bessette offers suggestions on the finer points of mushroom photography

False Truffle

Leotia viscosa

Stropharia semiglobata

Cortinarius violaceus

Scleroderma citrinum shown parasitized by a bolete,
Pseudoboletus parasiticus

more Gomphus floccosus

Pycnoporous cinnibarinus

Enteloma salmoneum

Hygrocybe marginata

Herecium americanum (Lion's Mane)

Alan speaks to the class

“A photo is a small voice, at best, but sometimes – just sometimes – one photograph or a group of them can lure our senses into awareness. Much depends upon the viewer; in some, photographs can summon enough emotion to be a catalyst to thought.” – W. Eugene Smith

Meat Eating Fungus Feeds Trees?

2013-09-06T15:37:00.002-04:00

Welcome to Cape Cod Mushroom

Click Here to Visit The Cape Cod Mushroom Club

-The Article below has been republished in its entirety, with permission from the Author.

to read more from Kent McFarland, visit his blog at:

http://onemeter2.wordpress.com/

Meat Eating Trees?

by Kent P. McFarland | August 26th 2013 |

Illustration by Adelaide Tyrol

Plants are not often thought of as predators. They’re the nice guys. With over 300,000 species known to exist, only a small fraction are known to be meat-eaters. In our northern bogs, for example, insects are trapped on the sticky hairs of sundew or drowned in the pitcher plant’s water.

Research now suggests that at least one tree may owe its size to more than just sun, water and good soils.

The eastern white pine is one of the tallest native tree species in our region. Give them a few hundred years in ideal floodplain habitat, with roots sunk deep into sandy and silty soils and protected from winds and lightning by hillsides, and they’ll grow to over 200 feet tall with nearly eight foot diameter trunks.

It takes a lot of energy and nutrients for a tree to grow to such grandeur. One thing that might help the eastern white pine is its surprising relationship with a meat-eating fungus.

The bicolored deceiver (Laccaria bicolor) appears above ground as a small, tan mushroom with lilac-colored gills. It is found in most coniferous woodlands throughout temperate regions around the globe. The fungus has a symbiotic relationship with many trees, including the eastern white pine. It forms a mycorrhizal sheath, like roots of the fungus, around the small root tips of the tree. The fungus receives sugars from the tree’s photosynthesis that takes place above ground, while it supplies the plant with essential nutrients and helps to increase water uptake by the tree roots from below ground.

Such symbiotic relationships between trees and fungi are common. About ninety-five percent of plants get some nutrients from fungi, and fungi play a critical role in the food web. In particular, fungi (along with lightning strikes and soil bacteria) are critical for converting atmospheric nitrogen into reactive forms, such as nitrate and ammonia, which other living things can use for growth.

What makes the eastern white pine’s relationship with the bicolored deceiver surprising is the way the tree benefits from the fungus’ meat-eating habits. This discovery occurred by accident, during a study of tiny soil arthropods called springtails.

Many observers know springtails as snow fleas, the wingless insects often seen by the thousands jumping across the snow in late winter. They are incredibly small, but they can occur in huge numbers. Soil ecologists John Klironomos, now at the University of British Columbia, and his colleague Miranda Hart, wondered if springtails had an adverse effect on trees since they ate fungi that helped secure nutrients for many plants. They set up a simple experiment to feed the springtails a diet of fungi, including bicolored deceiver.

That’s when their experiment took a strange turn. All of the springtails died when they were with bicolor deceiver. “It was as shocking as putting a pizza in front of a person and having the pizza eat the person instead of vice versa,” Klironomos told Science News.

To confirm their findings, Klironomos and Hart fed a few hundred springtails a diet of bicolor deceiver while others were fed a diet either devoid of the fungus altogether or with another fungi species. After two weeks, only five percent of the springtails that were with bicolor deceiver remained alive. In contrast, nearly all the springtails that ate other species of fungi or whose diet was devoid of fungi survived.

The fungus was killing the springtails and breaking them down with a special enzyme. The researchers believe that the fungus first paralyzes the springtails with a toxin and then extends fine filaments into them to absorb nutrients.

So how does this make the eastern white pine tree a meat-eater? As a follow up experiment, Klironomos and Hart fed a batch of springtails a diet with nitrogen that was tagged radioactively so they could follow it through the food web. The insects were added to containers of bicolor deceiver growing with white pine seedlings. After a few months they tested the seedlings and found that 25% of the nitrogen in the trees was radioactive, and thus had come directly from the springtails. It’s as if white pine were fishermen using the fungus like a giant net to capture their prey.

Now, new research from scientists at Brock University in Ontario suggests that this adaptation may be shared by many plants. Green muscardine fungus, a soil-dwelling fungus found in many ecosystems, has long been known to infect insects. It has now been shown to associate with plant roots and transfer nitrogen from its insect prey to grass and even beans.

With webs of mycelia hunting tiny prey underground to help giants grow and capture the sun above, understanding who is eating whom just got a lot more complicated.

Kent McFarland is a biologist with the Vermont Center for Ecostudies.

Tags: bicolored deceiver, kent mcfarland, the outside story, wellborn ecology fund of the new hampshire charitable foundation.

The 7th Annual Athol Fungus Fair!!!

2013-08-25T10:49:00.002-04:00

Welcome to Cape Cod Mushroom

click here to join the Cape Cod Mushroom Club

New Book: Earth Repair: A Grassroots Guide To Healing Toxic and Damaged Landscapes

2013-07-29T21:57:00.002-04:00

Welcome to Cape Cod Mushroom

Guest Post written by Leila Darwish

New Book: Earth Repair: A Grassroots Guide To Healing Toxic and Damaged Landscapes

By: Leila Darwish

New Society Publishers

Millions of acres of land have been contaminated by pesticides, improperly handled chemicals, dirty energy projects, toxic waste, and other pollutants in the United States and Canada. Conventional clean-up techniques employed by government and industry are not only incredibly expensive and resource-intensive, but can also cause further damage to the environment. More and more communities find themselves increasingly unable to rely on those companies and governments who created the problems to step in and provide solutions.

How can we, the grassroots, work with the power of living systems to truly heal and transform toxic and damaged landscapes into thriving, healthy, and fertile places once more? How can we respond to environmental disasters in accessible and community empowering ways?

Earth Repair explores a host of powerful and accessible grassroots bioremediation techniques to assist with the recovery of the lands and waters that nourish us. These techniques include:

Mycoremediation – using fungi to clean up contaminated soil and water.

Microbial remediation – using microorganisms to break down and bind contaminants

Phytoremediation – using plants to extract, bind, and transform toxins

Packed with valuable firsthand information, recipes and remedies from visionaries in the field, Earth Repair empowers communities and individuals to take action and heal contaminated and damaged land and water. Encompassing everything from remediating and regenerating abandoned city lots for urban farmers and gardeners, to responding and recovering from environmental disasters and industrial catastrophes such as oil spills and nuclear fallout, this fertile toolbox is essential reading for anyone who wishes to transform environmental despair into constructive action.

The book also features inspiring mycoremediation contributions from Ja Schindler (Fungi for The People) and Peter McCoy (Radical Mycology), as well as interviews with Paul Stamets (Fungi Perfecti), Mia Rose Maltz (Amazon Mycorenewal Project), and Scott Koch (Telluride Mushroom Festival).

For more information about the book and upcoming workshops, or to order the book, go to www.earthrepair.ca.

About the Author:

Leila Darwish is a community organizer, permaculture practioner, educator, writer, grassroots herbalist, and urban gardener with a deep commitment to environmental justice, food sovereignty, and to providing accessible and transformative tools for communities dealing with toxic contamination of their land and drinking water.

Over the last decade, she has worked as a community organizer for different environmental organizations and community groups in Alberta, BC and the USA on campaigns such as tar sands, fracking, nuclear energy, coal, climate justice, water protection, and more. She is a certified permaculture designer and has also apprenticed on different organic farms across Canada and the USA.

MoTown Mushrooms and the FungiPail

2013-07-12T11:44:00.001-04:00

Welcome to Cape Cod Mushroom

MUSHROOMS ARE A BEAUTIFUL THING

Guest Post written by MoTown Mushrooms from Morrisville, Vermont

Mushroom nutritional and medicinal properties were well known to the ancestral cultures of China and Japan, but they are just being rediscovered by Western Society. Initially associated with magic potions and psychedelic drugs, edible mushrooms are finally gaining the respect they deserve as a culinary wonder and health food. So what is all the fuss about? For one, mushrooms are packed with vitamins and minerals like potassium, vitamin B, vitamin D, amino acids, chitin, glucosamine, fiber and natural statins. They are also high in protein and selenium, a nutrient found in meats, which make mushrooms a great substitute for animal protein in a balanced diet. If that is not enough, I should also mention that several studies link mushrooms to having anti-oxidant, anti-diabetic, hypocholesterolemic, anti-tumor, anti-cancer, immunomodulatory, anti-allergic, nephroprotective, and anti-microbial agents.

Besides all their amazing properties, mushrooms are a fascinating bunch. They are the fruiting bodies of fungi, an organism so unique that is not classified as a plant or an animal, but has a kingdom of its own. Before becoming mushrooms, fungi spend much of their life as mycelium, a colony of tangled fibers that uses powerful enzymes to penetrate and dissolve organic matter. Although most of the common edible mushrooms prefer wood as their main substrate, you can find different fungi types in almost any decomposition cycle in nature. That makes Fungi the ultimate biological cleaner and composter of the planet.

I could go on and on with other compelling facts about fungi, because as the co-founder of Motown Mushrooms,

it is my job to obsess about them. But I think by now you get it - mushrooms are cool. So let’s talk about something equally as cool: The Fungipail (A.K.A Mushroom Garden in a Bucket); a kit that lets you grow your own gourmet mushroom at home. This good looking food grade pail comes preloaded with 8lbs of pasteurized straw, heavily inoculated with sawdust spawn. It is ready to go and the only thing you need to do to grow beautiful oyster mushrooms is to mist the pail a couple of times a day. (Picture: Blue Oyster Fungipail)

At this point you may say: “why should I grow mushrooms? it’s better to go to the store and buy some of those little blue plastic containers full of portabellas, right?” Wrong! Let me start with the quality of store bought mushrooms. For an organism that thrives as a complicated underground network of webs, and feeds by decomposing organic matter, fungi have a very delicate fruit. I like to compare mushrooms to flowers; once you harvest them, you have very few days to enjoy them at their peak before they start shriveling up and die. Just a couple of days in the refrigerator can change the appearance and flavor of any edible mushroom. So unless you are getting your mushrooms from a farmers market, the mushrooms you are buying are at least 4 days old and you are missing the truly gourmet experience and maximum nutritional benefits.Beside having the freshest, tastiest mushrooms you’ll ever eat when you grow them yourself, you will also be able to try varieties rarely found in supermarkets or even upscale specialty food stores. With a Fungipail, you will be able to treat yourself to exotic species like the Pink Oysters, Yellow Oysters, Blue Oysters or Motown Mushroom’s all-time favorite, the King Oyster.

Another reason to grow your own mushrooms is because it’s fun. I am not kidding, and it’s not (just) because I am a mushroom geek, but once the first pins appear, mushrooms grow so fast that you could almost sit and watch them grow. I have a client that bought one of our Fungipails and she was texting me pictures of her mushrooms twice a day, impressed with the growing pace of her grey oysters. Even I, used to seeing mushrooms fruiting in the Motown Mushrooms’ grow room, made the rookie mistake of wanting to create a growing time lapse video by taking three pictures per day… you can see how choppy that came out! They just grow too fast!

If you have kids, a growing kit is an entertaining way to teach them about the life cycle and create a connection between the food that they eat and where it comes from. And the beauty of a Mushroom Garden in a Bucket is that you can choose to grow it completely indoors, becoming the year round cure for the gardening blues of people that live in places with long winters or in urban environments.

So go ahead, give the Fungipail a try. At the least, you’ll enjoy the farm-to-table experience and will be rewarded with a delicious, ultra-fresh product. But don’t be surprised if you get hooked and end up with a full rotation of Fungipails, with different seasonal species growing every month… we’ve seen it happen… and it makes us proud.

Mushrooms for Color with Alissa Allen

2013-06-24T22:45:00.003-04:00

Welcome to Cape Cod Mushroom

Click here to Join the Cape Cod Mushroom Club

Mushroom dye workshop presenter Alissa Allen checks on the dye bath

Mushroom Dye expert Alissa Allen presented an informative, fascinating Mushrooms Dye Workshop at the Harwich Community Center on Saturday June 8th, hosted by the Cape Cod Mushroom Club Alissa has worked with foremost Mushroom dye experts in the country and from that has developed her own unique variation on the art.

Alissa also is working on developing a palette of mushroom based watercolors from both mushrooms and lichen.

For more information on Mushroom Dyes and to check out Alissa's website, go to www.mycopigments.com
     The world of mushroom dyes is one where experimentation is encouraged. There are no standardized color extracts when it comes to mushroom dyeing. Variables such as local water mineral content and pH will influence the colors achieved.


Watercolor painting using mushroom based watercolors by Alissa Allen

Watercolor painting using mushroom based watercolors by Alissa Allen

One of the most utilized natural fibers in mushroom dyeing is wool. The dyed fiber is dried outside. Once dried the finished yarn could be washed and the color will not wash out.

Some of the dramatic shades produced by Cortinarius semisanguinas

Completed Dye rack from the workshop

Vibrant Lichen Dye

www.mycopigments.com

Alissa organizing the wool by color

www.mycopigments.com

My daughter at the dye rack, drying a silk scarf

Alissa and Anne enjoying some beautiful knitting using mushroom dyed wool

www.mycopigments.com

Hand knit mushroom-dyed mushrom man

Workshop participants Breaking up the dried mushrooms before adding them to the dye-pot

Cortinarius semisanguineas after 2 seconds in warm (170deg)

Cortinarius semisanguineas after 10 seconds in warm (170deg) water

www.mycopigments.com

Lichen Dyes Text by Karen Diadick Casselman

"I have dreamed in my life, dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas; they have gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the color of my mind."
-Emily Bronte

Club Logo Design Competition

2013-05-16T23:26:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Cape Cod Mushroom

Cape Cod Mushroom Club Logo Design Competition!
Please submit designs to capecodmushroom@gmail.com by Tuesday July 9th.
The winning design will receive a

FREE LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP

to the Cape Cod Mushroom Club and a $25.00 gift card to the Underground Cafe in East Dennis, MA!!!

All entrants will receive a free membership for the 2013 Season!

The winning design will be picked by the club at our July 10th Meeting at the Audubon Society at Long Pasture in Barnstable.

Time to turn on the Imagination and get Creative!

Book Review - "The Kingdom of Fungi"

2013-05-12T13:11:00.001-04:00

Welcome to Cape Cod Mushroom
Click here to Join the Cape Cod Mushroom Club

WOW!!! If you have been looking for a book on the Kingdom of Fungi to inspire you; If you love photography; If your sense of wonder in the subtle beauty of our planet could use some reinvigorating, then mycologist and photographer Jens H. Petersen's fascinating new book The Kingdom of Fungi has found a new home.

Upon receiving a copy in the mail, I was immediately taken in . I read the book from cover to cover over the course of a Saturday.

This book is a work of photographic artistry. It contains over 800 photographs. It is accessible to all; from novice to expert. The photograph on the inside cover is a magnification of a network of mycelial strands ad is a great introduction for the ensuing pages.

Jens Petersen has taught mycology at Denmark's Aarhus University for more than twenty years and has illustrated several popular books on edible mushrooms. The book is published by Princeton University Press.

"Mother Earth was the first physician and healer. Some day, everyone will realize that she alone owns the true pharmacy in medicine, for all drugs are made from Her garden, or a chemical substitute that replicates the effects and benefits Her plants."

Alma Hutchens

Enoki Mushroom and Cancer Risk

2013-04-26T20:35:00.002-04:00

Welcome to Cape Cod Mushroom

Click Here to Join the Cape Cod Mushroom Club

This article was reprinted in entirety from the April 18th edition of the Huffington Post and was written by mycologist Paul Stamets

Paul Stamets

Founder, Fungi Perfecti; Advisor, Program of Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona Medical School, Tucson

Can Eating Enoki Mushrooms Lower Your Cancer Risk?

Enoki mushrooms, a tasty variety commonly sold in grocery stores, were one of the first mushrooms studied for preventing cancer. Credit for discovering this medical benefit goes in large part to Dr. Tetsuro Ikekawa, a former epidemiologist at the Research Institute of the National Cancer Center in Tokyo, Japan. He wondered why the cancer rates in the Nagano Prefecture of Japan were abnormally low from 1972-1986, compared to surrounding provinces. Ikekawa found it was the center of enoki mushroom cultivation. A cluster within the population of Nagano died less frequently from cancer: enoki mushroom growers and their families. Since many enoki farmers gave their employees the bruised or blemished mushrooms that were deemed unattractive to shoppers, these Nagano citizens ate far more enoki mushrooms than their neighbors. Dr. Ikekawa surmised that their higher rate of enoki mushroom consumption correlated with the lower cancer death rate in Nagano Prefecture. At the time of the research, the average cancer death rate in the Nagano prefecture was 160 per 100,000. This rate dropped to 97 per 100,000, comparatively, in families of enoki growers (Ikekawa, et al,,1989, 2003). Men's cancer deaths decreased by 36.6 percent, and women in this cluster benefited from a 42.7 percent decrease in mortality from cancer. The population base in this study was around 175,000 people and was age-adjusted. By contrast, the United States currently records 173 deaths from cancer per 100,000 as of 2009 (The Henry J. Kaiser Foundation).
While there are no clusters of enoki growers and enoki eaters to study in the U.S. like there are in Nagano, this Japanese study could inspire epidemiologists to study the effect of higher mushroom consumption. Such research could support the widespread theory held by many mycologists and physicians that increased mushroom consumption can lower cancer fatality rates.
Dr. Ikekawa's 1989 epidemiological study published by the Nagano Prefectural Research Institute of Rural Industry corroborated years of lab-scale research by Dr. Ikekawa and others. In a flurry of medical research -- sparked in part by Ikekawa's1969 article in Cancer Research on the cancer-fighting properties of many gourmet mushrooms -- Japanese researchers sought to isolate, purify, and identify the constituents in enoki mushrooms that provided the anti-cancer effects. Their research focused on two classes of protein-bound polysaccharides: FVP (as in Flammulina velutipes polysaccharides, such as EA6), and FVE (for Flammulina velutipes extracts). As a result of this research, two new compounds -- flammulin and proflamin -- were isolated. Proflamin is a glycoprotein, containing more than 90 percent protein and less than 10 percent carbohydrate with a molecular weight between 13,000-17,000 Da. Notably, this molecule is orders of magnitude lighter than the heavy beta glucan polysaccharides. Comparative tests of proflamin showed better immune mitigated, cancer-fighting activity against melanoma and other cancers than the well-known PSK isolated from turkey tail (Trametes versicolor) mushrooms. (Ikekawa, et al., 1985).
In 2009, the journal Immunology published a study showing that ingesting enoki extracts containing these substances significantly improved survival rates of mice infected with Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), a leading cause of cervical cancer. Two sets of mice were infected with the HPV oncovirus, and one set was given an extract of enoki mushrooms.

Tumor protection assays showed that 60 percent of mice co-immunized with HPV-16 E7 plus Fve, as compared with 20 percent of those immunized only with HPV-16 E7, remained tumour-free for up to 167 days after challenge with the tumour cells.

The positive immune reactions were augmented from expansion of HPV specific interferon (IFN)-gamma-producing CD4(+) and CD8(+) T lymphocytes cells (Ding et. al., 2009). In a later study by Yin et al. (2010), Chinese researchers found that three unique beta glucans found in enoki mushrooms (beta-linked glucose, galactose, mannose and fucose sugars) induced a significant increase in cellular nitric oxide expression from murine peritoneal macrophages. Nitric oxide production by immune cells is one of the key mechanisms that our bodies use to destroy diseased cells. Enhancement of these types of immune responses is seen consistently with many medicinal mushrooms that have been tested by cancer researchers.

Nutritional Properties
Enoki mushrooms are a rich source of important nutrients (Stamets, 2005). Our analysis showed that for every 100 grams (dry weight), enoki offers:

346 calories
53 percent carbohydrates (31 percent complex carbohydrates, 22 percent other sugars)
26 percent protein
26 percent dietary fiber
3 percent fat (1.0 gram polyunsaturated, 1.2 grams total unsaturated, 0.23 grams saturated)
Significant quantities of many vitamins and minerals: 0.35 mg thiamine, 10.9 mg pantothenic acid (B5), 61 mg niacin, 1.69 mg riboflavin, 14 mg calcium, 0.61 mg copper, 8.3 mg iron, 3,100 mg potassium, 54 µg selenium, and 19 mg sodium.

Remarkably, enoki mushrooms have no cholesterol, vitamin A, nor vitamin C.
Enoki is also a rich source of antioxidants, particularly ergothioneines. These hydrophilic antioxidants are even richer in the mycelium substrate than the harvested mushrooms (Bao et al., 2010).
The Double Morphology of Enoki Mushrooms
Known colloquially as "winter," "golden needle," and "velvet foot" mushrooms, enoki mushrooms grow across much of the world, inhabiting dead conifer trees and stumps, and generally appearing throughout the late fall and winter months. Although common both in nature and in cultivation, enoki mushrooms (Flammulina velutipes, Flammulina populicola) can look very different depending on where they grow. In the wild, an enoki mushroom is often squat-looking and its stem is rarely more than twice as long as the cap is wide.When they are grown by farmers and hobbyists, however, their stems elongate, the caps are smaller, and a forest of golden colored needle-like mushrooms shoot up all at once. At their bases, stems are adorned with dark brown fur-like fuzz, hence the name "velvet foot."
Japanese mycologists figured out that if the mushroom mycelium was grown in bottles, in low light, something remarkable happens. The pooling of higher carbon dioxide (the mycelium exhales carbon dioxide as it digests the wood) make the stems grow longer. This is likely a response by the mushroom to elevate its cap above the surface of the ground so that its spores can fly free. If the light levels are also reduced, however, the cap remains small and produces few spores. Both conditions allow for simple harvesting and longer shelf-life in stores. If exposed to a lot of light, as in nature, the caps broaden, the gills release spores, and soon thereafter the mushrooms quickly rot. This dance between light and carbon dioxide is a common feature in the art of mushroom cultivation. While all mushrooms respond to these changes to some degree, enoki cultivators have perfected this atmospheric interplay to guide a wild mushroom into its present uniquely Japanese aesthetic. Enoki mushrooms deserve more research to understand how increasing consumption might decrease cancer death rates. Ikekawa's epidemiological data and the isolation of immunomodulating molecules from enoki by other researchers makes me want to explore the properties of enoki mushrooms beyond their obvious culinary appeal.
Financial Disclosure: Paul Stamets, author of Growing Gourmet & Medicinal Mushrooms and educator of mushroom cultivators world-wide, is also the Founder of Fungi Perfecti, LLC -- a company that supplies mushroom related products including whole, encapsulated powders, and extracts of mushrooms.
References
Bao, H.N., Ochiai, Y., Ohshima, T., 2010. "Antioxidative activities of hydrophilic extracts prepared from the fruiting body and spent culture medium of Flammulina velutipes." Bioresour Technol. Aug; 101(15):6248-55. Epub 2010 Mar 25.
Ding, Y., Seow, S.V., Huang, C.H., Liew, L.M., Lim, Y.C., Kuo, I.C., Chua, K.Y., 2009.
"Coadministration of the fungal immunomodulatory protein FIP-Fve and a tumour-associated antigen enhanced antitumour immunity." Immunology. Sept; 128 (1 Suppl):e881-94. Epub 2009 Mar 26.
Ikekawa, T., Uehara, N., Maeda, Y., Nakanishi, M., Fukuoka, F., 1969. "Antitumor activity of aqueous extracts of edible mushrooms." Cancer Research 29: 734-735.
Ikekawa, T., Maruyama, H., Miyano, T., Okura, A., Sawaskai, Y., Naito, K., Kawamura, K., Shiratori, K., 1985. "Proflamin, a new antitumor agent: preparation, physicochemical properties and antitumor activity." Japanese Journal of Cancer Research 76: 142-148.
Ikekawa, T., et. al., eds. 1989. "Twenty-years of Studies on Antitumor Activities of Mushrooms," Nagano Prefectural Research Institute of Rural Industry.
Ikekawa, T. 1995. "Enokitake, Flammulina velutipes: Host-mediated antitumor
polysaccharides." Food Review International 11, 203-206.
Ikekawa, T., 2001. "Beneficial effects of edible and medicinal mushrooms on health care." International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms 3: 291-298.
Ikekawa T. 2003. "Beneficial Effects of Mushrooms, Edible and Medicinal, on Health Care in Japan," Proceedings of the Global Holistic Health Summit, Bangalore, India. January 2003.
Maruyama, H. and T. Ikekawa, 2005. "Combination Therapy of Transplanted Meth-A Fibrosarcoma in BALB/c Mice with Polysaccharide EA6 Isolated from Enokitake Mushroom Flammulina velutipes (W.Curt.:Fr.) Singer and Surgical Excision" International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms Volume 7 / Numbers 1-2.
Stamets, P., 2000. Growing Gourmet & Medicinal Mushrooms. Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA.
Stamets, P., 2005. "Notes on nutritional properties of culinary-medicinal mushrooms." International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms, vol. 7, p. 109-116.
Yin, H., Wang, Y., Wang, Y., Chen, T., Tang, H., Wang, M., 2010."Purification, characterization and immuno-modulating properties opolysaccharides isolated from Flammulina velutipes mycelium." Am J Chin Med. 38(1):191-204. China Pharmaceutical University, China.
For more by Paul Stamets, click here.
For more on natural health, click here.

Mushrooms for Color - Part One

2013-04-13T20:43:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Cape Cod Mushroom

click here to Join the Cape Cod Mushroom Club

Color Wheel of Mushroom dyed Wool from Susan J. Hopkins Amazing Colors!!!

The below photos are Part 1 from a Mushroom Dye workshop sponsored by the Boston Mycological Club and taught by Susan J. Hopkins at the Harvard University Herbaria

A Brief History of Mushrooms for Color

by Dorothy Beebee


Reddish Hues from Cortinarius semisanguineus, by Susan Hopkins

Incredible Mushroom Dyed knitting by Susan J. Hopkins

It was while artist Miriam C. Rice was teaching a children's art class about natural dyes at the Mendocino Art Center in Mendocino, CA., that she tool a clump of bright yellow Hypholoma fasiculare mushrooms and tossed them into a dye pot of simmering hot water with a bit of wool yarn. Fortunately (for all of us) a clear bright lemon-yellow dye emerged on the wool, and voila! "mushroom dyeing" was born!

Encouraged by textile artists in Mendocino in the 1970's, who were thrilled with this new source of color for their fiber arts, Miriam wrote the little book, "Let's Try Mushrooms for Color" which was published by Thresh Publications, Santa Rosa, CA in late 1974. this was the first book known in the world about the use of mushroom dyes and these groundbreaking ideas quickly spread to international textile artists.

Mushroom Hypomyces lactiflorum in water with dye wool

Mushroom Dye bath

Some Watercolors made from Mushrooms

The first successful mushroom dyes were in the range of what one would call "earth hues", yellow, gold, orange, burnt sienna, brown and every shade in between, as exemplified by the dyes from Phaeolus schweinitzii. a breakthrough into a new range of color came under the guise of a little brown mushroom which yielded rose, red and burgundy hues, depending on which mordants used.(A mordant is a substance, typically an inorganic oxide, that combines with a dye or stain and thereby fixes it in a material) It was identified by mycologists at the University of Washington as belonging to the Cortinarius family, in the sub-group Dermocybe. Many of the species in this group contain extremely lightfast anthraquinone pigments, especially red.

Continuing experimentation produced lovely purple, blue and green hues from other mushrooms, continuing to enchant and inspire textile artists worldwide and this expanded palette of extraordinary dye color evolved into a new book documenting the expanded research by Miriam. "Mushrooms for Color" was published in 1980 by Mad River Press, Eureka, CA. A chapter on chemisry of the mushroom pigments by Dr. Erik Sundstrom of Sweden was added in a later printing.

In the summer of 1980, the "1st International Mushroom dyes Textile Show - "FUNGI and FIBERS" was held in Mendocino, CA. Interest in mushroom dyes continued to spread world wide repidly due to Miriam's new book, especially in the Scandinavian countries. Soon, Books by other authors appeared aobut the nmushroom dyes of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, resulting in the continuation of Internaitional Fungi & Fiber Symposia over the ensuing years in those countries, as well as Finland Scotland and Western Austrailia.

the INTERNATIONAL MUSHROOM DYE INSTITUTE (IMDI) was established by Miriam C. Rice in 1985. The non-profit research institutes was founder to encourage the use of fungal pigments to further research on their extraction and employment: to encourage research on cultivation of especially desirable fungi: and to financially aid artists and researchers to participate in the international mushroom dye symposia and exhibitions.

Felted, Mushroom Dyed Wool...Wow!

Miriam's third book, compiling her 40 years worth of work with fungal dyes, pigments and paper is summarized in "Mushrooms for Dyes, Paper, Pigments and Myco-Stix", published in December 2007 by Mushrooms for Color Press, Forestville, CA.

Thanks to Miriam's innovative research and experimentation, the extraordinary art of Mushroom Dyes and Papermaking are now being used and taught by fiber artists worldwide and have been constantly referenced by other authors in new mushroom books over recent years.

Sweater knitted by Susan Hopkins, dyed exclusively using mushrooms!!

Mushroom based orange hues

Mushroom Based reds and purples

Painting with Mushroom based Watercolors

More Painting with mushroom based Watercolors!

Mushroom based yellows and golds

Susan J. Hopkins, workshop teacher, displays some of the dyed wool colors

Nantucket Mushrooms

2013-04-10T12:32:00.002-04:00

Welcome To Cape Cod Mushroom

Rows of Reishi at Nantucket Mushrooms

I decided to take the Ferry to Nantucket to spend some time at Nantucket Mushrooms.
My eleven year old daughter joined me. We visited Moors End Farm, which is the second largest farm on Nantucket and homebase of Nantucket Mushrooms.

Stropharia rugosoannulata at Nantucket Mushrooms

There are few people I've ever met with as much knowledge, understanding and passion for Fungi, as Mycologist Todd Leftwich, owner of Nantucket Mushrooms.

My daughter was extremely patient throughout the day while Todd and I spoke about mushroom cultivation, strain culturing and bioremediation.

Todd has the equipment to produce over 300 bags of mushroom spawn per 12 hour work day.

He has cultivated mushrooms on everything from cardboard to sunflower stalks to coffee grounds.
And he cultivates both common varieties and his own specialty gourmet species.

For the aspiring cultivator, his strains and spawn are available for purchase. He is also available as a consultant for those who are in need of someone with a wealth of expertise.

For more information visit the Nantucket Mushroom Facebook Page by clicking on the link below.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nantucket-Mushrooms/114010075302734?ref=ts&fref=ts

Lion's Mane Hericium erinaceus

2013 Walks/Events - Cape Cod Mushroom Club

2013-04-04T22:15:00.001-04:00

Welcome To Cape Cod Mushroom

click here to join the Cape Cod Mushroom Club

2013 Schedule of Cape Cod Mushroom Club's

Walks and Events

Cape Cod Mushroom Club

2013 Schedule of Events

Cape Cod Mushroom Club Monthly Meetings: 6:30-8:30 pm at Long Pasture Audubon, Barnstable on the 2nd Wednesday of month; May 8th (Meeting Topic will be 'Cooking with Mushrooms), June 12th (Meeting Topic will be Medicinal Mushrooms) July 10th (Meeting Topic will be Basic Basic Mushroom Identification), Aug 14th (Meeting Topic will be Poisonous Species and Look-Alikes), Sept 11th (Edibles of Southeastern Massachusetts), Oct 9th (Meeting Topic will be Using Spore Prints for Identification), Nov 13th, Dec 11th
May 18th (Saturday), 10-Noon, Falmouth’s Long Pond, parking at Goodwill Park, located off Gifford Street (free to members, 6.00 for non-members)
May 19th (Sunday), 10-Noon Menemsha Hills, Martha’s Vineyard (10.00 for non-members, 5.00 for members) Wesley Price walk guide http://www.thetrustees.org/
May 22nd - (Wednesday) Truro Public Library - Mushroom Identification Slide Show (with Guittal Blau and Wesley Price)
June 1st (Saturday),10-Noon, Buzzards Bay Coalition Mushroom Walk at the Weweantic River property (3.00 for club members, 5.00 for non-members) Wesley Price walk guide. Visit the Buzzard’s Bay Coalition at http://savebuzzardsbay.org/
June 8th (Saturday), 1-5pm location T.B.D.; 4-hour Mycopigments workshop; learn how to make natural dyes with fungi and lichens, visit www.mycopigments.com; presented by Alissa Allen (limited enrollment, 45.00 for club members, 60.00 for non members)
June 22-23rd (Sat and Sun) Fungi For the People: Possible Topics Include:

- Mushroom Gardening, Greenhouse Design, Mushroom Food Forests, Compost and Casing, Wild Culturing, Fungal Ecology, Mycoremediation, Medicinal Mushrooms, Laboratory Skills

Presented by www.fungiforthepeople.org (limited enrollment, pricing to be determined)

Date To Be Determined; Oyster Mushroom Cultivation Workshop;

Presented by Wesley Price of the Cape Cod Mushroom Club

July 13th (Saturday 10-12), Sandwich, Talbot’s Point (exact location to follow)
August 3rd (Saturday), 10-Noon, Fox Pond Mushroom Walk, Wellfleet Conservation Trust (Wesley Price walk guide)
August 7th or 8th – 10th http://www.mycomontreal.qc.ca/actualit/FQGM-NEMF-2013/InGenWeb-FQGM_NEMF.pdf - Foray PLUS: from Tuesday, August 6, 4:00 pm, to Saturday, August 10, after lunch. Regular Foray from Wednesday, August 7, 4:00 pm, to Saturday, August 10, after lunch.
August 24th (Saturday), 10-Noon, Barnstable Land Trust – Fuller Farm (Wesley Price walk guide)
September 1st (Sunday), 10-4, Truro Agricultural Fair, Cape Cod Mushroom Club will be there with a table and Cultivation Demonstrations. Come support your Local Farmers and have a great time doing it!!! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Truro-Ag-Fair-2013-Sunday-September-12013-10am-4pm/153719538037901
Sept 14th (Club Dinner, preceded by Mushroom Walk in Mattapoistett) for Club Members
September 28-29 (Sat and Sun) Wellfleet Audubon Society Field School: Instructor, Wesley Price register at;

http://www.massaudubon.org/catalog/listing.php?program_code=1213-WF13SU1

October 12-14th at Craigville Conference Center: Boston Mycological Society Annual Craigville Foray (pre-registration required)
October 13-14th (Sat-Sun) Cape Cod Mushroom Festival, Details to be coming soon
working on scheduling guided walks with:
- Harwich Conservation Trust, Dennis Conservation Trust

v Suggestions welcome!

Suggestions welcome, Participation Encouraged!

Lion's Mane - Video Blog - Paul Stamets

2013-03-27T20:46:00.001-04:00

Welcome to Cape Cod Mushroom

Click here to join the Cape Cod Mushroom Club

Click Below to hear mycologist Paul Stamets and the Lion's Mane Mushroom

"Remember the Ground Beneath Your Feet"

CAPE COD MUSHROOM

No More Bananas!!!...Nuts.

MYCOWORKS

This Week in the Mushroom Research

Here's Headlines From the World of Mushroom Research

Insect Eating Fungi poised to Provide a Non-Chemically Based Insect Control

Non Chemical Insect Control - Just a matter of time

Paul is in the process of bringing this biomimicry product to market. It works and its safer and cheaper than the alternative chemical treatments.

a recent headline noted the excitement around this discovery: Paul Stamets patents “universal biopesticide” that Big Ag calls “the most disruptive technology that we have ever witnessed.”

another article headline reads: "The Man Who Can Destroy Monsanto" http://mindyourdirt.com/2015/03/09/the-man-that-can-destroy-monsanto/

yet another article headline reads: Paul Stamets holds the patent that could put Monsanto out of Business http://disinfo.com/2015/04/paul-stamets-holds-the-patent-that-could-put-monsanto-out-of-business

What is great about Paul's discovery is more than insect control, it is the ethics which he encourages and the understanding of interdependence which he exemplifies.

Controlling zoonotic disease vectors from insects and arthropods using preconidial mycelium and extracts of preconidial mycelium from entomopathogenic fungi

Book Review - Tradd Cotter's -"Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation"

Welcome to

Cape Cod Mushroom

Mycologist Tradd Cotter has published a collection of experiential writings which aims at changing the way the reader understands and interacts with the Kingdom of Fungi.

Chelsea Green Publishing has once again proven why they are the industry leader "both in terms of content—foundational books on renewable energy, green building, organic agriculture, eco-cuisine, and ethical business—and in terms of environmental practice..."

...That's the review...time to start reading!!!

Fungi Ally

Spring Mushroom Cultivation Workshops presented by Fungi Ally www.fungially.com

“Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations…If you adopt their attitudes, then the possibility won’t exist because you’ll have already shut it out … You can hear other people’s wisdom, but you’ve got to re-evaluate the world for yourself.” Mae Jemison

Make Your Own Medicinal Mushroom Capsules

How to Make Medicinal Mushroom Capsules

Label Genetically Modified Mushrooms... - Right to Know!!!...

eFungi LLC - Website Launch

A very special thank you to my fiance for her past and continued patience and support,

without which this website would not have been possible.

eFungi is proud to offer mushroom products from the following companies and happy to be a part of this growing community.

Microbiomes at the Root

07 Oct 2013: Analysis

Microbiomes at the Roots: A New Look at Forest Ecology

With advances in genetic sequencing technology, scientists are now able to readily identify the microbes living in and around the roots of trees. This information is proving to have important implications for everything from tropical forest restoration to climate change planning.

Support Research on Plastic Degradation

Welcome to Cape Cod Mushroom

What are the goals of this project?

Reishi and Cancer Tumor Inhibition

Welcome to Cape Cod Mushroom

click here to visit the Cape Cod Mushroom Club

New study unlocks mushroom’s anti-cancer secret

Article reprinted in entirety, with added explanatory comments in italics by Wesley Price

Bessettes Boletes

Meat Eating Fungus Feeds Trees?

The 7th Annual Athol Fungus Fair!!!

New Book: Earth Repair: A Grassroots Guide To Healing Toxic and Damaged Landscapes

Welcome to Cape Cod Mushroom

MoTown Mushrooms and the FungiPail

Welcome to Cape Cod Mushroom

MUSHROOMS ARE A BEAUTIFUL THING

Guest Post written by MoTown Mushrooms from Morrisville, Vermont

Mushrooms for Color with Alissa Allen

Club Logo Design Competition

Welcome to Cape Cod Mushroom

Book Review - "The Kingdom of Fungi"

Upon receiving a copy in the mail, I was immediately taken in . I read the book from cover to cover over the course of a Saturday.

This book is a work of photographic artistry. It contains over 800 photographs. It is accessible to all; from novice to expert. The photograph on the inside cover is a magnification of a network of mycelial strands ad is a great introduction for the ensuing pages.

Jens Petersen has taught mycology at Denmark's Aarhus University for more than twenty years and has illustrated several popular books on edible mushrooms. The book is published by Princeton University Press.

Enoki Mushroom and Cancer Risk

Paul Stamets

Can Eating Enoki Mushrooms Lower Your Cancer Risk?

Mushrooms for Color - Part One

Nantucket Mushrooms

2013 Walks/Events - Cape Cod Mushroom Club

Suggestions welcome, Participation Encouraged!

Lion's Mane - Video Blog - Paul Stamets

Microbiomes at the Roots:
A New Look at Forest Ecology