These Things: Growing toward the beauty

Mushrooms Gonna Save the World

You may know I have a thing for mushrooms that began when I heard a lecture by Paul Stamets at the Anchorage Public Library in April 2009. Here’s a TED Talk by Stamets which is the 20 minute version of the two-hour lecture we heard on “Six Ways Mushrooms Can Save the World.” If you’re interested, Stamet’s book, “Mycelium Running” goes into (extreme) detail on his ideas about mycoremediation in forestry and ecological cleanup as well as how to grow gourmet/medicinal mushrooms. If you believe in cancer, you need to watch his talk on TEDMED too.

Lightning Stimulates Mushroom Growth

So, in my trying to understand how to grow mushrooms inside (because winter), I ran across this article, “Effect of Electrical Stimulation on Fruit Body Formation in Cultivating Mushrooms,” that basically shows how lightning stimulates mushroom growth. It gets geeky fast but to bring it into the kitchen, Lentinula edodes is the Latin name for Shiitake. I know, it’s TLDR but interesting to consider.

The Social Lives of Trees (Because Mycelium)

Evidently trees talk to one another through their root systems (and likely through mycelial mats (mycelium is the plant that mushrooms are the fruits of)).

If You Love Riding a Bicycle, Get on a Bicycle

Like trying to grow mushrooms outside, riding a bike in the winter is tough. But, I found this article on year-round cycling to be really helpful not only for winter riding, but riding in the rain, and riding in the dark. For me it’s all about routine (ok, and studded bicycle tires here in Idaho).

Of course, if biking isn’t your thing, there are indoor options for staying active like heading to a gym or yoga studio. If you’re in the Boise area, I have huge respect for the wholistic approach to nutrition and fitness mentored by Brett Denton and his team at Kvell Fitness.

You Smell of a Thing Growing Toward the Light

Ok, this was included because it sounds like part of mushroom cultivation but it’s really a line from the poem “Niece” from Broadsided Press. Broadsided is a project run by a couple of poetry alumni from the University of Alaska Anchorage (my alma mater). Their idea is to match poets and visual artists and publish a PDF of this partnership on their website so that ordinary folks like you and I can become “vectors” by printing these and posting them around town. One of the most inspired projects that fully capitalizes on the interactivity of the web along with literally bridging the digital divide.

Grow toward the beauty, Jeff O.