Mycelium Running by Paul Stamets has been the perpetual best-seller on popular mycology since published in 2005. It's an indispensible reference book for anybody working the land, especially foresters, farmers and environmental cleanup contractors. It's also a great book for anyone interested in growing their own food mushrooms.
Mycelium Running is filled to the brim with useful tips on things such as using mushrooms to improve soils and boost productivity in forestry and farming (gardening) with decreased use of expensive fertilizers and pesticides; filtering waste-water (mycofiltration); and clean up toxic waste from the land (mycoremediation).
For example, an easy do-it-yourself method of creating a mycofiltration bed for filtering waste water is delineated in detail. Recommended materials are listed along with suggested mushroom species to use and the ideal dimensions of the bed. In Stamets' examples, these mycofiltration beds are used to effectively filter and neutralize farm runoff but they could also be used to filter industrial waste water.
Added perks when using mycofiltration is that the beds also yield crops of scrumptious food mushrooms, and every 2-3 years, as the bedding material needs to be replaced, the old material can be spread on the farm fields as a rich fertilizer.
Another piece of useful information for farmers and gardeners found in Mycelium Running concerns the no-till farming method as opposed to the conventional method of plowing the fields after harvest. No-till farming helps promote saprophytic fungi (decomposing fungi), which break down organic material at a pace better suited to plant-life than the rapid and heat producing breakdown by anaerobic bacteria, which are the primary decomposers when stubble is plowed under. The mycelium of saprophytic fungi also binds the soil to prevent erosion and loss of valuable nutrients.
Saprophytic fungi benefit forests too, by breaking down organic matter but also help by competing with parasitic fungi (blights), which may kill thousands of trees if not stopped. Foresters can easily seed saprophytic mushrooms in blight infested areas as a natural fungicide against parasitic fungi, fighting fire with fire.
Mycorrhizal mushrooms can also be seeded to support the forest, or they may simply be encouraged to grow naturally by using more enlightened methods of forest management.
Mycorrhizal fungi help extend the reach of tree roots to better absorb nutrients and water, thus making the trees healthier and more drought resistant. Mycorrhizal fungi also manufacture and provide trees with natural antibiotics against many pathogens, especially parasitic fungi.
Mushroom mycelium can also be utilized to clean up toxic waste sites through a method known as mycoremediation. The term was invented by the author of Mycelium Running, Paul Stamets, but was in common use before the publication of this book.
Synthetic toxic compounds including petrochemicals, dioxins, neurotoxins, toxic industrial waste and much more can be effectively broken down by fungi into harmless compounds. Bacterial contaminants such E. coli can be killed by anti-bacterial compounds excreted by the fungi. And toxic levels of heavy metals may be absorbed and concentrated by mushrooms, which can then be harvested and safely deposed.
At $50 per ton, mycoremediation is a very cost effective method to clean up toxic waste. Conventional incineration may cost upwards of $1,500 per ton.
This plethora of information is merely the first half of this 300-page tome. Part III, which makes up the second half of the book, is an instruction manual on how to cultivate your own mushroom mycelium, which can be used for the above listed purposes, or to grow your own medicinal or culinary mushrooms. And seriously, who doesn't love gourmet mushrooms? In other words, this is a reference book for every household.
Mycelium Running is filled to the brim with useful tips on things such as using mushrooms to improve soils and boost productivity in forestry and farming (gardening) with decreased use of expensive fertilizers and pesticides; filtering waste-water (mycofiltration); and clean up toxic waste from the land (mycoremediation).
For example, an easy do-it-yourself method of creating a mycofiltration bed for filtering waste water is delineated in detail. Recommended materials are listed along with suggested mushroom species to use and the ideal dimensions of the bed. In Stamets' examples, these mycofiltration beds are used to effectively filter and neutralize farm runoff but they could also be used to filter industrial waste water.
Added perks when using mycofiltration is that the beds also yield crops of scrumptious food mushrooms, and every 2-3 years, as the bedding material needs to be replaced, the old material can be spread on the farm fields as a rich fertilizer.
Another piece of useful information for farmers and gardeners found in Mycelium Running concerns the no-till farming method as opposed to the conventional method of plowing the fields after harvest. No-till farming helps promote saprophytic fungi (decomposing fungi), which break down organic material at a pace better suited to plant-life than the rapid and heat producing breakdown by anaerobic bacteria, which are the primary decomposers when stubble is plowed under. The mycelium of saprophytic fungi also binds the soil to prevent erosion and loss of valuable nutrients.
Saprophytic fungi benefit forests too, by breaking down organic matter but also help by competing with parasitic fungi (blights), which may kill thousands of trees if not stopped. Foresters can easily seed saprophytic mushrooms in blight infested areas as a natural fungicide against parasitic fungi, fighting fire with fire.
Mycorrhizal mushrooms can also be seeded to support the forest, or they may simply be encouraged to grow naturally by using more enlightened methods of forest management.
Mycorrhizal fungi help extend the reach of tree roots to better absorb nutrients and water, thus making the trees healthier and more drought resistant. Mycorrhizal fungi also manufacture and provide trees with natural antibiotics against many pathogens, especially parasitic fungi.
Mushroom mycelium can also be utilized to clean up toxic waste sites through a method known as mycoremediation. The term was invented by the author of Mycelium Running, Paul Stamets, but was in common use before the publication of this book.
Synthetic toxic compounds including petrochemicals, dioxins, neurotoxins, toxic industrial waste and much more can be effectively broken down by fungi into harmless compounds. Bacterial contaminants such E. coli can be killed by anti-bacterial compounds excreted by the fungi. And toxic levels of heavy metals may be absorbed and concentrated by mushrooms, which can then be harvested and safely deposed.
At $50 per ton, mycoremediation is a very cost effective method to clean up toxic waste. Conventional incineration may cost upwards of $1,500 per ton.
This plethora of information is merely the first half of this 300-page tome. Part III, which makes up the second half of the book, is an instruction manual on how to cultivate your own mushroom mycelium, which can be used for the above listed purposes, or to grow your own medicinal or culinary mushrooms. And seriously, who doesn't love gourmet mushrooms? In other words, this is a reference book for every household.
About the Author:
Dr. Markho Rafael has worked in natural health since finishing Chiropractic College in'96. He currently focuses on medicinal mushrooms, frequently consulting two reference books: Mycelium Running by Paul Stamets for chemical, biological and medicinal properties of mushrooms, and Mushrooms Demystified by David Arora as the most comprehensive identification guide for North American mushrooms.
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