Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Growing mushrooms on woodchip can be done under trees in the field or garden, or you can put the chip into containers and grow either inside or outdoors. Scale of production, available facilities, and time at one’s disposal are things that might affect your choice of system.
Fungi were only granted Kingdom of Life status in the 1960’s, yet they possess a wealth of unique qualities and a dramatic potential to shape our lives.
Fungusloci, based in Stroud, Gloucestershire, is a mushroom micro-farm growing gourmet oyster mushrooms on spent coffee grounds collected from local independent cafés. It’s not surprising that its creator, Dominic Thomas, is familiar with permaculture and indeed founded the urban micro-farm on such principles.
Standing in the shade of some blossom filled apple trees, conversation turns to the wonders of fungi. “I got really intrigued by them, and the more I’ve read and learnt, the more I realise how critically important they are to the entire ecosystem,” Patrick muses. “They’re the ones doing all the recycling, they create soil, they live inside plants…. They’re very very weird and slightly magical things!” he points out with a grin.
When I get asked why I started the Radical Mycology project, I often say that it was to share the lessons that mushrooms have taught me.
