Archive for 2011
For some reason, at this time of year I start thinking about what to read over the holidays. If you like studying and learning about fungi, you are probably up for a good topical read once in awhile, not matter what tie of year it is. We’re not talking about the raft of mushroom cookbooks [...]
Tags: books, mushroom books, mycology books, Mycorrhizae, reading
I recently learned about a new mycology-themed film called Now, Forager produced by Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin. Jason is the newsletter editor for the New York Mycological Society. Cortlund and Halperin are experienced filmmakers and judging by the trailer (see below) this looks to be a quality project. The story follows a husband and [...]
Tags: Foraging, mushroom films, Now Forager
I don’t get out on many mushroom hunts these days, but with the record one-day rainfall of last week, I figured that over the weekend it would be as good a time as any to get out. So, on Sunday, September 18 we took a short trip over to Black Forest County park in El [...]
Tags: Colorado, Foray, mushrooms, wild mushrooms
I recently read The Vertical Farm, Feeding the world in the 21st Century, by Dickson Despommier (2010, Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin’s Press, New York, NY) and I also got a chance to chat with him on the phone to get some information for an article I wrote for a magazine. Dr. Despommier is a [...]
Tags: Dickson Despommier, mushroom growing, sustainable agriculture, vertical farm, vertical mushroom farm
Radical Mycology Convergence September 2-5, 2011 (Labor Day weekend) The Radical Mycology Convergence will be held September 2-5, 2011 (Labor Day weekend) in Concrete, WA (2 hours NE of Seattle). What: A free, volunteer-run gathering of mycologists, hobbyists, and Earth healers coming together to share skills and information about the benefits of the fungal kingdom [...]
Tags: mycology conference, mycology meeting, Radical Mycology Convergence
Literally hundreds of videos a month that are found with keyword searches for “mushrooms”, “fungi” or “mycology” are posted to YouTube every month. Most are irrelevant to our interests but a few are worth checking out. Here are four that are worth more than a cursory look and they are posted at Fungal Visions. Fungal [...]
Tags: Fungal Visions, video
Someone I follow on Twitter first clued me into the existence of Spiral a few months ago. I wish I could remember who it was so I could thank them, but alas… Sorry. Whoever it was, I thank them for the tip because Spiral is a great read. My first look at Spiral came at [...]
Tags: books, Cornell, fungal bioweapons, Kathie Hodge, mycofiction, Paul McEuen
Oh good, a new mushroom book, I thought as I pulled the fresh-looking copy of Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America (Firefly Books, Buffalo, NY, 2010) by Roger Phillips off the shelf at my local library. For a new book, it looked awfully familiar for some reason. A quick scan of the front matter [...]
Tags: books, mushroom identification
I love TED talks. I just saw a new one featuring Eben Bayer of evocativedesign, creator of MycoBond, an organic adhesive that turns mycelium and substrate into a foam-like material for packaging and insulation. The company’s ecocradle is a foam packaging material and greensulate is an insulating material. I previously wrote about evocativedesign in First [...]
Tags: evocativedesign, Greensulate, MycoBond, mycoplastic, TED
Awhile back I snooped around eBay to see what sort of mushroom-related magazines were up for sale. Today I decided to check out the mushroom collectibles category. Over 3,000 items came up on a search for “mushrooms” narrowed to the “collectibles” category, sorted into 43 subcategories. I expected to see the usual tchotchkes, and the [...]
Tags: decorative mushrooms, eBay, mushoom collectibles, mushroom memorabelia
That’s Wired the magazine. I was perusing the February, 2011 issue and happened upon an interesting little feature recently introduced, “The Most Dangerous Object in the Office.” What? Mushrooms? Yep. The folks at Wired have set up a Mushroom Box Mini Growing System, a small mushroom growing chamber, and have been watching mushrooms grow. But [...]
Tags: hobby mushrooms, mushroom box mini growing system, mushroom growing, Wired
The movie Know Your Mushrooms by Canadian producer Ron Mann does have some legitimately posted trailers on the internet—like at the official movie website. There are a few clips on YouTube but none them look all that “authorized” to me. There is this KNOW YOUR MUSHROOMS Excerpt featuring Gary Lincoff, which is still up so [...]
Tags: copyright, know your mushrooms, video, YouTube
I was perusing a magazine called Woodturning Design the other day. Why? Well, I have always liked making stuff and I had purchased an old but good-quality wood lathe and some turning tools some years back. Last weekend I actually set it up and tried my hand at it. After some initial failures I succeeded [...]
Tags: decorative mushrooms, model mushrooms, wooden mushroom, woodworking
