Home Removal Services Blog

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).

As an example, a method for building a mycofiltration bed to filter waste water is described in exacting detail. Dimensions, depth, layers and recommended materials and mushrooms are listed. This mycofiltration is useful, among other things, for filtering manure enriched farm runoff.

An added benefit of using mycofiltration beds on farms include the production of delicious food mushrooms, which sprout out of these beds. And every 2-3 years, the material in the bed can be dug out and used as a rich fertilizer on the fields of the farm.

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.

For forestry, not only do saprophytic fungi help break down and recycle organic matter. They also help combat many parasitic fungi (blights) that may kill large numbers of trees. Stamets gives useful suggestions on how to seed beneficial saprophytic fungi in blight infested forests as a natural “fungicide,” fighting fire with fire, so to speak.

The symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi can also be seeded in forests to promote healthy trees. Or they can be protected and naturally promoted through wise and informed forest management.

Most plants form symbiotic relationships with mushrooms. The mushroom mycelium more effectively absorbs water and nutrients, exchanged with trees for sugars, making the trees healthier and more drought resistant. Mycorrhizal fungi also provide trees with natural antibiotics against pathogens.

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.

Mycoremediation has also been shown to be the most economical method of cleaning up toxic waste sites, up to 95% cheaper than some common conventional methods.

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.

Dr. Markho Rafael has worked in natural health since finishing Chiropractic College in’96. He currently specializes in medicinal mushrooms, frequently consulting two reference books: Mycelium Running by Paul Stamets for medicinal, biological and chemical properties of mushrooms, and Mushrooms Demystified by David Arora as the most complete identification guide of American mushrooms.

categories: mushrooms,ecology,environmental,agriculture,farm,farming,garden,landscaping,tree,horse,chicken,biology,herbs,nature

All of us would like to grow our own herbs but most of us have not enough knowledge on how to start growing them.

Most people first start asking themselves what herbs will grow better and which one will be more productive. However, these hesitations will be erased if we will purchase a herb garden kit first.

An Herb Garden Kit contains a large variety of herbs and can be categorized into Italian herbs, culinary herbs, international herbs, German herbs, herbal tea Herbs, salsa Herbs and many, many more. Most Herb Garden Kits are different but contain similar items you can get started with.

First, an Herb Garden Kit will contain seeds. Also an Herb Garden Kit will contain a dome that will provide consistent temperature and humidity for the herb plants to thrive and to grow a healthy root system. They will also contain an instructional guide. This will give the herb enthusiast easy to follow instructions to succeed with their herbs. Most probably an Herb Garden Kit will offer recipes in which to use the herbs that you are growing. Other websites that sell interested people an Herb Garden Kit will offer a newsletter you can sign up for which will provide recipes and additional useful information. An Herb Garden Kit will also provide a planter in which the herbs will be grown in. Again, one Herb Garden Kit is different to the next, but most kits will also provide either soil or pellets in which to grow the seeds with.

Growing herbs indoors from an Herb Garden Kit has many benefits. First off it is easier to enjoy the herbs because they are right at your finger tips. You don’t have to trek out to the garden to add a little seasoning to the pot on the stove. It is also just as easy to harvest herbs and freeze them for future use. Plus, with the constant growing conditions that is provided to plants in indoor conditions, you don’t have to worry about winterizing herb plants or herbs that don’t survive the winter weather conditions. The herbs have a constant temperature in which to thrive. Plus, all herb garden kits are different but most are small and compact. They are great for small spaces or apartments. Plus, when growing plants outdoors it can be hard to judge which area in the garden will get the right amount of light for each plant. Plus, rain fall makes it easy to water plants but too much rain can also be harmful. By growing herbs indoors with a complete instructional guide, you are able to take the guess work out of this hobby. Your herbs will be successful every time.

There is probably a better feeling of accomplishment when you become an herb expert and can grow any kind of herb in your garden. But it takes work to get there and a good way to learn is through a Herb Garden Kit where the difficulties are removed and you are left with the enjoyment of the herbs.

After you know all of the information an Herb Garden Kit provides, you are now ready to become an herb expert.

Before you get anything online, make sure you check Jack Grants’ excellent free report on Herb Garden Kit Solutions. Get his FREE report – Click here.