Neither plant nor animal, fungi go far beyond being a fantastic source of food and medicine in the form of mushrooms. Mycelium \u2014 the main body of fungi \u2014 is continually healing the earth in ways our modern technology can\u2019t even approach. Lesser creatures have benefited and thrived thanks to their strong partnership with fungi, while we are just closing in on a collaboration that could save us from ourselves. Let\u2019s look at the progress of our relationship thus far.<\/p>\n For tens of millions of years, hundreds of species of termites, ants and weevils have been cultivating fungi for food. For us, fungiculture is a relatively recent development, although humans around the world have been using mushrooms since prehistoric times \u2014 for food (as well as food for thought) and medicine.<\/p>\n Earliest evidence of mushroom consumption may be in the form of spores, found in the teeth of 19,000 year-old human remains. Other evidence was discovered in Chile \u2014 at a 13,000 year-old archeological site, and in Spain \u2014 where our Paleolithic ancestors of around the same time period apparently enjoyed boletes, a common mushroom in Europe and across the northern hemisphere.<\/p>\n The use of psychedelic mushrooms, also known as \u201cmagic mushrooms\u201d came later, with artistic depictions of their effects found in Australia \u2014 dated 10,000 BC, in Algeria \u2014 dated around 9,000 BC, and in Spain \u2014 dated 4,000 BC. Some suggest that their use may have been instrumental in the evolution of language, religion, or perhaps medicine \u2014 the next leg of our journey.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u00d6tzi the iceman \u2014 a 5,300 year-old mummy discovered in a glacier along the border between Italy and Austria \u2014 was found to have medicinal birch polypore in his digestive system, with additional medicinal mushroom species carried on his person. Traditional Chinese medicine, with a history going back at least 2,000 years, calls on several mushroom species for their healing properties. Once we knew how to use mushrooms for healing, humans began an enduring adventure with fungiculture.<\/p>\n A primitive method of cultivating the nutritious wood ear mushroom (Auricularia auricula<\/em>) began in the 600\u2019s during the Tang Dynasty. Early mushroom cultivators in China managed to produce wood ears by simply preparing a substrate of steamed bran and straw \u2014 relying entirely on nature to provide the spores.<\/p>\n Shiitake (Lentinula edodes<\/em>) cultivation on logs may have originated around the same time in Japan, with the placement of already producing wood over fresh logs for the purpose of inoculation.<\/p>\n About 1,000 years later in Europe, it was observed that the button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus<\/em>) would often grow where its washing water was disposed of; and it grew especially well in certain substrates \u2014 like straw and manure. Transferring the already-growing mycelium to prepared beds yielded better results, and taking the whole show into an abandoned limestone quarry also proved worthwhile.<\/p>\n With improved sanitation to reduce contamination, cave-grown mushroom cultivation became a popular and profitable endeavor. The button mushroom is still the most commonly cultivated mushroom around the world, making up about 40 percent of all mushroom production.<\/p>\n Although scientists have identified nearly 100,000 different species of fungi, these represent only a tiny fraction of the estimated 2 to 4 million species existing on earth; the point being that there is a heap of untapped potential out there, and it is hardly limited to human consumption.<\/p>\n But to understand how fungi can be effective in other areas, let\u2019s review how these fascinating beings function.<\/p>\n All the mushrooms we are familiar with are actually just the fruiting bodies of much larger, unseen networks of mycelia \u2014 the main part (about 95 percent) of the fungal body. This network, although unseen, is always at work, and only sends up mushrooms for reproductive purposes when conditions are ripe.<\/p>\n Unlike plants, which can photosynthesize, fungi obtain their food by absorbing nutrients from various substrates. To do this, microscopic tubular filaments called hyphae enter the substrate and secrete enzymes to break polymers down into smaller \u201cmonomers.\u201d This is a key concept to remember, for it enables fungal mycelia to decompose and transform many different materials, including woods,\u00a0plastics<\/a>, chemicals and pathogens.<\/p>\n Composed mainly of fibrous polysaccharides called chitin, thread-like hyphae have the strength and rigidity to penetrate just about any material where there are nutrients to be found. They can span over a mile in distance and be so densely packed, that a cubic centimeter might contain a half mile length of fibers.<\/p>\n As you might now imagine, fungi have a much greater presence than their sporadic appearance in the form of mushrooms would let on. Fungi are all around us; and if we choose to work with them, our home planet may become more and more habitable.<\/p>\n Plants and fungi have a vital partnership that modern agriculture has largely ignored and all but destroyed. Healthy soil is populated with a fantastic array of fungi, many of which grow on the roots of plants, forming a symbiotic relationship called mycorrhiza. Mycorrhizal fungi help plant\u2019s roots take up water and nutrients in exchange for sugars and carbon from the plant. Meanwhile, they improve disease resistance as well as resistance to other adverse conditions.<\/p>\n Compaction from heavy machinery, regular tilling, and a reliance on chemical fertilizers, herbicide and pesticides can have a\u00a0devastating effect<\/a>\u00a0in the long run \u2014 upsetting the natural balance of healthy soil, causing mutations in beneficial microbes, and disabling this all-important mycorrhizal bond.<\/p>\nA history of fungi<\/h2>\n
How fungi work<\/h2>\n
Beneficial applications of fungiculture<\/h1>\n
Sustainable agriculture<\/h2>\n