This might be infectious...

Wonderful crop from Ukraine

I have a Ukrainian friend who has never been interested in collecting mushrooms. She is (or maybe was - see below) a committed gardener. If you have read Karel Čapek's The Gardener's Year, you'll know what I'm talking about. If not, I have placed my translation of the Gardener's prayer from the book at the bottom of this post, so that you can get the idea.

Anyway, our previous discussions of fungi were usually limited to the ways of preventing phytophthora growth on her potatoes, tomatoes and other fruits of her allotment. So I was more than mildly shocked when she skyped me today, and the whole half hour of our conversation was spent showing the mushrooms she picked in some faraway forest. She had to get up at 5am to get there and back in one day! Even I'm not manic enough to do that.

I did take her mushrooming a couple of times when she visited me this summer, and she didn't show much enthusiasm then. I now suspect that local ticks carry a foraging bug which, like Lime disease, takes its time to incubate. Well, what can I say - welcome to the club!

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Gardener's prayer, from The Gardener's Year by Karel Čapek

‘O Lord, grant us rain every day, from about midnight until three o’clock in the morning, and let it be gentle and warm so that the earth can soak it in; but make sure it would not rain on campion, alyssum, helianthemum, lavender, and the others which you in your infinite wisdom know are drought-loving plants; I can make you a list of their names if you need me to – and grant that the sun may shine the whole day long, but not in all places (for instance, not on spiraea, or on gentian, plantain lily, and rhododendron), and let it not be too hot; that there may be plenty of dew and little wind, enough earthworms, no woodlice or slugs, no mildew, and let once a week liquid manure and pigeon's droppings fall from heaven. Amen.’

What's the largest living thing on the planet?

Hint: it's not a giant panda! The video might seem light-hearted, but it asks a very important question: what is the meaning of a "single living organism"? The two examples of the largest ones push the definition to the limit.

Enjoy the video, and come back tomorrow, for more mushroom stories!

The politics of porcini

This or a parliament session?
The answer is obvious!

I came across this amusing article today. Long story short, Claudio Burlando, an Italian politician, skipped a parliament session in order to go foraging for ceps in the woods near his home village. And how did he get caught? By tweeting the pictures of two basketfuls that he brought home.

Once the secret was out, the scandal picked up with true Italian passion and, I must add, equally true political absurdity. The incident was characterised as "shameful", "scandalous" and "a vigorous controversy". Hey, we are talking about porcini here! It's not prostitution, drugs or corruption. Keep things in perspective, for goodness sake.

Reading further, I learned that A) signor Burlando booked his day off weeks in advance, because it was the date of his annual family reunion; and B) the parliament session was convened at a very short notice, on a day when it is not normally held.

What can I say. All evidence considered, I fully approve of his behaviour. And as for his fuming colleagues - I'm sure they are just jealous of his haul. I know I am!

Image credit:
Boletus edulis

Where to study mycology?

If only we knew how to cultivate this!

I am still on my fever run, you see, but things are gradually going back to normal. I thought, suppose I'm going to attempt to cultivate these amazing wild fungi, wouldn't it help with the project if I got some sort of formal mycological credentials?

Unfortunately, it looks like there are very few places where you could study mycorrhizal fungi in the UK (no wonder so few people can even spell the word right!). I find it surprising since advances in their cultivation can provide a cost-effective and valuable source of food.

However, in the real world - "Among the many specializations of microbiology, mycology is one of the smallest. Because it is a small, niche field, few education, training and career opportunities exist" (full text here).

Maybe, it's time to change that.

Crazy ideas

Stage one: putting in spores

This weekend there was no forest trip, alas. This forager fell victim to a rather nasty common cold virus and had to spend a few days under a warm blanket, with painkillers and lots of tea and raspberry jam.

It wasn't all that bad. In fact, I think all people need a break from normal routine once in a while. We keep hearing that finding a cure for common cold is imminent, but I sure hope it won't happen in my lifetime.

Anyway, while semi-conscious in bed, I had this brilliant idea of how to cultivate chanterelles. All you have to do is to make a plantation of tiny trees of the required variety (birch, beech or pine will all work), put in some chanterelle spores, and - voila! You have a cultivated chanterelle.

Need I say that my paracetamol-infused brain could not find a single thing wrong with this plan! So I dragged myself from under the blanket, found the biggest chanterelle I had in the fridge and stuck it next to my rescued beech sapling that I found uprooted by forest management operations a few months ago.

Now that life is beginning to get back to normal, I have my doubts. But who knows, it might just work. There was at least one report of successful cultivation of chanterelles, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.