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Nathanrobling

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Posts posted by Nathanrobling

  1. I sent an Email to Fungi Perfecti and i want to share the email I sent and their thorough response. I joined this group looking to gather support for this dream. thanks for reading. 

    my email: 

    I have a dream! And I need help. Is it possible to clean a river with Paul's "bunker spawn"? My dream is to clean one of the most polluted rivers in America using Paul's technology. Not only that, but to also inspire other cities to do the same across the country. I want to organize a volunteer event on earth day 2019.  Between now and then I am going to work to raise money to purchase from fungi perfecti the supplies and equipment we would need to make this dream a reality. 

     
    Questions:
    1. Is this possible? (I feel like it has to be) 
    2. How many bunker spawn can I order for you at any one time? 
    3. Would it be more efficient to make the bunker spawn ourselves using supplies and ingredients purchased from fungi perfecti? 
    4. Is there a better mycoremediation technique for this type of project? 
     
    Thank you so much for your time reading this. And thanks for everything that you do.
     
     
    Their response: 
     
    Thanks for reaching out and your efforts to protect the Ohio River!
     
    One thing that we must consider as a small business is targeting our limited resources. Just to be clear this is still an experimental technology and we are not an environmental consulting firm.
     
    There are many variables to consider in large-scale remediation projects. To give you an idea of the complexity, factors to consider include screening the appropriate native mushroom species and available substrates to find combinations with the capacity for robust growth in the local climate as well as species with the targeted metabolic activity to degrade the contaminants of concern.
     
    Paul's book Mycelium Running is an excellent resource, packed with information about Mycorestoration -- the use of mushrooms to heal landscapes -- and is considered to be a manual for the mycological rescue of the planet!
     
    To read the methods and results of past experiments using Mycoberms to create an inoculated drain field, see the online article A Novel Approach to Farm Waste Management
     
    Further experiments have been done to assess the removal of bacteria by such bags of myceliated wood chips; research results are available in our online article Mycofiltration Enters the Commons. Be sure to read and share the attached reports:
    Simply, growing Stropharia rugoso-annulata - AKA the Garden Giant or Wine Cap - might be of interest to you. It's the species that Paul first observed attracting bee activity, as the bees were seen sipping on the mycelium in a garden bed.  Here is a link to the recent breakthrough article, published Thursday, Oct 4th 2018 in the journal Nature: Scientific Reports. This is a huge milestone in our work to help bees overcome Colony Collapse and to secure our food supply for future generations. You can cultivate this mushroom species in one of two ways: by starting with the Indoor Mushroom Patch first, or by going directly outside with the Outdoor Mushroom Patch.
     
    A Mycofilter can also be incorporated into Rain Gardens & Bioswales, by inoculating the mulch layer with Garden Giant. Creating a Be-Mushroomed Rain Garden could benefit many people locally as well as the environment/water ways. Rain gardens mimic the function of a native landscape by slowing the flow of water; allowing water to be filtered through the soil, transpired back into the air through leaves, and ultimately cleansed of pollutants before it reaches streams and other bodies of water
     
    Our coworker, Alex Taylor, also recently had his masters thesis manuscript published on this topic.
     
    This study demonstrates that introducing saprophytic fungi into soils by applying an inoculated mulch can help improve phosphorus retention in soils. This is an innovative new ecological engineering tool that may help prevent eutrophication of downstream aquatic ecosystems.
     
    We also would encourage you to contact local Mushroom farmers/Mushroom clubs/Tree Services/Educational facilities for assistance in forming a coalition.
     
    Paul Stamets: "Every community should have a gourmet mushroom farm — to help build carbon in the soil, to provide local healthy food and to be able to recycle very proximate sources of debris and waste. Every gourmet mushroom farm (they should all be certified organic) should be reinvented as an environmental healing center so that the mycelium can be used for remediation locally. Moist mycelium weighs a lot; so shipping tons of mycelium across country does not make any sense for remediation. With the debris fields that are close to the problems, you want to keep that distance as short as possible and site the farms in close proximity. My dream is that there would thousands upon thousands of small mushroom farms spread across the world that would be tied in to healing art centers, schools, to teaching environmental sciences, to teaching basic biology and the role of fungi in nature."
     
    Also, educating local farmers on the benefits of Mycorrhizae would also limit the need for heavy use of fertilizers and other chemicals. Mycelium improves soil structure, reduces erosion, nourishes plants, and improves soil's capacity to absorb and retain moisture. Mycorrhizal fungi associate with plant roots and are known to support the plant's own ability to utilize water and nutrients in the soil, as well as their ability to cope with environmental stress.
     
    If you would like to learn more, here are a few educational articles about mycorrhizal fungi:
    One of the most comprehensive sources for research done on Mycoremediation is by Harbhajan Singh entitled Mycoremediation: Fungal Bioremediation.
     
    If you are working with older substrates this video describes a method to help you begin with a clean slate.
     
    I welcome any further questions you may have,
     
    Mush love!
     
     
    If you love this idea and feel you can help in anyway, please contact me at nathan.robling@gmail.com or just on here. or just make this dream a reality of your own. I'm not seeking any credit for this idea or for it happening if it does. So if you can make it happen please do!
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