Essential Reading
The Fungal Pharmacy noted herbalist Robert Rogers introduces readers to more than 300 species of medicinal mushrooms and lichens found in North America. These fungi, Rogers explains, have the capacity to heal both the body and, through the process of myco-remediation, the planet itself.
Growing Gourmet & Medicinal Mushrooms by Paul Stamets A comprehensive, easy-to-use resource for growing a wide range of mushrooms. With grow specs for all the popular species.
Mycelium Running A philisopical book about how societies embracing of the fungal realm can help improve human existence and the health of the planet. Lot’s of ideas for gardens, permaculture, waste recycling, and environmental remediation.
Radical Mycology: A Treatise On Seeing & Working With Fungi by Peter McCoy Wow! I thought Stamets was a guru or an evangelist, but McCoy “M(y)Coy” is a revolutionary. Strangely they never mention each other in their books, is there some wizarding rivalry there? This book contains powerful thoughts about changing ourselves and the world by recognizing our relationship with the mycosphere. All life is symbiotically supported by fungal foundations. Lots to think about, plus tons of technical information an project ideas. I’m only half way through this tome and I’ve already had my mind blown a couple of times. Colour me radicalized.
The Mushroom Cultivator by Paul Stamets The original mushroom growers guide from the 70s lots of general info on how to grow with a bit of an emphasis on psilocybin.
Mushrooms of Ontario and Eastern Canada by George Barron
Great book for this neck of the woods. Also available at the Canadian Tire and Home Hardware.
Mushrooms Demystified Simply the best and most complete mushroom field guide and reference book, MUSHROOMS DEMYSTIFIED includes descriptions and keys to more than 2,000 species of mushrooms, with more than 950 photographs.
Mushrooms of the Northeast: A Simple Guide to Common Mushrooms by Walter Sturgeon. A beautiful little pocket guide to common mushrooms in this area of North America.
Web Sites and Blogs
Weird and Wonderful Wild Mushrooms A delightful blog by author Jan Thornhill about her fungal fascination and fantastic foraging finds. Interesting insights with lots of great phungus photography and myco-microscopy.
Mycology at Wikia I just discovered this it looks like a handy resource.
MycoKey a free, but limited, on-line mushroom identification tool (or an advanced app for 40€) created by Jens H. Petersen & Alf Gaba, University of Aarhus, Denmark
& Thomas Læssøe, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
FaceBook Mushroom Identification Forum
Mycotpia, Erowid and The Shroomery These two sites are decades old and many of the techniques (teks) found in books today were developed by the devoted mycophiles posting there, like hippie3 and Psylocybe Fanaticus (PF). Originally set-up to advance teks for the home cultivation of magic mushrooms, they now contain a wealth of info on all types of mushroom cultivation. I lurk on these sites when problem solving or planning a project. Membership has it’s privileges: access to the most recent threads and deepest archives.
Periodicals, Articles and Studies
Mycologia magazine Mycological research since 2002
Impact of Spent Mushroom Substrates on the Fate of Pesticides in Soil, and Their Use for Preventing and/or Controlling Soil and Water Contamination: A Review Paul Stamets recommends this article: “As I described in Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World, exploring the use of the ‘spent’ substrate, post mushroom harvest, for mycoremediation is an opportunity for many. Mushroom farms can be re-invented as healing arts centers and can be pivotal for helping improve environmental health. Although much more work needs to be done, I encourage all mushroom growers to explore their “waste” substrate as a value added resource for breaking down xenobiotic toxins. Why not ? ”
Culture and Equipment Suppliers
Fungi Perfecti
Paul Stamets’ comapany. Even with the US exchange, shipping and the cross boarder costs FP is often the cheapest source, and the quality of their products and cultures is unsurpassed.
CanWax
A good Canadian source of wax for sealing plug spawn go for the stickier container wax as opposed to “pillar” wax which is designed to come away from a mold.
Bearwoods Supply An economical source in Canada for dowel pins to use in making plug spawn.