Category: mushrooms

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June News

Welcome to June everybody and the summer mushroom season kicking off! I’ve been blessed with two lovely Chicken of the Woods so far this year, which is a wonderful early gift from the forest. With some good rains we should see the mushrooms popping. I’ve noticed a few Russula, some Fawn and Wood Ear mushrooms. The Reishi mushrooms have been growing all over, look for pine and hemlock trees. For the last few years I have been trimming the white, soft edges and sautéing them with butter, oil, garlic and fresh herbs, they are quite nice.

Walks: I’m ready to get out there with you and do some walks, I will not be available the first week of the this month, so if your interested in booking a walk the first available date will be June 7th. You may have taken my card at a market or signed up for my newsletters or found out by word of mouth, in all cases to book a walk simply contact me at my email blueridgechaga@gmail.com or by phone (828)423-3875. I am available week days or weekends, mornings, afternoons or evenings. I can usually work with any schedule. If I plan to be out of town I try to make an announcement. Each walk is $40/person and lasts about an hour and a half. Some of you have expressed interest in me coming to your property. The cost for that is $50/hr. I don’t charge for travel but any donations are welcomed .

Markets: This is my schedule this month for markets.

East Asheville tailgate market @954 tunnel rd Groce United Methodist Church Friday 6/18 and 6/25 3-6pm

Yancey County tailgate market @6 south main street Burnsville, Nc Saturday 6/12 and 6/26 8:30am-12:30

King Street tailgate market @130 Poplar Grove Connector Boone, Nc Tuesday 6/15 4-7pm

Black Mountain tailgate market @130 Montreat rd Black Mountain, Nc Saturday 6/19 9am-12

Monthly Special: This months special is Buy One Get One Free Reishi double extracted 2oz tinctures, Tis the season for allergies and Reishi can help, another great mushroom to help fight allergies is Maitake. Here’s an article to browse over: https://www.thejoyofwellness.net/do-you-suffer-from-allergies-try-reishi-mushrooms/

I wanted to take a moment to highlight a special, rare find. Recently as I was wandering in the forest I came across a large object that looked like some sort of seed. As a naturally curious person I cracked it open and noticed the white interior, instantly I thought this to be a truffle but upon sharing the image with some other mushroom people I learned it was Wolfiporia extensa, also known as China Root. It’s an underground mushroom that grows near pines, lucky for me the ground where I found it was dug up, most likely by an animal, and it was simply laying exposed. It resembles a coconut shell to some degree. I sent it along to PA and amazing citizen scientist and mushroom master, William Padilla Brown. He cloned it in his lab and it worked! He had been searching for the North American version for seven years! Now I can’t wait to see how he uses it.

This mushroom is highly medicinal, it has been used for centuries in Asia  and possess a wide spectrum of pharmacological activities, including anti-viral, anti-tumor, anti-oxidant, free-radical scavenging, anti-rejection, anti-hyperglycemic, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antihypertonic stress effects. This sclerotia has been documented at up to 80% immune modulating polysaccharides!! I’ve read the Natives used it as a food source as well as medicine. I was too excited to share this beauty. Find out more on Williams process here: https://www.instagram.com/p/COu0DUnsDGP/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Hope to see some new and old faces out at the markets or in the forest this month! Happy hunting in sunshine!!

pink lady slipper

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October News Letter

Fall is here! This is a favorite time of year for me. The weather has begun to cool off, the leaves soon will burst into brilliant, vibrant colors, and it’s the perfect time for camping and bonfires. It has been an unusually dry end to summer and that has left the forest kind of bare of mushrooms. Sadly the mushroom season is coming to close, although a few things are still out there such as Hen of the wood, Chickens, fall Oysters, Turkey Tail, Chaga, Reishi, Birch Polypore and possibly a few other stragglers. For me this means just a few walks left this year. My walk schedule will be pretty limited in the month of October. I have been out a bit recently and found very little, that doesn’t mean there’s not good stuff out there but I have been waiting for some rains to come through before I schedule anything. Basically if it rains in the Asheville or Black Mountain area, than a few days later I will most likely try and do a walk. Just keep an eye on the calendar. Coming this month and through winter I’m excited to add destination hikes! If your new to the area, visiting or simply haven’t explored as much as you’d like. I have been exploring this area for many years and have come to know some really sweet spots, waterfalls, balds, overlooks, historical places and other destinations. Every week I will feature a different one and guide a group along the trail. Most hikes will be between a half hour and hour drive and hikes could be several hours long. I would like to thank everyone who came out for mushroom walks this year, I had some truly lovely groups.

So some news and happenings for October. East Asheville tail gate market ends this friday the 27th. It’s been a good season, thanks to all who came out to support me and there will be a holiday market so stay tuned for that. The Black Mountain Market goes until the end of November and I plan on being there every Saturday except two. On October 12th I will be at the Yancy County market in Burnsville and then again on November 9th. There’s plenty of good tailgating left!

***this event has been cancelled****

Also on Saturday, October 12th, from 1:30-4pm, which is after the market, in Burnsville, I will be doing a presentation at Kate’s Garden Refuge. You can follow this link to register: https://katesgardenrefuge.com/event/the-healing-power-of-medicinal-mushrooms/

I will be presenting on Chaga, Reishi, Turkey Tail and Lions Mane mushrooms and talking about some edible and poisonous ones as well. Kate will be doing a singing bowl mediation afterwards by donation. If you’ve never done this you really should, it’s a truly amazing, relaxing experience!!

Another big announcement is that I will be doing a workshop at the LEAF festival!! You can follow this link to see myself and the other healing arts presenters: https://www.theleaf.org/healing-arts/

I will be talking about the good and bad mushrooms in our region, I’ll have tea samples and also be doing a short mushroom hunt. I’ve been volunteering and going to the LEAF festival since I moved here 9 years ago and I super excited to be a part of it as a presenter.

This months mushroom is the fore mentioned Birch polypore. This mushroom is a bracket fungus. It is a polypore, which means no gills. These grow almost always only on Birch trees. They can fruit on the tree for up to a whole year. They start off white and over time turn a tanish brown color. This mushroom was one of the things Ozti, the iceman mummy found frozen in the Alps in the 90s, was carrying on him. You can eat the young version of these mushrooms and they aren’t bad at all. However it’s main uses come in the medicinal properties it holds. It is used as an immune tonic, it is anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-tumor, anti-parasitic, anti-viral and anti-bacterial. It is being studied for both cancer and HIV treatments. It also is good to help start fires! I admired this mushroom for years, always wondering what it was used for and upon learning all about, I use it now in my medicine cabinet.

Hope you all get out in the beautiful fall weather and enjoy some hiking, camping, foraging or just sitting on your porch.

“Nature alone is antique, and the oldest art a mushroom” —Thomas Carlyle

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Reishi- Ganoderma Tsugae

Reishi mushroom is considered the queen of medicinal herbs, and is often known as the mushroom of immortality. It’s history is long and extensive, especially in Chinese medicine. Reishi is undoubtedly one of the prettiest mushrooms I have seen. In our region it grows abundantly, mostly on Hemlock and Pine trees. It grows from spring to winter. It’s hard to mistake this mushroom for any other. When young the white and yellow outside bands are edible and can be quite tasty. The whole mushroom is highly medicinal. In a lot of research it is said the stems contain the most concentrated values, but no doubt the whole mushroom is packed with medicinal goodness.

Reishi has been used for centuries in medicine making . One of my favorite facts about it’s history is that monks have consumed it to deepen meditation practices. Reishi has a powerful calming effect on both mind and body. It is regarded as an ‘herb of spiritual potency’. In Chinese folklore it was believed to bring people back from the dead and traditionally was given from a woman to a man to show interest.

  • A painting from the Shoalin Monastery

Reishi health benefits:

Protects against:

  • inflammation
  • fatigue (including chronic fatigue syndrome)
  • frequent infections (urinary tract, bronchitis, respiratory infections, etc.)
  • liver disease
  • food allergies and asthma
  • digestive problems, stomach ulcers and leaky gut syndrome
  • tumor growth and cancer
  • skin disorders
  • autoimmune disorders
  • diabetes
  • viruses, including the flu, HIV/AIDS or hepatitis
  • heart disease, hypertension, high blood presure and high cholesterol
  • sleep disorders and insomnia
  • anxiety and depression
  • kidney disease

Overall Reishi promotes great health and longevity while reducing the risk of life shortening conditions. There is infinite research published about this powerful mushroom. Reishi feeds the three treasures- Jing, Chi and Shen- mind , body and spirit!

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Lions Mane – Hericium Erinaceus

Lions Mane has quickly become one of my favorite mushrooms. I find it a beautiful sight, finding one in nature is an exciting event. Loads of research is coming to light on the power of this beauty. It’s taste is similar to crab meat. Lions Mane is mostly found on decaying trees. It has shown wonderful brain enhancing properties, especially in the fight against Alzheimer’s and Dementia diseases. It is considered a toothed fungus. It is very popular in Chinese and Japanese medicine. Throughout history it was reserved for royalty and it is revered by a sect of Buddhist monks that wear garments known as suzukake, that resemble Lions Mane mushroom.

Health Benefits:

  • Helps relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety
  • Speeds up recovery of nervous system injuries
  • Regenerates brain cells
  • Protects against ulcers in digestive tract
  • Reduces heart disease risks
  • Helps manage diabetes symptoms
  • Fights against cancer
  • Improves focus and memory
  • Reduces inflammation and oxidative stress
  • Boosts Immune system
  • Helps heal skin wounds

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323400#potential-benefits

https://skillet.lifehacker.com/how-to-choose-store-and-eat-lions-mane-mushrooms-1845358782

Lions Mane can resemble a mushroom known as Bears Head Tooth. Also known to have medicinal properties and is a very good edible wild mushroom.

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Turkey Tail – Trametes Versicolor

Turkey Tail, also known in Japan as Cloud Mushroom, is a very common yet extra special little mushroom. If you hike any amount in our region or the Northern hemisphere for that matter, you are sure to run across these guys. Another beautiful looking mushroom that comes in all sorts of lovely colors, blues, browns, purples, grays and greens. It is always striped and it’s distinguishing factor is it’s all white bottom. There are several similar look alikes, none are bad or poisonous, they just don’t have the medicinal punch that Turkey Tail does. You can find these on downed branches or rotting trunks, they also will grow on healthy trees. Turkey Tail has been recognized by the FDA for it’s studies around cancer and chemotherapy. It is widely used by patients to rebuild immune systems weakened by chemo treatments. I believe it is one of the most noticed but over looked mushroom in the forest.

Alittle history of Turkey Tail, it has been used in Japan and many Asian cultures since the 15th century. The oldest discovered mummy, dating back 4,000 years, had Turkey Tail in his medicine kit! It’s believed he used it for it’s antibiotic and natural parasite killing qualities. Turkey Tail is revered in Aztec rituals and the Egyptians gave it pharaohs and kings.

Health benefits:

  • Prevents and treats the common cold and flu
  • Can support chemo patients
  • May combat breast cancer
  • Helps treat HPV
  • Aids digestion
  • May help HIV/AIDS patients
  • Boosts immune system
  • Packed with anti-oxidants
  • May improve insulin resistance
  • combats fatigue
  • good for canine issues

False Turkey Tail:

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Maitake-Grifola frondosa Hen Of the Woods, Sheeps Head

This mushroom was coined by the Japanese as the Dancing Mushroom, because when someone found one they would dance with joy knowing they will be in good health. Maitake is one of my personal favorite edibles for flavor. Hens grow in the fall, usually the end of September and into October. They most always grow at the base of Oak trees and there is usually more than one cluster, so check all sides! The health benefits of Hens are numerous:

*Immune system regulator

*Helps weight loss

*Cancer fighter- Reduces cancerous cell production and tumor growth, especially in breast cancer.

*Full of Vitamins B, C and D as well as Anti-Oxidants, Beta D Glucans and Potassium.

*Lowers Cholesterol levels and fights Diabetes

*Helps treat the side effects of Chemo

*Fights against flu and cold viruses

Maitake is a great additive to your medicine cabinet, especially in winter months when boosting your immune system is important in fighting off colds. It also shows great promise in our fight against cancer. Here’s a few helpful links:

https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/maitake-mushroom

https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/maitake

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