The day the Earth arrived, we found fungi in the wood with Neil, Bo taught Kym the Mars dance and Jadzia made boxes and heath drink.
Any fungi jokes? Not Mush room here – any Fun Guys? We had Neil Mahler visit Kinda Forest School, opportunistically a few days after our last rain when fungi started appearing in our wood.
Levon told us about the HUMOUNGUS Honey fungus which was the largest in the world
The Armillaria ostoyae, popularly known as the honey mushroom, has been spreading its black shoestring filaments, called rhizomorphs, through the forest for an estimated 2,400 years, killing trees as it grows. It now covers 2,200 acres (1,665 football fields) of the Malheur National Forest, in eastern Oregon.
We spoke about the Bungay Fly Agaric – not poisionous and there is no record of anyone every having died of it (because they are already dead) . How best to eat Puff Balls (fried in bacon fat). Penny Bun (did we talk about Keratin? a protein or was it Chitin?) Dogs Vomit – slime mold, which is in a different kingdom to fungi, part animal as it absorbs food like human do. Softer than scrambled egg. Making tea out of Birth Polypore, best dried and ground up. The oldest mumified man was found to have birch polypore:
In 1991 a 5,000-year-old corpse was found in a glacier in the Italian Alps. The oldest natural human mummy ever found in Europe, the Iceman, or Otzi, became famous for the glimpse he gave us into the lives of Copper Age Europeans. … Among other equipment, we know that he carried two types of mushrooms: a necklace strung with pieces of the birch polypore (Piptoporus betulinus) and what appeared to be a fire-starting kit containing remnants of another mushroom known as the tinder polypore (Fomes fomentarius). The birch polypores could have been used as a treatment for intestinal parasites, which Otzi had in abundance.
We had Marisa visiting us from Portugal, and she gave us the Spanish word for fungi los niños, which means “child’s”- Ah my little mushroom.
Trooping Funnel – called different names by us, Mell’s is INI OUTIE, as it’s hat goes in as it forms and then goes out as it gets older. Beefstake, Dogs Vomit, Ink Cap, Turkey Tail, Trooping Funnel, Shaggy Parasol, Russettt, Brittle Stem, Smokey Bracket, Oak Curtain, Hairy Curtain Crust, Peeling Oysterling, Blushing Bracket, Exidia nucleata – Crystal Brain Fungi, Yellow Stainer
The EARTH arrived – James delivered his creation of our EARTH for our woodland solar system
Bo taught Kym the Mars dance
Jadzia made boxes and tincture of goodness
Gina and Bo did some outdoor sewing
Parachut in sympathy with the Amazon rain forest, disappearing fast. Next time green. New washing up system worked well. Sad news – Cosmo and Lucky had both disappeared, we fear the fox.
Mend tractor
Bike Saturn
Box Making
Health tonic
Kinda Forest School 