Been studying plant-fungal interactions for about 10 years, including a master's degree I dropped out of and never actually finished* so I'm full of fungus facts i don't really get to use ever.

*Actually did all the course work and lab work but didn't finish my thesis in time

  • redbird [comrade/them,he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    As a gardener, forager, mushroom enthusiast, etc. this is an interesting topic to me and I'd like to learn a lot more about it. I have a copy of Mycelium Running sitting on my bookshelf, but are there any other good books/resources you'd recommend?

    • notwikinotbot [comrade/them]
      hexagon
      ·
      4 years ago

      What got me into all this shit in the first place (besides trying to grow some psilocybes) is a book called "Teaming With Microbes," I don't remember if I ever even finished it but it got me into the whole idea of the soil food web, which got me deep into the fungal symbiosis shit. But if I remember correctly it's a really broad overview aimed at non-scientist gardeners, so it's a good starting point, but some of the scientific detail when they try to explain stuff struck me as off.

      For getting more into the soil science, I sat in on a bunch of lectures at UC Davis with Kate Scow, it looks like you can find her intro to soil science lectures here: https://video.ucdavis.edu/tag/tagid/ssc%20100 (Honestly I think the whole course was interesting, but she's the one that covers the soil biology stuff and the other lecturer is covering more the physics/chemistry stuff. Not sure which lectures exactly are the ones about the biology, but it's probably more towards the end of the course.) Her lab does a lot of interesting soil biology shit, though it's more focused on bacteria than fungi.

      David Arora has a lot of good stuff on fungal ID, and there's also a paper he wrote floating around somewhere on how cultural context defines what fungi are "poisonous," with a focus on Amanita muscaria and how there are some groups (I don't remember exactly who, somewhere broadly in the "Russia" area) that see it as edible but with detoxification steps, and other groups (i.e. most western sources) label it straight up poison.

      • redbird [comrade/them,he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        Thanks for the response! I look forward to checking these out. I've read a little by David Arora (All that the Rain Brings and More) and appreciate his style. One of these days I'll try to get my hands on a copy of Mushrooms Demystified.

        • notwikinotbot [comrade/them]
          hexagon
          ·
          4 years ago

          Not as good for flipping through than the physical thing, but http://library.lol/main/FB2BBF826E4D1EE294223194DF81B4B5