Why mushrooms?
From the very beginning, when thinking about the operation of my farm, I knew that traditional farming was not for me. There were no thoughts about animal husbandry, and I was also looking for nature-friendly ways of working - I didn't want any fertilizers, any plowing, water, air pollution. It was also necessary to realistically assess the fact that the activity would be possible while living in Vilnius and not being at the farm every day. The practice of agroforestry has been fascinating in some parts of the world, when fruits and vegetables grow harmoniously together in jungle-like forests. You walk slowly through the forest, admire and pick the most natural food... After reviewing the Lithuanian classification of economic activities, we very pragmatically chose the cultivation of these. These mushrooms don't need land, they need logs, shade and water - this is the authentic oak mushroom cultivation technique practiced in Japan for centuries. It matched the approach and solved the land conservation issues. That's it, the land we have with trees and forest was perfect for them! From the very beginning, my husband and I discussed that we will not grow industrial mushrooms on briquettes in hangars, but we will choose the maximum quality and the real one - grown naturally on an oak log. Shitaki means oak mushroom in Japanese. There is a lot of industry in the world, a lot of garbage - people live in times of excess and consumption. I don't want to contribute even more to all this. Less is better, but what is high quality and natural.
We did not want to cut the oaks, we were interested in the possibility of purchasing them from the woodworks. They are expensive and rare, but it is possible to order them. We selected the necessary mycelium from a Belgian company , which has a laboratory and scientists who can prepare many types of mycelium. With the advice of a scientist, we chose a variety suitable for the Lithuanian climate.
I read a lot and was interested in the properties, use, etc. It looked just amazing! But I also tasted this mushroom, because of course the useful properties are good, but if it is difficult to swallow, it would be a bit of a drawback 😊 And they turn out to be very tasty! This is a really great mushroom that can grow in our region no worse than tomatoes, chickens or onions 😊
What is special about these?
Shiitake mushrooms are very healthy. They far surpass our baravykas in their valuable properties. Since these mushrooms have been cultivated in Asia for thousands of years, a lot of research has already been done around the world. There are publicly accessible electronic libraries where research summaries are published and anyone interested can read them, which I also did. Shiitake has a whole set of good properties, but perhaps the most important is that it has anti-cancer compounds, can be used preventively. Namely, the Japanese scientist Tstetsuro Ikekawa in 1969. published scientific studies proving its benefits in the fight against cancer.
It has been established that the identified polysaccharide lentinan is particularly effective in the fight against tumors. The phytoncides of these mushrooms have a strong antiviral effect, which are able to fight against various types of viruses: influenza, herpes, hepatitis and even HIV. They strengthen immunity. It is a source of very valuable substances, containing eight amino acids, ergosterol, protein, vitamin B6. They also contain vitamin D, and they accumulate it when dried in the sun.
Shitakis are mentioned not only as a means against cancer, but also against increased cholesterol, hepatitis B, and the formation of blood clots.
Chaga benefits
We do not grow chaga artificially, but when we find it in the surrounding forests, we simply collect it. Chaga or black birch mushroom is the most powerful antioxidant on earth. All over our planet. It's really mind boggling. It contains almost the entire table of chemical elements. Chaga contains 200 biologically active substances. This mushroom has also been used and studied for a long time in the world. Chaga contains polysaccharides, polyphenols, triterpenoids, which means it has anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antioxidant and even anti-cancer effects. I will write a separate post about the benefits of this wonderful mushroom. I want to know him more. He is so mystical, rare, very fascinating to me.
I'm not a doctor, it's difficult for me to list all the chemical properties, but it really has a strong and beneficial effect on the mushroom. We should only carefully select information about their use and choose reliable sources, consult with doctors, phytotherapists and other specialists in order to use them properly.
Is it a functional food?
Yes, shiitake and chaga are classified as functional mushrooms. Functional food is one that improves certain properties of the human body. Functional food helps reduce inflammatory and oxidative processes and performs many other useful functions in the body. We meet this savoka more and more often, there are even Lithuanian scientists researching functional food! By the way, Dzūkis would be happy to serve science as an open laboratory under the sky or as an equal partner, so scientists, please respond! 😊
Mushrooms are amazing strategists (without brains !)
Until I grew mushrooms, I was not particularly interested in them, I just liked to eat them. And later, after delving into their world, a very interesting and even somewhat mystical picture opens up. Although only about 10 percent of all mushroom species in the world have been studied so far, we already know that they are truly impressive organisms. Mushrooms are able to digest plastic, explosives, pesticides. In the advanced laboratories of the world, humanity is looking for ways to use these properties. This could have really huge potential to help our planet. By the way, we made friends with some mushroom growers, excellent people, who are trying to grow a mushroom that eats plastic in their own mini-laboratory.
Leather is made from mushrooms and used as an alternative to animal skin. Already today, the fashion industry uses leather made from mushrooms instead of animals. The ability of cordyceps to get onto an insect, use it to travel, then kill it, grow on it, and thus be able to reproduce, amazes me and even scares me a little. And mushrooms do all this without having a brain.
People have long known about the effect of mushrooms on the human psyche. Neuroscientists claim that certain substances in mushrooms even change the structure of the brain. Shamans, real or not, mix mysterious cocktails and promise spectacular experiences. Modern hipsters make their own gummy bears, jelly pieces. People have known the strong effects of mushrooms for a long time. Only by using unscientific methods of healing or enlightened people can they cause harm to themselves or others. If a chemical substance, in this case a mushroom, causes a feeling of another reality - let's think, what is this reality? Is she real? Mushrooms are not angels. Science is far from knowing everything yet. But this is an inexhaustible, broad and slippery topic.
Fungi are everywhere: underground, on the ground, in the air and in our bodies. Their underground networks are huge, world records are set for various mushrooms as the largest living organisms on earth. I have read that a mushroom is the oldest living organism on our planet, predating all other life. He is very, very well adapted to live in difficult conditions. Fungal spores can survive in open space. I read all this not in fairy-tale books, but in scientific publications 😊 Knowing this, I began to look at mushrooms with respect and a little caution 😊 They are amazing strategists with a lot of undiscovered possibilities...
I'm glad it's cordyceps instead of shiitake that are traveling insects. Speaking of these, one of my friends, after eating them, told me - I slept better at night, I felt so calm in the evening. I was surprised because I had never read or heard about such an effect anywhere. But later I still remembered the old legend about the sleeping Buddha. The legend tells of ancient Chinese times when Buddhist monks were looking for natural ways to improve their health and meditation practice. These monks, who lived in the mountains and forests, noticed that certain mushrooms growing on old tree trunks had special properties. They found that these mushrooms help them relax, improve sleep and general well-being. Because of their ability to induce deep and peaceful sleep, monks began to call these mushrooms "sleeping Buddha mushrooms." Shitakis were believed to help achieve spiritual peace and concentration similar to what the Buddha experienced during his meditations and spiritual awakening. So... Maybe my friend's peaceful sleep was not a coincidence. Maybe we should build a Buddha sculpture in the swamp like this...
