Greetings!
A wintry cold snap, even during the weeks of mid-autumn, can mean different things to different people.
To mushroom hunters, a cold snap any time of the year equates to one or more of the following:
—No mushrooms (Too cold to even bother checking.)
—Fewer mushrooms (Most of which are inedible.)
—Frozen mushrooms (Some of which are choice edible species.)
All three selections are valid, though it is the last option that I’d like to address in this email and in the following video.
You see, quite a few edible mushrooms survive and reproduce in cold temperatures. It is therefore not uncommon to find edible fungi frozen solid to their substrates.
Recently, I’ve received numerous questions regarding the practice of foraging frozen mushrooms.
Is it safe to do so? What if the mushroom has been on a tree for weeks? Does the freeze/thaw cycle alter its texture?
These are all great questions that I address in the following video. Additional topics discussed in the video include the ability of fungi to produce anti-freeze agents, the destructive effects of freezing on a cellular level, and lots more!
Also, I was recently invited to speak on the topic of mushrooms and gut health with Peggy Schirmer from Gut Feelings.
Fungi, as it turns out, aren’t just residents of forests, fields, parks, and lawns. They also reside on and inside each and every one of us.
In this interview, we discuss — among many things — the gut mycobiome. You can check out the interview here.
Thanks for reading and watching, and as always, thank you for your support!
-Adam Haritan
Paths I Walk 