Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World

by Paul Stamets
2005

Our Take

 Paul Stamets lays out how mycelium, the underground web that produces mushrooms, can be put to work.  It’s part big-picture manifesto and part hands-on cultivation manual, and it’s essential reading for anyone curious mycoremediation.

About the Book

Stamets calls Mycelium Running “a manual for the mycological rescue of the planet,” and he means it. The book starts with how mycelium works: it threads through soil, breaks down dead plants and animals, and turns that debris into rich new earth. From there, Stamets introduces what he calls mycorestoration, which is using fungi to repair damaged environments. It has four parts:

Mycoremediation: using fungi to break down toxic waste and pollutants
Mycofiltration: using mycelium to trap silt, bacteria, and pathogens in streams and farm runoff
Mycopesticides: using fungi to control insect pests such as ants and termites without toxic chemicals
Mycoforestry and mycogardening: using fungi to build healthier soil, forests, and gardens

The book is also practical. Stamets walks you through growing mushrooms outdoors on logs, stumps, straw, and wood chips, and helps you pick the right species for your goals. He covers the medicinal and nutritional value of mushrooms, and he includes color photographs and projects you can do with kids.

Mushrooms are delicious, but this book argues they might also help heal the planet. It’s for gardeners, homesteaders, cultivators, and anyone who wants to see fungi as allies.

Deets

Author: Paul Stamets
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Publication date: October 2005
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 356
ISBN-10: 1580085792
ISBN-13: 978-1580085793
Item weight: 2.28 pounds (36.4 oz)
Dimensions: 7.4 x 0.9 x 9 inches