The Manchurian Mushroom returns!

I'll be honest with ya, we're split on this one. About half of the Everything Mushrooms crew digs Kombucha tea, the other half think it's about the most disgusting thing on the planet. Either way, we all tend to agree the health or medicinal benefits are usually overstated. There does seem to be evidence to support the claims of mild detoxifying effects from the acetic acid and lactic acid in the beverage. As such, Kombucha tea is usually sold as a "detoxifying" tea, popular names include the Synergy brand.

For those that don't know, Kombucha is a tough rubber-like skin, which is actually a complex symbiosis of yeasts and bacteria. The skin, or Scooby (scO-bee), is grown on an infusion of tea and sugar, allowing the yeast and bacteria complex to proliferate, producing an acidic and sour “cider-like” beverage usually referred to as Kombucha tea. Often called the “Manchurian Mushroom,” it is not a mushroom at all.

So, if you like cidery (is that even a word?) or vinegar flavored drink, you will find Kombucha tea pleasant to drink, easy to brew healthy beverage. Ohh, I guess the important part of this post is to let everyone know we are once again producing Kombucha Starter Cultures and have a limited supply in stock. Scoobies will come in cycles, so if you miss them now, more will be ready in 2-3 weeks.

Updated workshop schedule, more to come!

This is probably old news, but Everything Mushrooms recently moved. We'll post more later on the why, how, and what it means for our future. The new facility at 1004 Sevier Ave in South Knoxville has increased capacity for mushroom workshops, and we're going to get them started ASAP. We hope to expand our workshop offerings with new classes, below you'll find our first updated workshop schedule:

January 27, 6:00pm - Shiitake Mushroom Log Workshop: Fun and casual hands-on workshop to learn the process of making mushroom logs. Discussion will include care and maintenance. Workshop will last approximately one hour and you will make your own Shiitake Log to take home to your garden. $20 fee - all materials supplied. Please call to reserve a spot as space is limited. About one hour.

February 6, noon, Saturday class - Shiitake Mushroom Log Workshop:Fun and casual hands-on workshop to learn the process of makingmushroom logs. Discussion will include care and maintenance. Workshopwill last approximately one hour and you will make your own ShiitakeLog to take home to your garden. $20 fee - all materials supplied.Please call to reserve a spot as space is limited. About one hour

February 10, 6:00pm - Shiitake Mushroom Log Workshop: Fun and casual hands-on workshop to learn the process of making mushroom logs. Discussion will include care and maintenance. Workshop will last approximately one hour and you will make your own Shiitake Log to take home to your garden. $20 fee - all materials supplied. Please call to reserve a spot as space is limited. About one hour.

February 20, noon, Saturday class - Shiitake Mushroom Log Workshop:Fun and casual hands-on workshop to learn the process of makingmushroom logs. Discussion will include care and maintenance. Workshopwill last approximately one hour and you will make your own ShiitakeLog to take home to your garden. $20 fee - all materials supplied.Please call to reserve a spot as space is limited. About one hour.

The schedule will soon be expanded through the rest of the spring. We expect to hold at least two Saturday and two weekday shiitake log workshops a month. Check back frequently for updates to the Workshop Schedule.

(Original Post Sept 4th 2008)

The last month has seen daytime highs in the low 90's or high 80's here in Knoxville... not what you'd consider typical shiitake mushroom weather. Just three weeks ago, our own shiitake log garden in North Hills was producing a handful of mushrooms after a decent rain.

Today we heard from shiitake log workshop attendee Daniel L. with similar news. His log was created in our workshop just about a year ago and the recent rains from the remnants of Faye seemed to have sparked a few fruits to emerge:

We're a little floored by these late summer, hot weather mushrooms volunteering themselves. Maybe it's the dry summer we've been having, but these rains are bringing on mushrooms when we'd normally not expect it. It must be time to start checking on the logs, especially after saturating rain.

Paul Stamets on 6 ways mushrooms can save the world | Video on TED.com

(Original Post September 11, 2008)

Paul Stamets on 6 ways mushrooms can save the world | Video on TED.com

Filmed in March and posted a few months ago at TED Talks, this 17 minute clip is a wonderful presentation by pioneering mycoremediation author and mushroom advocate Paul Stamets. Here Mr. Stamets focuses on many of the themes outlined in his latest book Mycelium Running : How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World. He covers some new territory as well, illustrating six specific ways mushrooms can act as agents to heal and repair, both body and ecosystem. It's a highly recommended clip and well worth 17 minutes of your time!

New Blogspot Account

New Year's Resolution: make posts to blog. Yep, at least once a week. As part of that effort, we're updating our blog account, moving it to blogspot, and populating it with the few posts we made using our previous system.

All that said, check back frequently. We hope to update this blog at least once a week. Expect a lot of none sense and general musings about what's happening in these parts. Who knows, some of you may like it. (I refuse to use emoticons in the blog... but if I was, there would have been a 'smiley face' here).