North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Kevin Moore <aleguy33@yahoo.com>]

There are many different Mycorhizal fungi that produce fruiting bodies that are good to eat. Certainly I was referring to orchard trees. And they must be inoculated at the time of planting for it to have a chance of working. The fungus species does need to be matched to the tree species in question. This is difficult to do because there have been no published correspondences done that I'm aware of. So you take your best guess. Chanterelles like oaks and other hardwoods, so I'm betting they will like other deciduous nut trees as well, since they also go for Doug Fir. I want to say Porcini mushrooms like pines, but my reference books are at another location so I can't check on that right now. If that is the case, then it would allow for another crop mixed in with nut pines of various types.
In the vegetable garden there is no doubt that Ulmarius or the Elm oyster mushroom greatly benefits vegetable crops grown with it, and it may be weakly mycorhizal, or not. King stropharia is another good mushroom that can be grown in the garden pathways, bringing even more land area into production.

The point of all this is that it is probably virtually pointless in most cases to stir in some commercial preparation and expect any significant benefit from it. But by partnering with various fungi, we can enhance the health of our plants and diversify the produce on our tables. It just needs some planning and research.

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From: Stephen Sadler <Docshiva@Docshiva.org>
To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, May 15, 2009 4:04:07 PM
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] mycorrhiza

In what kind of environment?  Garden, orchard?  You would have to match the fungi to the environment.  And not every fungus is beneficial to every plant.  They do have a bread tendency to exclude other fungal populations; for instance, the genus you favor shows some antimicrobial action against filamentous fungi such as fusarium.  That would be a good thing.  But Cantharellus is unlikely to grow in a garden or orchard.  They like mature trees, Doug fir in our local foothills, Oak farther north.  They might like oak here, but maybe Armillaria-in-waiting (for the Oak to be in distressed or in late maturity) occupies the space Cantharellus would like.    Cantharellus will fruit around healthy trees; it associates with the roots (as do truffles) rather than feeding on decaying roots.  I don’t think there are any good-tasting mushrooms you’d be able to grow in association with orchard tree roots, except perhaps truffles in association with filberts – and that’s a long-term unguaranteed proposition, considered only possible at all in certain climates (think Oregon). 

There are a number of good-tasting species that will grow in a garden, and it’s likely that they would provide some protection against soil-borne pathogens.  This isn’t to say they would form a happy  or symbiotic association with your garden-or-farm plants roots.   However, they’ll fruit within a year.  I don’t believe the mycorrhizae that might associate with living food crops produce edible fruiting bodies.

 

~ Stephen

CA Central Valley

 

From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Kevin Moore
Sent: Friday, May 15, 2009 11:08 AM
To: North American Fruit Explorers
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] mycorrhiza

 

My point is not simply to achieve mycorhizal associations, but specific associations with fungi that also produce edible (and preferably delicious) fruiting bodies. Why not make them do double duty? Not only do they benefit the plant, but you also gain a valuable crop, though they can take a decade or more before they start to produce, as in the case of Chanterelles. (My favorite.)