MYWO

By Marzia Matarese and Oscar Martin [node observatorio] from the net eemeemee (enclave mycopirata mutante)

eemeemee is a community network for sharing processes and knowledge generated around DIWO (Do it with others) mycology. As a network, it is articulated by distributed nodes that activate in different spaces and with asynchronous but complementary temporalities.

The workshop will cover different diy and diwo cultivation practices, such as techniques for cloning mycelium in agar Petri dishes and reproduction in grain substrate for mushroom fruiting. We will share recipes, stories and experiences developed in the eemeemee Observatory node, closing the workshop with a Mycelium Liberation Front.

Nodes that compose EEMEEMEE

HOW IT BEGAN AND WHERE WE ARE GOING

In December 2019, the wetlab hosted one of the first activities of some of the nodes that would be later fixed in eemeemee, at that time still in an embryonic state:

Mycelial connections, 2nd session of Puaj! in Hangar

On that occasion, the muaj! proto-node joined forces with the Mycological Sovereignty Group of Calafou to share knowledge about mycelial reproduction. We learned how to build a sterile culture box, we cloned mycelium in petri dishes with Agar, we mixed a substrate of Oyster mushrooms with malt for their future fructification. In addition, the session proposed a reflection on the mycelial possibilities of creating interspecific networks of care and mutuality, and of provoking transformation processes. We read Paul Stamets, Anna Tsing and Peter McCoy, and listened to John Cage and Terence McKenna. The session was broadcasted temporarily on 93.4 FM on a radius of 80 metres.

Throughout 2020, in order to give continuity to the desire to work together and with mushrooms, a mailing list and a wiki was created to compile and systematise the experiences of the different nodes of the group.

Currently, eemeemee materialises weekly in Salamina, a space that hosts the Observatory and muaj! nodes in the mycology Wednesdays: laboratory-sessions of experimentation, learning and research about/with mycelia. These sessions are open to anyone who wants to share their interest in mycology.

During these sessions we experiment with different reproduction and cultivation techniques (agar, liquid culture, fruiting substrates), we propose to investigate different ways of observing and visualising mycelia through micro and macroscopy techniques, sonification, etc... We also address, through poetic speculation and the reading of theoretical texts, questions linked to the potential of fungi as creators of worlds and facilitators of dynamic biological environments that allow processes of transformation, metabolisation and regeneration towards new emerging and sustainable ecologies.

From these encounters another tentacle has also emerged, collected by the muaj! node, on speculative design of zombie membrane organisms. In this project, research with fungi leads to experimentation on shared transformation processes with other microorganisms in the materialisation of zombie entities (halfway between life and death) and plays with the bioremediating possibilities of such multi-species assemblages.

WHAT IS MYCELLIUM?

The mycelium that fills the world is the fungus that we do not see. Sunken beneath the recesses and pervading all niches, mycelium is the silent and hidden connector, cleanser, and healer of the world. It is the maker of potent medicines, the eldest architect of forest and desert, and the destroyer of concrete and wood. From the mycelium we have come, and to its web we shall return to be embraced, dissolved, and recomposed through the endless turning of life's cycles. (Radical Mycology)

mould, mycelium and bioluminescence

Dynamics of cytoplasm & nuclei in mycelium: the living network of a filamentous fungus colony:

Phallus impudicus (stinkhorn) mycelium time-lapse (4 Days):

Mycelium is the vegetative part of a fungus or fungus-like bacterial colony, consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. Fungal colonies composed of mycelium are found in and on soil and many other substrates. A typical single spore germinates into a monokaryotic mycelium, which cannot reproduce sexually; when two compatible monokaryotic mycelia join and form a dikaryotic mycelium, that mycelium may form fruiting bodies such as mushrooms. A mycelium may be minute, forming a colony that is too small to see, or may grow to span thousands of acres as in Armillaria.

Through the mycelium, a fungus absorbs nutrients from its environment. It does this in a two-stage process. First, the hyphae secrete enzymes onto or into the food source, which break down biological polymers into smaller units such as monomers. These monomers are then absorbed into the mycelium by facilitated diffusion and active transport.

Mycelia are vital in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems for their role in the decomposition of plant material. They contribute to the organic fraction of soil, and their growth releases carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere (see carbon cycle). Ectomycorrhizal extramatrical mycelium, as well as the mycelium of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, increase the efficiency of water and nutrient absorption of most plants and confers resistance to some plant pathogens. Mycelium is an important food source for many soil invertebrates. They are vital to agriculture and are important to almost all species of plants many species co-evolving with the fungi. (Wikipedia)

WHERE DOES OUR MYCELIUM COME FROM?

There are mainly two ways to start a mycelium culture. The first is from spores, which can be collected from a mature mushroom at a certain point in its reproductive cycle: sporulation. Spores can be collected using a technique called "spore prints", in which a mature mushroom is placed on top of an aluminium foil covered by a glass jar or other container. It is important to keep the process as sterile as possible. Spore prints can be kept for a long time, as the spores remain inactive. In fact it is one of the ways to keep a library of species/varieties for the future.

Another technique is spore water: the same procedure applies but the spores are collected in a distilled water solution. This technique is not suitable to preserve the spores for a long time as they could germinate in the solution.

The other way to start a culture in a petri dish is by cloning, which consists of reproducing a new mycelial network from a piece of the body of a mushroom. This technique, as the name suggests, creates a genetic clone of the mother mushroom, maintaining the same characteristics. Inoculation from spores, on the other hand, allows us to play with a greater genetic variety.

CULTURE TECHNIQUES ON AGAR PETRI DISHES

One way to start growing mushrooms at home is to obtain a sample of mycelium and start growing it in a Petri dish with an agar medium enriched with some other components.

A Petri dish (alternatively known as a Petri plate or cell-culture dish) is a shallow transparent lidded dish that biologists use to hold growth medium in which cells can be cultured, originally, cells of bacteria, fungi and small mosses.

Mycelial growth will occur in two dimensions and this allows us to observe and identify possible growth of other micro-organisms. We could also experiment with adding different types of compounds, organic or chemical, or other organisms to study the responses of the mycelium.

The culture medium consists mainly of agar. Agar is a gelatinous substance derived from seaweed and is often used in vegan cooking. Agar itself is poor in nutrients, so it has to be supplemented with other ingredients that provide carbohydrates, protein, vitamins and minerals.

AGAR MEDIA FORMULATIOM

Agar is nutrient-poor and must be supplemented with carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and minerals to ensure healthy mycelial growth.

Common sources of these additives include:

CARBON: Provided by dextrose (corn sugar), light malt extract (from beer-brewing supply companies), cereal flours, oatmeal water, or the broth made from boiling potatoes. Some cultivators prefer to mix carbon sources for more robust recipes.

PROTEINS: Cereal flour, soy peptone, and potato water provide different proteins and amino acids.

B VITAMINS: Supplied by baker's yeast or nutritional yeast.

MINERALS: I typically add a pinch of gypsum to each liter of agar to provide additional calcium and sulfur to the recipe. A few drops of a liquid trace mineral concentrate is an optional, experimental additive. Just be sure the concentrate does not include silver, which is antifungal.

For most agar formulas, it is recommended to add 3-5 grams of the grain and/or fruiting substrate that will later be used to grow the fungus. Introducing these substrates early on stimulates the mycelium into producing the digestive enzymes it will later need to effectively break down the substrates, leading to quicker myceliation and fruiting times. (Radical Mycology)

Optionally, a few drops of hydrogen peroxide can be added to prevent the growth of bacteria or a little activated charcoal. Activated charcoal also has the function of promoting spore germination.

*peroxide does not withstand temperatures above 60 degrees as in sterilisation.

Agar recipe - Dark Agar #1 (from Mycoremediation)

* 1/2L distilled water

* 8 g agar

* 8 g malt extract

* 2 g charcoal

* 3 drops of peroxide

* 1 pinch of gypsum

PROCEDURE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF PETRI DISHES WITH AGAR MEDIUM

*Weigh and mix the ingredients with the distilled water in the jars.

*sterilise the jars in the pressure cooker (approx. 45 min).

*wait for the jars with the mixture to cool (just a little, so that it does not harden) and pour it into the Petri dishes in a sterile environment and following careful practices.

INOCULATION:

- transfer of mycelium from plate to plate

Carefully open a plate that is completely myceliated and strong. Cut into pieces with a sterile scalpel. It is best to cut pieces from the central part of the mycelium, avoiding the edges that may come into contact with other micro-organisms. Carefully transfer the mycelial pieces from one plate to another. Close and seal with parafilm.

- Cloning from mushroom body to Petri dish

Select a mushroom and clean the outside of the mushroom with a little alcohol to remove possible bacteria. With your hands, cut the mushroom in half and with a scalpel take a small piece of the innermost part of the mushroom. Place the piece in the Petri dish. Close and seal with parafilm.
Once the Petri dishes are ready, place them in a dark place at a room temperature appropriate to the variety of mycelium you are working with. A common range is between 18 and 28 degrees Celsius.

*Liquid culture. An alternative way of growing mycelium in a petri dish is liquid culture, which consists of growing the mycelium in a liquid medium, enriched with nutrients, which allows a three-dimensional development of the mycelium.

Shroom Academy how to make a liquid mushroom culture or liquid mycelium

CARE PRACTICES OF (ALMOST) STERILE WORK

When we work with culture substrates we cannot avoid to discuss how to deal with competition from other microbes. We have to consider that many other organisms like the same food that fungi eat and that share the same living environment and conditions. The growth of unexpected molds, yeasts, and bacteria is a common experience in mushroom cultivation due to the fact that the sugary, nutrient-rich, and moist substrates used are ideal for these competitors. When competitors begin to grow on a substrate, they often grow faster than the mushroom mycelium, leading to their “contamination”.

COMMON MICROORGANISMS THAT GROW ON FUNGAL
SUBSTRATES. From Radical Mycology page 207

MOLDS: Innumerable mold spores fill the air we breathe. The most common fungal competitors that every cultivator will invariably come to know and love to hate include the black Mucor pin molds, blue-green Penicillium, and infamous olive-green Trichoderma species. Trichoderma species are mycoparasites that are often found growing directly on the mushroom mycelium as opposed to the actual substrate. They produce toxins such as trichothecin and the sesquiterpene trichodermin to antagonize other fungi. The proliferation of molds can indicate senescence in the mushroom or low airflow.

BACTERIA AND YEASTS:

A wide variety of bacteria and yeasts can present on agar as slimy streaks or dusters. The coloration of these microorganism colonies may be yellow, brown, pink, gray, or translucent. Grain spawn contaminated by bacteria often appears as a "wet spot" of non-myceliated, greasy substrate, and tends to impart a foul odor. Liquid inoculum contaminated with these microbes is often cloudy, discolored, and/or translucent. Fruiting bodies infected by bacteria will present with lesions or abnormalities. Some bacteria (most notably Bacillus cereus and other Bacillus species) can go into a state of suspended animation and form a heat-resis- tant "shield" known as an endospore that can withstand boiling temperatures. For this reason, grains are soaked overnight to awaken these bacteria from dormancy and make them susceptible to the high temperatures of the sterilization process.

VIRUSES:

Viruses are not possible to detect with the naked eye. However, viral infections can be seen in the form of fruit body deformations

There are many factors to take into account when working in a (almost) sterile environment. We are surrounded by microorganisms that can get in touch with our cultures through a variety of mediums.

Ourselves

Our bodies are an ecosystem of microbes. They are present on our skins, on our clothes and circulate into the air when breath or speak. We must be conscious of that and so it is advidable to be as clean as possible when working with transfers and inoculation.
Facemasks and gloves should be used and we should avoid to talk when doing transfer work as microbes may be sprayed from our mouth into the substrate container.

The air

We should clean the air surrounding the transfer space prior to work. We can spray the air of the environment with 70-80% alcohol, 10% bleach, or a commercial disinfectant 3-5 minutes prior to working. This spray will not only help kill ambient microbes but will also "trap" and pull them down out of the air as the mist sinks. Take care not to inhale these sprays!

The inoculum

The spores or mycelium we work with as inoculum can be a source of outside contamination. Cloned wild mushrooms often produce bacterial colonies on agar plates due to the presence of beneficial or benign bacteria living in the mushroom tissue. Sterile mycelium that was transferred
and/or stored improperly can also harbor contaminants. Spore prints often harbor competitor spores or bacteria due to the difficultly in obtaining 100% pure spore prints.

The substrate

Most substrates are treated to kill any unwanted microbes living on or within them. According to the media we are working with we can recurr to dfferent practices:

- Pasteurization of the substrate.
Boil the water then turn off the heat, add the teaspoon of gypsium and the substrate. Insulate the pot with a blanket and let it cool down during the night.

- Sterilization
Use a pressure cooker to sterilize the agar or the grain substrate. Sterilization times depend on the media and quantity of the media. (average range 45 or 60 minutes)

The tools

Despite our best efforts to maintain sterility, all tools and vessel surfaces can be source of contact with other microorganisms. Tools should be sterilized along with substrates prior to use as well as in between each transfer by using a heat source.

The working space

We should try to keep our woking space as clean and ventilated as possible before doing transfers. Work tables and shelving of non-porous metal or plastic that are easy to sanitize are preferred over wooden infrastructure. In the fruiting space, pockets of stagnant air should be eliminated as this encourages mold growth. All walls and surfaces in the workspaces should be regularly cleaned with disinfectants.

But if we work in an open or shared space there are some tools that come very handy to create smaller woking environments that are easily controlled. Observatorio is located in a shared workshop space so we had to elaborate some ways to “close” our working environment and provide a more sterile technique:

Convection Heat

When a Bunsen burner or propane torch is pointed upward, a convection current forms that pushes air-born competitors up and away from the area directly below a flame, creating a small sterile field. Candles are an easy and cheap way to create this field. We normally light them on the table we are working on or on the edge of our sterile transfer box.

- Sterile transfer box

This is a simpler version of a glove box. We use a plastic transparent box laid on one of the larger sides to do our transfers. We spray it with alcohol and put two candles on the edge so that a heat curtain that protect the internal space is created.

- Bifocal culture station
We colocated our working space on two gas heathers facing each other to use their heat to create a clean environment to do agar work.

The technique

The use of conscientious, quick, controlled movements during mycelium transfers is essential for achieving low contamination rates. During every transfer, a keen awareness should be given to the location of our hands and tools. These should never pass over the opening of a sterile vessel or over exposed mycelium unnecessarily as microbes could potentially fall off of these objects and into the substrate container. If a tool touches any surface by accident, it should be resterilized with a heat source. Containers should be opened for the shortest amount of time and with the smallest opening possible, and mycelium should be transferred quickly.

Of course when we talk about commercial mycology labs, there are more tools and systems that are implemented to keep sterile environments.

Shroom Academy discreet glovebox. How make a glove box out of acrylic by yourself

PHASE 2 - GROWTH AND ADAPTATION TO THE MEDIUM

After having a mycelium culture in an agar petri dish or by means of a liquid culture, we will move on to a second phase called Grain Spawn, which consists of making the mycelium bigger and stronger, adapting it to a new substrate similar to that of the third phase or fruiting phase.

The aim of these phases, both in terms of substrate and environmental conditions, is to reproduce as far as possible the most favourable environment for the growth of the fungus.

THE FIVE FUNGAL NEEDS

1.Fungi Need Lots of Good Water, but Not Too Much

The hydration of the substrates has to be at their maximum water holding capacity (field capacity) but without being waterlogged or with water pockets at the bottom, as this on the one hand inhibits mycelial growth and on the other hand creates good conditions for other micro-organisms to grow.

Field capacity is the amount of soil moisture or water content held in the soil after excess water has drained away and the rate of downward movement has decreased. This usually takes place 2–3 days after rain or irrigation in pervious soils of uniform structure and texture.

To check whether a substrate is at field capacity, take a handful and squeeze it in your hand: if only a few drops fall, it is at optimum field capacity.

2.Fungi need a healthy diet.

For the preparation of substrates, it is advisable to take into account the nutritional requirements of the ecosystems where they usually grow freely. The type of mushroom we are cultivating should also be taken into account.

Primary decomposers (wood-lovers) such as Shiitake, Reishi, and Lion's Mane all prefer fresh wood-based substrates, while Agaricus species and other late-stage decomposers fruit best off of thoroughly composted materials. In between these two groups we find King Stropharia, Shaggy Manes, and various Psilocybe species that fruit well on a range of fresh to partially decomposed materials. Finally, the duff-dwelling Blewits, Shaggy Parasols, and Morels have been shown to grow the best in soil and humus-based substrates where microbial interactions are high and nutrients are more dispersed.

3.Fungi need to breathe

At all stages of the cultivation process, oxygen must be provided to the fungus so that it can breathe
and grow. The level of oxygen provided depends on the stage of cultivation. During stages 1-3, low
oxygen/high C0 2 levels are called for to mimic the air quality found in the soils and dense wood pieces that fungi naturally inhabit during their vegetative state. If a substrate is too dense, anaerobic rotting can occur in the oxygen-deprived core of the material and negatively affect the fungus' growth.

In the state 4 a higher oxigen rate and low CO2 level mimic the fungal exit in the external environment.

4.Fungi need warmth

Most mushrooms are mesophilic, meaning that they grow best in about the same temperatures
that humans prefer. The mushrooms we grow can tolerate a range of temperatures, but most grow
best around (21°C). As temperatures get colder, metabolism and growth rates dramatically
decrease, providing an increased window of opportunity for competitors to gain a foothold on a
substrate. For most species, growth rates double with every increase in l0°C. However, tempera-
tures that are above (40°C) will kill most mushroom species. Depending on the species, the
ambient temperature may need to be raised or dropped to initiate fruiting.

5.Mushroom need a proper Fruiting Surface

While mycelium can be grown in any shape, high quality mushroom development is dependent on
the structure and orientation of the fruiting surface. For example, some species grow best horizontally off of the sides of logs, tree stumps, bags, and buckets (like Pleurotus or Ganoderma), while others prefer to fruit vertically from the ground or top surfaces of substrates (like Psylocibe or Agaricus). This preference directly influences the choice of container from which a species is fruited indoors and the design of an outdoor installation.

Some further considerations:

In natural systems, fungi produce an array of compounds to defend themselves and their substrates from a dynamic and constantly changing universe of competitors. But in the artificial, sterile conditions of indoor cultivation, the absence of competitive microbes causes a mycelial network to cease production of its defensive compounds.

The problem, though, is that the fungus is thereafter much more susceptible to attack by competitors, leading to increased rates of contamination with cultures that have spent a long time under aseptic conditions. Ironically, sterile cultivation creates the need for greater sterility.

When a mycelial network is fed the same substrate for an extended period of time, it may stop producing the enzymes required for digesting another substance. If the fungus' diet is constricted for too long, this lack of variation in its environment can also cause the mycelium to slow in its growth.
This slowing of a culture is commonly referred to as senescence and has historically been attributed by a small number of mycologists to the aging of the mycelium, a theory that is unreflective of the fact that wild mycelial networks can survive for thousands of years.

Rather than dying out, most mycologists agree that sterile mycelial cultures senesce because they shut down various metabolic pathways in reflection of the absence of novelty and external stimuli. In other words, the mycelium gets bored and loses its will to live.

Upon contact with a novel substrate, fungi often go into a period of stasis in which their growth halts as the fungus scans its DNA to determine which genes will produce the proper enzyme(s) needed to digest the new food source.

This learning process is often seen in petri dishes when a mushroom mycelial network encounters a mold or bacteria, stalls in its growth, and a few days later begins producing a liquid exudate of antibiotics as it starts to grow over the competitor.

Advanced cultivation strategies account for this ability by acclimating fungi to particular microbes for the production of novel antibiotics, or to toxic chemicals to produce strains that can readily degrade a particular pollutant.

*excerpts from Radical Mycology, pag 205

GRAIN SPAWN:

Once you have established some healthy and vigorous inoculum, the next step is toward cooked, sterilized grains. As most species will not fruit on pure grains, this is an intermediary step for fruit body production. However, it is recommended as grains provide a cheap, nutrient-dense substrate that the mushroom mycelium can rapidly grow on, ultimately producing a granular spawn that can evenly and easily inoculate the substrates used in Stage 3.

A variety of grains can be used in Stage 2. Rye berries, wheat berries, millet, and sorghum (milo) are common choices in commercial mushroom cultivation operations. Home cultivators also have success with brown rice, spelt, popcorn, and whole birdseed.

We have opted for brown rice as it is easier and cheaper for us to obtain.

PROCEDURE:

*Rinse the grains with water.

*Soak the rice in distilled water and coffee (about a couple of soup spoons) for about 12/24 hours. The coffee provides nitrogen.

*Precook the rice for 5/10 minutes, then drain and dry on a absorbing paper surface.

*Add some gypsum and mix. The gypsum provides minerals and at the same time reduces the stickiness of the grains.

*Fill the jars half full or ⅔ full with this mixture and sterilise in the pressure cooker for 60 minutes. Let the jars cool down.

*Take a petri dish with mycelium and cut out the pieces, transfer 3 or 4 pieces to each jar. Close the jars and move them around so that the mycelium pieces are covered with the substrate mixture.

*Store in a warm, dark environment.

Materials

* a glass jar with a metal lid
* rice
* gypsum
* some coffee
* a pressure cooker
* a stove
* a Bunsen burner
* a bisturi

INOCULATION OF THE FRUITING SUBSTRATE - PHASE 3

Once our grains are fully miceliated, they are moved to the next and (for indoor cultivation) final substrate: the fruiting substrate.

Depending on the species being cultivated, this final substrate will fall into two broad categories:

WOOD: The species that prefer wood are generally early-stage decomposers. These species tend to prefer fresh, wood-based substrates, typically in the form of sawdust, wood chips, coconut fiber or logs of hardwood trees. Some wood-loving species can grow on coniferous wood while others (e.g. some Oyster species) can fruit off of a variety of organic substrates, such as coconut fiber, straw, hair, or corncobs. The wood-lovers comprise the bulk of the commonly cultivated species.

(FAUX) COMPOST I NON-WOOD: A smaller number of commonly cultivated mushrooms are later-stage decomposers, preferring partially digested substrates. Most of these species tend to produce the highest yield on true compost, though many will fruit rather well off of a blend of fresh substrates and/or manure (faux compost).

We have worked (up to the date) with the first cathegory of substrates using as main component coconut coir enriched with brown rice.

PASTEURIZATION OF THE SUBSTRATE:

*boil the water.

*once it comes to the boiling point, turn off the heat, add the teaspoon of gypsum and add the coconut fiber. the coconut fiber breaks down and grows quickly.

*mix so that the coconut is well moistened and close the pot with the lid.

*insulate the pot with a blanket for 12 hours.

SUBSTRATE MIX WITH THE INOCULUM:

*take the myceliated substrate and break it up in a sterile bag.

*to identify the state of the mycelia substrate, smell is very useful: if it smells of mushrooms, it is fine; if the smell is more sour, acidic or tends to be sweet, there may be colonies of moulds or bacteria - be careful not to breathe in the bag).

*Mix the mycelium with the coconut fiber, gypsum and rice. (30% rice, 30% coconut fiber, 30% mycelium substrate) this ratio is indicative and experimentation with different proportions is encouraged.

*Place the mixture in a sterile bag with a filter, trying to distribute the three parts evenly and squeeze lightly so that the humidity and temperature conditions in the substrate are as uniform as possible. Close the bag, taking care not to cover the filter.

*Leave in a dark, warm place.

Fruiting substrate:

* coconut fibre
* rice
* gypsum
* myceliated substrate

FRUITING

After about two weeks, the mycelium will have occupied the entire substrate, so it is time to move on to fruiting stage 4. For this we change the conditions of temperature, gas exchange and light.

The temperature depends on the type of mushroom, but in this phase it is usually lowered by a couple of degrees compared to the previous phase.

In this phase you will also need an increase of O2 and a decrease of CO2 concentration by some ventilation of the culture.

We will also expose the culture to indirect natural light or cold spectrum artificial light (5000k/7000k). It is very important not to expose the culture to direct sunlight, as this could overheat or dry out the substrate and mycelium. We will apply 12 hours of light cycle. Another way to activate fruiting is to increase the relative humidity of the environment.

FRUITING BOXES

For our cultures we usually use two plastic boxes with lids to maintain the humidity. We try to ensure the exchange of gases either through special filters or by opening the lid periodically.

To provide an adequate and stable temperature we use an electric heating mat placed underneath the first larger box which heats some water contained in it with a little bleach or peroxide (to avoid the proliferation of micro-organisms).

Inside this box we place another smaller box containing the culture which will be in contact with the water. This allows a more progressive, attenuated and stable heat transmission.

For the lighting we use 6500k LED strips connected to a timer that turns them on in 12-hour cycles.

Fase 3
contaminations & coexistence

In more general terms, we set ourselves several objectives for our practice:

To cohabit the laboratory as a space for human/non-human coexistence:

We want to create open learning environments with others (both people, mycelia or other bugs).

Navigate open processes:

Through observation and intuition we want to immerse ourselves in what fungi can teach us. We want to question and navigate the limits of our practice and the possibilities of operating within open processes, without trying to exercise strict control over them. We are interested in learning from the ecological relationships that are interwoven both in laboratory practices and in nature.

Punkarrism and pedagogy of error:

We distance ourselves from aseptic cultivation practices geared towards production for the market. Our learning process leads us to confront ourselves with error, to learn from rather than avoid contamination, to observe the limits of our techniques and the care required by our fellow mushrooms in order to learn to grow together. We do not see error as a flaw in the process but as a consequence of multiple relationships over which we do not have or want to have full control. We also rely on the resilience of organisms and their ability to self-regulate. Rather than measuring outcomes, we pay attention to processes and what they generate.

Appropiation of tools:

We work with what we have at our fingertips. A cooker, a box... We think of affordable, cheap and easy-to-build tools and we develop free and open hardware devices. We sharpen our ingenuity to solve our technical, economic and procedural limitations, of course, always with the desire to learn more.

Adaptation:

Of the mycelia to our knowledge; of us to the care that the mycelia require, their needs, desires, etc...
In the end, we have become contaminated!

Since we started working with mushrooms, we have gone from fearing contamination and, consequently, following more or less strictly protocols oriented towards the success of the crops in productivist terms, to embracing a softer practice, centered on understanding the other, on immersing ourselves in their process, on observing them and empathising with their phases of life and growth, but also of death. We feel that it is necessary to rethink what we accept and what we discard: to what extent does pretending to have strict control over a process make us lose the possibility of observing and learning new things about relationships of coexistence, competition, incompatibilities or, perhaps, collaboration? To what extent are we not perpetuating eugenic practices? Finally, we want to think of contamination as "transformation through encounter", as Anna Tsing elegantly suggests in her Mushrooms at the end of the world.

Telegram group: t.me/MYWO1

The Lion’s Mane mushroom is scientifically known as Hericium erinaceus but also goes by other names, such as bearded tooth, Japanese yamabushitake, pom pom mushroom, and the hedgehog mushroom.

All of these unusual names might give you an idea of what this mushroom looks like. Its fruiting body (the above-ground part of a mushroom that is typically foraged) is white, stringy, and unlike any other mushroom.

Lion’s Mane grows during late summer and fall on trees like beech and oak and is native to North America, Asia, and Europe. While this is an edible mushroom, you may not have seen it in the grocery store because it has a short shelf life.

Traditional Chinese Medicine used this mushroom to support brain and neurological health. Today, it’s used for these and other reasons.

Lion’s Mane provides nourishment for the brain, crossing the blood-brain barrier to directly support brain cells, and contains beta glucan polysaccharides to support immune health.

Lion’s mane mushrooms contain compounds that stimulate the growth of brain cells and protect them from damage caused by Alzheimer’s disease. However, more human research is needed.

Studies suggest that lion’s mane mushrooms may help relieve mild symptoms of anxiety and depression, but more human research is needed to better understand the correlation.

Lion’s mane extract has been shown to protect against stomach and intestinal ulcers in rodents, but human research has been conflicting. Also has been demonstated that it regulates diabetes.

Psilocybe cubensis is a species of psychedelic mushroom whose principal active compounds are psilocybin and psilocin. Commonly called shrooms or magic mushrooms, they belong to the fungus family Hymenogastraceae and was previously known as Stropharia cubensis. It is the most well known psilocybin mushroom due to its wide distribution and ease of cultivation. It is a pan-tropical mushroom that grows abundantly on the dung of cattle, horses and elephants, or on soils containing their manure. It can be found almost anywhere in the world with a wet, warm climate, including Southeast Asia and Australia, India, Mexico, Central America, northern South America and the Caribbean.

It is among the largest of psilocybin-containing species, with caps from 2 to 12 cm across, and thick stems up to 20 cm long. When grown on grain or rice, it is usually modestly sized, but on manure or compost it can produce enormous, hefty fruits, It produces dark, dense, purple-brown spore prints.