Making room for mushrooms

Growing a mushroom network

My journey into the world of mushrooms began with my own health journey, igniting a passion that led me to establish Elysian Roots, an organisation that works to share the wonders of mushrooms.

The more I learn about mushrooms, the more fascinating they become. I work with people to help bring awareness to this fascinating and important realm of nature. I believe fungi have the power to teach us deep lessons in ecology and life and can also help guide us as individuals, communities and a collective humanity into the heart of the twenty-first century.

Sal’s favourite mushrooms

I’m often asked, “which mushroom is your favourite?” It’s not an easy question for me to answer because there are so many charming mushrooms.

There’s the flowery and gorgeous chanterelle, which has both summer and winter varieties – they have a wonderful buttery quality on the palette. There’s the pied blue, or blue-foot mushroom, which comes in shades of blue so vibrant and striking they could come from an enchanted world.

Then there’s the morel, which rises like a phoenix after fires, blanketing the charred earth floor like a scene from outer space.

I can’t easily choose. There are too many wonderful, delicious, precious and strange ones!

Misunderstood mushrooms

Mushrooms have often been misunderstood in the collective consciousness. They’re often seen as either psychedelic, potentially toxic or yucky, slimy, grey food that comes out of cans in school canteens. But like so many things in life, things that are a little bit different are easily misjudged.

In this sense, you can consider how we think about bees. We’re often afraid of their stings and when a bee comes close we just want it to get away, but when we learn about them, we become aware that they play a critical role in the ecological systems that sustain life on Earth.

I know that might sound like a grand statement, and that’s because it is. Mushrooms are the same. While many misconceptions shroud mushrooms and fungi, they play a pivotal role in ecosystems, and that means out in the forests and fields, as well as within ourselves.

Spreading the mushroom love

Beyond being a total fungu-natic, I’ve been on a mission to spread the spore-tacular – I couldn’t help it – world of mushrooms far and wide! It’s not just about appreciating these fabulous fungi – it’s about inspiring others to embrace sustainable living, community bonding and straight-up well-being through the magical mushroom queendom.

I’ve been lucky enough to team up with some seriously awesome organisations and individuals to make it all happen. We’ve brought a climate-conscious programme to a school, grew oyster mushrooms in the coal holes of Somerset House – how cool is that –and shared mouth-watering mushroom recipes at the North Kensington Mosque. I’ve even handed out hundreds of grow kits to the local community, empowering them to grow their own food at home.

But that’s not all! I’ve run workshops teaching the art of mushroom cloning and creating grow kits from coffee grounds, straw and cardboard. I’ve also had the chance to give talks and share my mushroom mania with members of the public at the National Trust and Community Festivals. It’s all about creating those awesome engagement opportunities to share knowledge, connect with people, inspire sustainable living and put these incredible fungi back on their well-deserved throne.

Underground fungal networks

The big underground network that we call mycelium is the main part of the fungus. The mushrooms are like the apples on an apple tree, but imagine that the trunk, branches and leaves of the tree are underground. The only thing above ground are the mushrooms, or the fruiting bodies.

The mycelium is made up of tiny little filaments or strings that scientists call hyphae. These are like little threads that weave together. Visualise a big subterranean spider web only more mixed together. These underground webs can be big, I mean really big, like thousands of acres big. Therefore technically, the mycelium can be considered the biggest organism on Earth. Incredible, don’t you think? I think so.

Another really cool thing is that this mycelium actually integrates with the roots of trees in the forest. By connecting with the roots of trees, the mycelium engages in a mutual exchange of resources. Mushrooms exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide as part of their natural process – they don’t photosynthesise like trees and plants do. Trees and fungi have a symbiotic relationship where they exchange resources. Basically, the trees and the mycelium help each other out, which I find to be very beautiful.

I could write for hours and days about mushrooms. We haven’t even scratched the surface here. What I can say to you in this short piece here is that they’re worth looking into and discovering. We now know that their study can contribute not only to how we think about conservation and organising our future world but also about how we as individuals can relate to one another and ourselves.

I’ll leave you with this. Mushrooms are something that can teach us how to live better and to understand ourselves better. They connect past life on Earth with our present existence in a technological world that’s quickly forgetting nature.

Getting to know them, to enjoy them and spend time learning about them is a very special and unique opportunity to get to know the very world we live in better than we ever thought possible.

Mush love, Sal Chebbah