Here is a full tour of one of my favorite and most unique experiences while back on the east coast where I got through the means of properly using social media to connect with other like-minded and like-hearted individual has led me to go to Massachusetts for the first time.
At the time, Mushroom Revival had asked for a others to come lend a helping hand to harvest THOUSANDS of the mushrooms they were growing in their indoor farm. I was able to get some extra info and some more hands on experience...
Experiences like these are reasons I have always enjoyed the positive use of Social Media. I was informed about a mushroom farm looking for volunteers to help harvest some vegan based Cordyceps militaris. Needless to say, I was interested because the only Cordyceps I was truly aware of was the Cordyceps sinensis, which is a mind controlling fungus that infects a caterpillar and has it move to just below the soils surface, so the fungus can later breach out of the caterpillars head and through the soil to release its spores to start the cycle over again… one DM later- I was on the road to head up to Massachusetts for my first time to check out my first commercial mushroom farm. Safe to say I had no idea what I was truly walking into and holy crap was I amazed!
I took the drive up and upon walking in I was greeted by some of the nicest people on the East Coast tucked away in a countryside town of Massachusetts. I walked in and recognized Alex from previous post and introduced myself. Immediately, we walked through the facility (they weren’t kidding when they said “Transparency”) I was shocked at how fast everything flowed and all I could think of was “shit… I wish I got that all on film.” I was so intrigued by what was going on and seeing the other employees and volunteers working, I wanted to jump right into it. I was introduced to a co-worker (who has to be one of the most passionate fungi enthusiast this world is lucky to have) to get started on the volunteering with the tail-end of mixing some tinctures. Once the tincture portion was done I moved forward with one of my best mediation practices… helping wash some dishes and equipment, after that, I was then introduced to the rest of the days team to help with the harvesting.
This was my first times in an actual licensed indoor commercial (soon to be certified organic) mushroom facility. As a plant-based gardener it was really cool to see an indoor operation that was similar in a many ways. Instead of a vegetative room there was a incubation room, instead of a flowering room they had a fruiting room… the Number one difference is the keyword “STERILE” as most mushroom growers know it is super critical to have an extremely clean working environment to minimize the possibility of any unwanted contamination at all stages. In most cases, Plant growers believe this… Mushroom growers practice this. Everything from the pyrex glass, the plastic utensils, the stainless steel kitchen grade tables and everything was and had to be sprayed with at least 70% isopropyl alcohol to make sure that bacteria and all unwanted contaminates had less of a chance of ruining the Love and hard work that was being put into the operation of growing these amazing Beings.
Having a great time harvesting and connecting with like-minded and like-hearted individuals was one of the best moments and not even feeling like work or pressured to do anything other than to enjoy each others company. So much so, that I barely even had my camera out to film anything because I was enjoying the present moment of fully immersing myself into this culture… truly. Honestly, I felt so welcomed that I decided to make another run back up to help for a couple extra days and to get some actual footage.
Like most harvest party settings, we talked about many different topics. I learned a lot about Cordyceps militaris in particular. I learned that this variety of Cordyceps was one found here in the Americas, along with other parts of the world. The great thing about this farm is that all the strains are wild harvested from other people that go out and find them and then Alex and his crew will take spores and grow them on a mass scale. Since the culture degrade, the constant need for new genetics and pheno-hunting is what makes the journey so wide spread and exciting.
Cordyceps militaris has a bunch of research and test done with this variety of mushroom that can be found all over the internet with the ability to help with a wide array of aliments that makes it a great medicinal mushroom to have with you.
The main active compound found in Cordyceps militaris is cordycepin. Cordycepin has been shown to:
“An entomopathogenic fungus, Cordyceps sp. has been known to have numerous pharmacological and therapeutic implications, especially, in terms of human health making it a suitable candidate for ethno-pharmacological use. Main constituent of the extract derived from this fungus comprises a novel bio-metabolite called as Cordycepin (3′deoxyadenosine) which has a very potent anti-cancer, anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. The current review discusses about the broad spectrum potential of Cordycepin including biological and pharmacological actions in immunological, hepatic, renal, cardiovascular systems as well as an anti-cancer agent. The article also reviews the current efforts to delineate the mechanism of action of Cordycepin in various bio-molecular processes. The study will certainly draw the attention of scientific community to improve the bioactivity and production of Cordycepin for its commercial use in pharmacological and medical fields.”
(source: Pharmacological and therapeutic potential of Cordyceps with special reference to Cordycepin https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3909570/ )
Antifatigue Functions and Mechanisms of Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5584359/
Cordyceps militaris induces tumor cell death via the caspase-dependent mitochondrial pathway in HepG2 and MCF-7 cells
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4878560/
As I am still learning and brushing up on the amazing benefits of this creature I will be continuing to help do my part to spread the information. As this post is primarily about the cultivation facility at Mushroom Revival. Alex also has his own YouTube channel that goes a bit further in depth about his operation. I recommend going to check out.