XPost: alt.drugs.mushrooms, alt.drugs.psychedelics   
   From: muskylure@hotmail.com   
      
   In article ,   
    smitty  wrote:   
      
   > In article <12i5dj5fgkcso98@corp.supernews.com>, riburr@shentel.net says...   
   > > To be clear, I'm talking about actively searching/foraging for mushrooms   
   > > in the wild. Purposely culturing a specific type of mushroom is not my   
   > > interest (at this time). My personal needs, in both the psychedelic and   
   > > delicious realms, are fully satisfied by the mushrooms I find in the wild.   
   > >   
   > >   
   > it just seems to me that if you are out in the wild searching and you happen   
   > upon a specific shroom that is interesting in some respect that before you   
   > place one of them in your bag if you scrape the gills while holding it   
   > close to the ground you create a possibility that when you come upon this   
   > same spot a week or so later there may be additional shrooms present that   
   > would not have otherwise been there. they are still in the wild and you   
   > did not actually culture them. you just helped nature do it. that is all.   
   > in this instance you would be making the rounds and not completely   
   > foraging, although foraging implies a labor that makes the fruit more   
   > special in some respects. in any case, good luck and nice exchanging   
   > posts with you.   
      
   Many mushrooms that are at peak harvesting stage for culinary purposes   
   are not mature enough to have sporulated.  If you do pick a mushroom   
   mature enough to release spores, it would be better to release those   
   spores to the four winds in the hopes that they will start new colonies   
   elsewhere.  The mycelial colony that has produced the mushroom fruiting   
   bodies may be several years old and may be close to exhausting its food   
   supply.  The conditions for a spore's survival are likely better far   
   away from its parents.  Some spores even require passage through the gut   
   of an animal in order to proceed to germination.  Leaving spores in the   
   same immediate vicinity as the carpophores they came from is likely to   
   be an exercise in futility.   
      
   Mushroom spores are extremely light and impermeable to the elements, and   
   are produced in excessive quantities for good reasons.  Very few ever   
   find a place to live and grow.  Months or years may pass before   
   environmental conditions where a spore has landed eventually become   
   favorable to its germination.  Spores may travel hundreds if not   
   thousands of miles (some speculate *light years*) from their point of   
   origin.  It is conceivable that some mushrooms may have evolved   
   elsewhere in our galaxy and are extraterrestrial visitors which find our   
   planet comfortable, and by coincidence or intent have special properties   
   which inexorably tie their ongoing survival to our own.   
      
   The joy and wonder of hunting and gathering wild mushrooms lies in the   
   surprise.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)