Chapter Nineteen: Gathering: The Fungi

1. (NO TITLE)
"The mysteries of germination and flowering and fruiting engaged me from an early age, and the fact that by planting and working an ordinary patch of dirt you could in a few months' time harvest things of taste and value was, for me, nature's most enduring astonishment. It still is." So gardening is more for Pollan than hunting. The two problems with mushroom farming? You can get lost (not a problem in a garden) and you can pick and eat something that could kill you (I don't think there are killer tomatos).
1. FIVE CHANTERELLES

The mycorrhizal chanterelle

"Mushroom hunters are famously protective of their "spots," and a good chanterelle spot is a precious personal possession." Which is why Pollan was surprised when Angelo, whom he barely knew at this time, offered to bring him mushroom hunting. Bio: "The chanterelle is a mycorrhizal species, which means it lives in association with the roots of plants, oak trees, in the chanterelle's case, and usually oak trees of a venerable age." And so that is where they went mushroom hunting, near oak trees. Pollan found and cooked five of these mushrooms, which seemed to pop out at him. And while there was a fear behind him that these mushrooms were of the poisonous kind, he dismissed it. Books have failed Pollan, but Angelo has not. Perhaps it is because of the transaction, these written words have no emotion or experience. After this experience, Pollan has come to love mushrooms. ". . .I'll recognize the next one without a moment's hesitation. At least in the case of this one species, my mycophobic instinct has been stilled, allowing me to enjoy. It's not every day you aquire such a sturdy piece of knowledge."
2. MUSHROOMS ARE MYSTERIOUS
The week after Pollan went mushroom hunting, he found chanterelles in his own yard. This led him to ask dozens of questions about the toxins, location and timing of mushrooms. But he soon found out that we don't know the most basic things about mushrooms. They are difficult to observe. They have an unknown syntax. Bio (we learned this week!): We know they lack chlorophyll and cannot manufacture food energy from the sun. They feed on organic mattter made by plants and plant eaters (either saprophytically--by composing dead vegetable matter--or mycorrhizally--by associating with the roots of plants). Mycorrhizal fungi, like the chanterelles, have coevolved with trees to create a mutually beneficial relationship. The hyphae surrounds the plants roots, providing them with elements for a steady diet in return for synthesized sugars. "They stand on the threshold between the living and the dead, breaking the dead down into food for the living, a process on which no one likes to dwell."  Even if we wanted to dwell, we don't have the tools to measure the powers of mushrooms.
3. WORKING THE BURN

Anthony and some of his
prized fungi.

Next up, Pollan went mushroom hunting with Anthony Tassinello who was willing to have extra help collecting "burn mushrooms." He prepared for a long hike to the place where, a year ago, a raging fire burned these woods. Mushrooms behave unpredictably, so Pollan was warned to go by TPITP: The Proof Is in the Pudding," stick with whatever seems to be working. Pollan noticed that the "pop-out effect" was working for him. He goes on to explain the theory for why there were so many mushrooms, they were branching out from the burnt forest. "Mushrooms are hinges in nature, now turning toward death, now turning new life." Finally, Pollan feels gratitude. It's hard work hunting and gathering, but he realizes that he didn't really have anything to do with the life of these animals and fungi. He got no achievement, like he did in his garden, where he cultivated, grew and harvested the plants. "No, this felt more like something for nothing, a wondrous and unaccountable gift."  When he went home he was "filthy and exhausted, but felt rich as kings."  Within an hour of his hunting, all the wild mushrooms had been sold!