WorldWild Podcast
Episode 27 24th October 2019
Why Do Mushrooms Make Me So Happy with Matthew Rooney
The above is a sub-variety of Reishi mushroom, used for thousands of years in Traditional Chinese Medicine, it's name is Ganoderma lucidum rooney - and sure enough, our guest is Matthew Rooney.
First collected in 2005 in Suffolk, this strain of Reishi mushroom is just one of the many mushrooms we discuss this week; puffballs, truffles, fly agaric, chaga, and more - including the largest organism in the world: a honey fungus in North America.
'We're trying to isolate units...the trouble is everything is connected'
- Matthew Rooney, episode 27
About Matthew Rooney
Matthew Rooney runs The Mushroom Table; a pioneering enterprise in the biodynamic cultivation of native, wild mushrooms. Based in the Stour Valley, north-east Essex, he can be found at farmers markets mainly in London, educating people along the way on the benefits of many species of mushrooms. He is also behind Foragers Feast; where he runs foraging workshops and feasts. His favourite wild mushroom is hen of the woods; not humbly the mushroom named after him Ganoderma lucidum rooney.
Further reading
> More from Matthew, including mushroom growing kits and courses - check out The Mushroom Table here
> Mentioned in episode: The Reishi mushroom variety named after Rooney...
About the show
We offer a series of conversations to tap into the wildness within ourselves and to uncover what is possible when we do. It is our hope that through the WorldWild Podcast we can contribute to the revitalisation of wild food culture and conversation around the world.
Through people who know their landscapes intimately, we gather the threads to weave a rich tapestry. Piece by piece the vision of a wilder world comes into view. The wild embrace of nature welcomes us back and offers us a seat at the table. A feast, no less!