Wild Medicine

 

Covid-19 has caused a massive shift in the way we live and think and behave.  Like most crises, it has brought out the best and worst in human behavior.  We all long for the virus to run its course and disappear.  But like it or not, some of the changes it has brought will be permanent: lives and jobs lost, lingering health effects, families broken apart not only by the illness itself but by vehement, sometimes violent disagreements over how the pandemic should be handled, and even whether there is such a thing as a virus.

The vaccine may (or may not) shorten the duration of this pandemic, but it won't prevent another from happening.  Inevitably, there will be new diseases to challenge us.  Day by day the world grows more populated, the environment more damaged.  Clean water and air, food and fuel are becoming increasingly scarce and we will need to work harder to stay healthy.  

It's easy to feel overwhelmed facing the problems of this modern world, but we all can and must find ways to improve life on earth for ourselves and for future generations.  Challenges always bring opportunities for growth, and Covid 19 is no exception.  How can we use the current crisis to strengthen ourselves against future pandemics?  Is relying solely on vaccines the only alternative?

Maybe a starting point for change would be to alter our views and perspectives.  Maybe we should try viewing the pandemic as an effect rather than a cause.  Whether Covid started in a lab or a bat or a honey badger, many other factors contributed to its spread and deadliness.  International travel is a big one.  Keeping animals in tightly confined, overcrowded conditions is another.  But perhaps the greatest factor is our modern lifestyle.  Many marvelous inventions have made our lives easier.  The payoff, however, is less physical activity, less time spent in nature (the source of all healing) and more pollution, weakening our immune systems, making us prone to disease. 

Connecting in deeper ways with nature is one way to foster health on all levels - physical, mental, emotional.  This can be as simple as sitting in a chair in the sun with your bare feet on the earth.  Sunlight is a vital nutrient our bodies need to be healthy, as much as food and drink.  Placing bare skin on the soil connects us with the Earth's natural electric charge, which stabilizes the body, reduces inflammation, pain and stress, improves blood flow, energy, mood and sleep, and bolsters the immune system.

In winter when sunlight is scarce and it's too cold for sunbathing, sitting near an infrared light for a short time each day is the next best thing.  Countless studies have shown that infrared light can be of tremendous help with chronic illnesses.

Making and using natural medicines is a profound way to deepen our faith and trust in Mother Earth's infinite healing power.  Growing a pot of mint on the patio to make tea could be a first step on an exciting journey.  Our backyards, nearby fields and forests are brimming with medicinal plants.  Learning how to properly harvest, process and use plant medicines, and gaining confidence in their ability to heal is incredibly impowering.  The worry, fear and helplessness one can feel in the face of a serious illness or pandemic is debilitating in itself.  But if we have an arsenal of effective, safe, natural remedies in our medicine chest made with our own hands, and if we understand how they work, and why, the worry and fear can dramatically lessen.

This fall I harvested two types of medicinal mushrooms from our own woods.  Both kinds are easy to identify, have no poisonous look-alikes and have potent healing properties.

Turkey tail (Trametes versicolor) is a very common species that is plentiful throughout North America.

It grows on dead or dying hardwood trees, stumps and fallen logs and can be harvested year 'round.  Our stacks of firewood blossomed with it during the fall rains this year.  Tough and leathery, it's not suitable for eating, but makes a medicinal tea which inhibits cancer cells, strengthens the immune system and contains antiviral and antifungal properties.  It also contains polysaccharides that nourish beneficial bacteria in the gut.  

There are several other mushrooms that look similar to turkey tail, all non-poisonous, and easy to tell apart with a little practice.

Here is a six step process used for identifying turkey tail:

1. The top of the mushroom has a velvety feel, and tiny fuzz is visible with a magnifying glass.  If no velvet, it's not true turkey tail.

2. The caps show starkly contrasting rings of color which are shades of grey, blue-grey, brown, red-brown and paler tan or white.  Older mushrooms may develop green algae on the top.  I avoid these, as they're past their prime and may not make good medicine.  

3. Cap color is not pale, like the species shown below:

4. Turkey tail has tiny pores on the underside, barely visible to the naked eye but clearly seen with the magnifying glass. 

5. There is another similar mushroom with pores which are larger.  This is the trickiest part of the identification, but again, by studying them side by side you will be able to tell the difference.

 

The mushrooms on the right are turkey tails.  The bottom two specimens show the underside, which is white, cream or light grey in older specimens.  These pictures don't show the pores very well, but compared to the mushrooms on the bottom left, you can see the difference - the ones on the left are darker with larger pores, and the caps (seen at top left, are pale with barely visible rings of color.

Here is another look-alike, but easy to distinguish from true turkey tail by the gills underneath:

6. Turkey tail is thin and flexible, easily bent. 

Below are a few more turkey tail look-alikes.  The specimens on the left do have small pores on the underside, but are thick and unbendable.  The ones on the right have rings of color and are thin and flexible, but are very smooth on the bottom with no pores, hence, not turkey tail.

 

 

If you are lucky enough to have woods nearby, or even a woodlot in the backyard, I encourage you to start noticing the mushrooms growing there.  It's almost certain that some of them will be turkey tail.  Even if you don't use them, you can at least learn to identify them, and know that potent medicine is growing nearby.

When you feel confident enough to harvest some, carefully pluck them off the wood and dry them for a few days in a warm, airy spot.  Before putting them away in glass jars in a dark, cool spot, you can examine them, removing bits of grass or debris and cutting off any bark clinging to the base.

Here is a recipe for turkey tail tea, which can be taken daily.

5 cups water

2 Tbs. ground turkey tail (the finer you can grind them, the better; a coffee grinder works well).  Or just chop or cut them into small pieces.

Optional: turkey tail has a fairly strong, mushroomy taste, so if you're not a mushroom fan, you can add spices which will make the tea taste delicious as well as add extra medicinal benefits.  I like

a few cloves, 1/2 tsp. each of fennel seeds, coriander and caraway, and a piece of cinnamon stick.

Put everything in a pan, bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer gently, covered, for one hour.  Turkey tail needs a long cooking time to extract the valuable polysaccharides.  Strain out the solids, and if the total volume is much less than a quart, you can add some water to dilute it.  Stronger tea is fine to drink if you like it that way, and you can use more turkey tail if you want.  This is a very nutritious tea, almost a meal in itself.  It will keep well in the fridge for several days.

Here is a link to a very good article on identifying turkey tail with excellent pictures if you're interested in further study: https://practicalselfreliance.com/turkey-tail-mushroom/

Tomorrow I'll share information on another very valuable medicinal mushroom, so stay tuned!