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Ep.89 Flora Funga with KK
49 Plays8 days ago
In this episode, I sit down with the energetic KK, a passionate plant biologist with a love for fungi. We dive deep into the world of fungi, discussing everything from the soil food web to how to grow different types of fungi.
Kk has a fantastic journey, blending her passion for plants and fungi, and how she educates others about the world of mycology. We explore the profound relationships between plants and fungi, touching on communication above and below the soil.
KK also talks about her work at Zephyr Gills Mushroom Farm and her efforts in outreach and education. Plus, we discuss the importance of connecting with nature and how understanding plant and fungi interactions can enrich our lives. This conversation is packed with insights, stories, and a shared enthusiasm for all things green and fungal.
Topics Covered about Fungi Relationships
➡️ KK's journey from plant biologist to passionate mycologist and educator.
➡️ Detailed discussion on the soil food web and the crucial role of fungi.
➡️ Insights into the relationships between plants and fungi, including their communication.
➡️ Kk's work at Zephyr Gills Mushroom Farm and her outreach efforts.
Resources Mentioned
- Flora Funga Podcast
- ZephyrGills Mushroom Farm LLC
- Read more in the Plant Wisdom Book Club
- Mentorship with me and Plants
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Transcript
Introduction to Flora and Fungi Episode
00:00:01
Speaker
Hello, hello, hello everyone. Welcome back to another episode of reconnect with plant wisdom. It's me Tigrilla Gardenia and this is a podcast episode that I have been really looking forward to and I know you're going to have so much fun with it because I'm going to introduce you to the wonderful KK and KK is someone who has a slight passion, a little bit like my passion for plants, hers is for plants and fungi. So we're just gonna take a nice deep dive into the world of fungi. We're gonna talk about the soil food web. We're gonna talk about different elements of different types of fungi. How do you grow them? Where do you grow them? Why do you grow them?
00:00:41
Speaker
Where do they grow? Who are they? You know, the whole ins and outs of the entire world of fungi. So it was a really fun um conversation. Plus, you know, just KK is just young, and she's filled with energy. And she really has a passion for this. And it comes through in the entire conversation. So I won't hold you back any longer.
Podcast Rescheduling Challenges
00:01:01
Speaker
I will just take you straight into Episode 89, Flora and fungi.
00:01:10
Speaker
Welcome to Reconnect with Plant Wisdom. I'm your host, Tigrilla Gardenia, nature-inspired mentor, certified life coach, and the founder of the Naturally Conscious share their practical wisdom to help you consciously embody the
00:01:39
Speaker
Together, we'll explore how ecosystem thinking helps you overcome limiting beliefs, understand the true nature of relationships, and live an authentic, impactful life. Okay, I have actually been looking forward to this for a while now because we actually scheduled it what, like a month and something ago and then had to reschedule? Yes, at least. Yep. So my apologies. I've been running around. I can imagine. Well, you know,
00:02:07
Speaker
It's a busy time and you're a busy woman, so we're gonna have some fun here because I am super excited for all of my audience to hear about you, who you are, and all the things that you're passionate about.
KK's Background in Mycology
00:02:19
Speaker
So, KK, tell my audience, who who who is KK?
00:02:24
Speaker
Yeah so KK is a plant biologist but also has a thirst for mycology. I really always have been into plants and I'm also a host of a podcast as well so I think that's kind of how we got connected. I've been trying to do some more outreach kind of meet like-minded people um within the plant or mycology space so I've been just kind of like looking out, looking for so some cool podcasts, some cool people. And that's how I stumbled across you. So thank you for having me on the podcast today. But yeah, I honestly always have been in love with plants. Growing up, I would always venture to greenhouses with my mom and you would, you know, those little succulent leaves that you'd have.
00:03:07
Speaker
um that you can just take home and they grow into their own plants. So a spoiler alert, if you ah want to grow your own plants, you can just take little succulents.
00:03:18
Speaker
set well succulent yeah I do that all the time, so don't worry about it. I do that all the time where I'm like, yeah am I pronouncing this right? What language am I saying? And is it even the right word?
00:03:30
Speaker
Such a weird word, succulents. Um, so yeah, I would just take those home, kind of grow things on my own, climb trees. I actually got yelled at as a young kid for picking all of my neighbor's plants because they just look so pretty. And my mom was like, Hey, you got to go back there. You got to apologize. And I was like, Oh, but I was just trying to give them to you. They're so pretty.
00:03:52
Speaker
So yeah, I was just really into plants, gardening, so my mom really taught me a lot of that. um Going into college though, i kind of I kind of lost the passion for plants.
College Experience and Passion Reignition
00:04:03
Speaker
I was always into science, so I was like, hey, I'll go to school for biochemistry, which like I don't know why I thought that was good.
00:04:13
Speaker
but went went into that and realized at my college they had this amazing greenhouse and for some reason I was like I need to get in there no matter what it takes I want to get in there I want to see because you could kind of like look in but it was so humid that you couldn't really understand what was happening so it's just kind of like one of those things that I wanted to do I took a plant biology class um at Mankato and fell in love with the professor because he just educated on plants and just I just fell down a rabbit hole on how plants worked. It just like became really easy to me.
00:04:54
Speaker
Um, everybody else was kind of struggling on like, you know, what cells are, how plants work. And I was like, what are you guys talking about? Like, this is just easy and just kind of clicked.
Interconnectedness of Plants and Fungi
00:05:03
Speaker
And in that class, we got to do some research in the greenhouse. So, you know, walking through those doors and I was like, Oh my God. gosh, it's all green, it smells so pretty, so nice in here, so fresh. And so that's kind of where I re-fell into the love of plants. I don't know if you guys kind of talk about, you know, ah plants as drugs on on your podcast at all, but a lot of plants are kind of the the starting point to a lot of things, you know, like mushrooms, honestly ergot, ah cannabis, you know, other cacti, um
00:05:38
Speaker
peyote, things like that. So I was like, whoa, that's just so interesting how that works and how plants and like humans are connected. So that's really what started me into the plant space. um And then of course, you you find like your random mushroom that you come across and you're like, what is this thing?
00:05:57
Speaker
So I actually found a Amanita mascara, which is like the typical red and white toadstool that people talk about. And so I was on my grandparents yard and I came across this huge mushroom. And i was I got down on the ground, took some pictures with it, and I just like was very curious. So I'm a very curious person. And so forever learning is kind of what I'm into.
00:06:22
Speaker
So yeah, I was like, wait, how do plants and mushrooms kind of go hand in hand? And a lot of people in the mycology space and probably the plant space now knows who ah Paul Stamets is. And he wrote a book called Mycelium Running. And my mom knew how much I was. I loved book growing up books, anything learning, you know, I'd go to the I go to the zoo and I would take notes and make a book out of like the animals that I like learned about. And so me and my sister would just make workbooks, things like that. So she was like, hey, here's this ah cool book for your birthday. And I read through it, loved it. And so that's kind of what got me into mushrooms and just kind of learned how connected plants and fungi really are. And so that's kind of what I really focused on in college was
00:07:14
Speaker
plants and then I would always do presentations and like research on like soil science because a lot of the topics were mostly just soil. like You would just learn either plants. There was no mycology unit you know at my at my university, so i I would settle with soil and then kind of just do other research with like mold and things like that. My professors never really knew what I was talking about because People didn't know what mushrooms really like, you know, had a role in the soil, um like, you know, nine, nine years ago, probably by now. So yeah, it was kind of cool that I was like, hey, I was educating my professors on the importance of fungi. And so, you know, I was just I'd always try to ingrain like the plants and fungi aspect to things. So that's what really got me into it.
00:08:06
Speaker
um just being really curious and just wanting to understand it all. And you never will understand it all. And that's what I think a lot of people love about the mycology space is there's room to grow. There's room to learn, discover new species, get your get a species named after you even. So there's a lot of things we don't know. And I think that's what ah molds us into those people.
00:08:30
Speaker
Yeah, and I think that what's really interesting in these spaces is
Communication Through Mycelium
00:08:33
Speaker
that only now are we thinking about because, you know, with the understanding of two different kingdoms, I mean, there's still a lot of people who don't even realize that we're talking about, or as I call them kin homes, um like there there are two separate kin homes or kingdoms.
00:08:48
Speaker
of of the fungi and the flora, you know, ah they're and so therefore, but there's this relationship, such a such a deep relationship that exists between all the world of fungi and all the world of plants that um But and so the idea of having both of them and flowing between the both of them, I think can be really exciting. It reminds me of in our book club, we read um Entangled Life, you know, with Sheldon Medrick, which, of course, you know, you you got to love him. Everybody has to love him. He is. Yeah, there you go. It's such a good book. It's such it's such a good book.
00:09:26
Speaker
It's such a good book because and I think that this is one of the questions that I had for you was one of the things that makes that book so much fun is the fact that you really feel his adventure his his inquisitiveness and how he dives down that rabbit hole as you said relating to um fungi but yet it's almost like it's a it's a it's a point of entry because you can't look at fungi and follow those mycelial threads without really thinking about everything else like you said the soil the plants and and and so many others how do you feel like what is your point of entry like what is the part that you get most excited about in the physicality of your experiences with mushrooms yeah i love the communication above and below the soil that's what really got me into it just like learning people at my farmer's market always ask about hey do you guys grow morels
00:10:19
Speaker
do you guys grow chanterelles? And I say, that would be awesome to do, but there's just so many factors playing that role in making those mushrooms. You have to go to that specific tree, that specific like combination of microbes or humidity, temperature.
00:10:37
Speaker
like There's so many factors that play a role in growing those mushrooms that we haven't really cracked the code on most of those types. ah The most that we really know is the wood-loving species, the one that grows on trees. But if it has that symbiotic relationship with the trees, it's really hard to get all of those factors right, like truffles, chanterelles, porcini, morels, things like that.
00:11:06
Speaker
So that's really what got me into it. Like, what do they do underneath? Yeah. And how does it really work? How do they communicate? I think the communication is a really big piece of this, right? Because all of the what we're discovering now, and I do this plant consciousness commentary on Fridays, and and one of the things I love is to really get into the whole communication space because our human understanding of communication is so limited.
00:11:31
Speaker
It's like, oh, words get mumbled. And it's like, you do realize we have so many other aspects and so many other ways that we are both sending and receiving. Like our body naturally puts out pheromones and we take in different pheromones. And when you add go into the plant world and there's a whole other set of signatures of of chemicals, of volatile organic compounds. So many different aspects. Exactly. You got to love them. And so how do you explain that to people? How do you bring that? I mean, do you even I mean, I'm assuming with the podcast, you must be trying to you know help people understand
00:12:11
Speaker
I mean, from my perspective, it's like the more you understand about how all of these different, how can operate, the easier it is for you to even understand that you are so much more than this physicality you think that you are. Yes. And once you kind of start to dig into figuring out how things work, you end up getting more questions. It feels like you don't really know what you don't know. Um, so yeah, a few years ago, I was like, so who's, who's communicating to who like are the plants?
00:12:40
Speaker
like reaching out to the fungi to come to them or is it like a um plant reaching out to them vice versa so that's kind of what i started with and i think the results are that um I think I don't want to get this wrong but I think it's more of the plants because of the nutrients and what they can offer for the fungi and so yeah plants kind of give off those VOCs but also I think there's just like some sort of sounds or wavelengths that happen underneath the soil that are attracting different microbes different um like there's not just fungi
00:13:20
Speaker
which is a whole nother aspect. I cover this
Soil Food Web Complexity
00:13:23
Speaker
a lot on my podcast is the soil food web. Like it's not just plants. It's not just the mushrooms. It's also, you know, like the little insects, the the little worms, all of these little microscopic organisms that we don't even think about. And all of that kind of plays the role um in all of that.
00:13:44
Speaker
And so yeah, the plants, like you were saying is a whole nother aspect because even with, I think they cover it in entangled life of like, if a plant is being chewed upon, it actually sends off VOCs to attract the pest to the insect that's.
00:14:02
Speaker
like chewing on the plant. I don't know if that made sense at all. Yeah, it sends out signals to attract those. And that's just wild to me that it's like mimicking what the pest would be to get rid of the pest that's chewing on. And my one of my favorite plant facts is the smell of fresh cut grass is actually the plant signaling for help that it's being you know attacked. And so it's letting the other blades know um that it's being eaten on and then so then they can kind of move around their hormones and trying to like ward off and like thicken their skin in a way it's just so it's we just have so many things that we still don't know and there's more to the mushroom space just because we're like we don't even know
00:14:55
Speaker
how they actually like move around things like that. we just There's just so many questions, and I'm just so interested. So I'm glad that there's people out there doing stuff like that. And even in the the root zone, like the rhizosphere is like a whole aspect of where the mushrooms and the plants interact. So there's some that are ecto and endo.
00:15:23
Speaker
So some of the ah fungi grow within the roots and then some kind of like encapsulate on the outside. So there's more than just, you know, one type. There's like multiple types of fungi that attach to these plants. There's just so many different factors. That's just what amazes me.
00:15:39
Speaker
And all these types of symbiotic relationships help us better understand the fact that we ourselves are made up of relationships. Everything is relations, even, you know, the the book that we're currently we're just finishing up in the Plant Wisdom Book Club. In the end, it's called Ways of Being by James Bridle. It's an amazing book.
00:15:57
Speaker
So ah ways of being ways of being by James Bridle. and um And one of the things that James Bridle gets to at the very end is the fact that it's all relations. Everything is about relationships. Everything is about relationships. And I think that that studying and like the whole relationship between fungi and flora and and plants is helps us so expand so much our own understanding of relationships even more because like you said you have you know a one one relationship between one type of plant and one specific type of fungi then you have the multiple relationships where there's different kind of fungi some fungi are endo and they're gonna connect in and some fungi are ecto and they're gonna be out on the outside
00:16:42
Speaker
And some are going to be ah passing information back and forth when some are just going to be siphoning out information. and Some are just going to be bringing in information. And they're bringing in different kinds of nutrients. And it's a reminder that it does take an ecosystem. It does, like you said, you're talking about soil, that food web, it is a web. We we have to stop thinking of soil as this one thing. That's so not true. yeah Soil is only is is in and of itself similar to our to our own bodies, even though we don't see it as a conglomerate of things altogether, all these different kinds of being, exactly. It's a microbiome that together then creates this thing.
00:17:20
Speaker
And I think that these all these relationships and the fact that some are parasitic, some are predacious, some are going to be commensalisms, some are going to be you know mutualisms. They're all these different pieces together. And it helps us understand that, oh, wait a minute, that friend that's been mooching off of me, maybe that that's not a bad thing. Hold on. Let me analyze it based on the relationship itself and not just the fact that they were mooching off me, maybe there's a reason for it and maybe I'm actually getting nourished in some weird way from that kind of mooching experience. So I think going across the species boundaries and going across and the kingdom boundaries also expands us even further into all of this.
00:18:02
Speaker
Yes. Yep. I like to cover that on my podcast too. Every time it's like, we're all connected, everything's connected. um So yeah, there's, there's just so many relationships, like you were saying, um so much like competition, but then, you know, some are working together and it's, yeah, it's.
00:18:21
Speaker
It's wild down there. It is. It's wild down there. And how do you find like today, do you because I believe you have ah a business connected to mushrooms.
Role at Mushroom Farm in Florida
00:18:32
Speaker
Did I and so what is it that exactly you're doing?
00:18:35
Speaker
Yeah, so I am kind of partnered with Zephyr Gill's mushroom farm. So that's just ah here in Florida. And what I am technically doing is a lot of the outreach. I do help on the farm here and there. um So we've been kind of.
00:18:51
Speaker
trying to broaden our species we grow our own mushrooms so we have a few it's kind of like you know greenhouses but for mushrooms so it's all ah humidity controlled climate controlled so we kind of are in charge of how um these mushrooms can be grown and since we're in Florida we can't really grow them outside all year round in that case so then we grow them inside and that's kind of how you can keep track of everything. So we are kind of expanding our species so um William Padilla Brown actually helped me get some shiitake cultures so what you'd do is you'd kind of have a ah ah petri plate or an agar plate and you'd take those cultures and then mix them into grain bags um of what you've sterilized and then you inoculate. And then there's like a whole you know process from getting it to the little culture, to fruiting and then harvesting them off. So what my main job is, is kind of doing a lot of the outreach. I'm pretty good you know with the podcast and um the owner is actually very supportive of me and the podcast too. So he's like, just come on. like
00:19:58
Speaker
ah venture onto on any of these markets like talk about your podcast hopefully you can get some subscribers like he's just so he just like really is interested in me succeeding with the podcast itself so he's been a ah huge huge help and i've also been a good help to him too you know if you're a mushroom farmer You're not really that keen on technology and kind of like getting into your website, making social media posts. So that's kind of what I've been in charge of is getting to different markets, helping him out, kind of educating. We've been doing a lot of presentations on the benefits of mushrooms and how to cook them. So a lot of our vending spot is education first. Like why are these mushrooms even important? I'm sure you have to tell a lot of people, you know, why plants are important and why you should kind of.
00:20:48
Speaker
consume them on a daily basis so I do a lot of that kind of um connecting between like what are some of the ailments that some people are going through and I'm sure that there's a mushroom out there that can kind of help with that so a huge topic right now is lion's mane and so a lot of people have been actually coming up to our farmers market stand and they're asking us if we have lion's mane and it's been just amazing within the last year like the mushroom coffee's been blowing up everybody's really on their whole lion's mane kick so if you don't know it's ah ah ah a lot of people are using it for like that mental clarity the focus lowering risk of ADHD dementia Alzheimer's digestion mood boosting nerve health like there's so much
00:21:36
Speaker
um you know mental things with lines that people are trying to ask for so that's kind of what our markets are about is educating and then of course we sell our fresh um mushrooms that we grow so it's been really nice to kind of educate and get people on the bandwagon of you know taking your mushrooms every day.
00:21:56
Speaker
So I have I have a strange question, which is yes, please. So I I live. So I'm I'm originally from South Florida and I haven't lived here in a long time, but I come visit regularly. And so in my mind, mushrooms.
00:22:08
Speaker
don't even come into the equation. You know, it's too hot. And yeah, it is humid, but it's still so fricking hot. And I don't know why I've never thought about Florida as a place for wild mushrooms at all. It's that instead where I live, like the Fungaioli as they're called, which are the people who go out searching for mushrooms are very, very, very popular. As soon as it rains,
00:22:31
Speaker
Everybody's outside, everybody and their mother, all these older gentlemen, and these older women with their baskets, they're going through all the areas of the woods around where I live, and they're collecting up a lot of porcini, and we have a few other kinds of mushrooms. There's a lot of mushrooms where I am. So are there wild mushrooms in Florida? What are the wild mushrooms in Florida?
00:22:58
Speaker
Yes, there's actually a lot of mushrooms in Florida. There's a lot of russellas. There's um definitely chanterelles is something that I see a lot of. We actually have some right in our mushroom farm area. we yeah ah The neighbor next door is so unfortunate because he just had so many chanterelles and he has a fence and like dogs and chickens. And so we were like, hey, can we like pick some of your chanterelles?
00:23:25
Speaker
And he's like, well, the dogs are a little vicious, but i'll I'll pick some for you. So it's just fun. We're like, hey, can you get that clump, that one? And so we could sell some of those too. you know it's It's a high ticketed mushroom. A lot of people actually are curious about morels if they grow in that area. And so unfortunately, morels only go to the border of Florida and Georgia. So they're not in Florida specifically.
00:23:52
Speaker
But yeah, right on the border. So it'd be fun to find some of those. um But yeah, i I've kind of had the same question that you had when I moved here. And I was like, is there is there a lot of mushrooms here? Like, yeah, it's maybe too hot, um but it is very humid. So mushrooms like cooler temperatures and humid. So a lot of the times, this is when the growing season starts in Florida, as you probably know. is A lot of people are growing you know their gardens now.
00:24:21
Speaker
But yeah, I've been starting to get more into the mycological society space here in Florida. So every month we actually meet up. I've collected some rishi, the russellas. There's definitely bolites everywhere. um And then, yeah, chanterelles. So those are like the main ones that I've found, um but I haven't done too much just because if you're going If you're going into the woods, there's a lot of swamp area. So it's really wet. It's a little too saturated. You got the saw palm, saw palm meadow. um So, you know, there's risks of getting teared up by the plants. There's gators now. ah So there's definitely some things to kind of look into, but if you find your spots, ah you'll definitely find some.
00:25:08
Speaker
And what do you find or been like, what has changed in your life, you know, coming from a ah plant biologist background to then, you know, stepping deeper into this, this, uh, world with the fungi, what has changed like for you? Is there one thing that you're like, Oh, you know, this is something that the mushrooms, you know, that co or that combination mushroom plants taught me. Hmm.
00:25:33
Speaker
So a story I like to talk about is one I actually studied abroad in New Zealand.
Educating on Fungi in New Zealand
00:25:41
Speaker
I was super into the the plant space and this is when my mom decided to get me that Mycelium running book and and What I wanted to do was, you know, go to New Zealand, check out some of these mushrooms. And I was like, oh, this is like mushroom, you know, capital of the world, just because New Zealand's an island. So you get so many different spores ah that's very diverse from other areas, even, you know, Australia, things like that. So since it's an island, it's really awesome for different plant species, different fungi species.
00:26:14
Speaker
But I, to get a credit to study abroad, I had to teach a class of some sorts. So what I wanted to do was I just wanted to educate people on the importance of fungi because I found that nobody really was interested in that or didn't really know that that was like a whole topic.
00:26:31
Speaker
So by the end of the trip, I got so many people passionate about this topic just because they saw my passion with it. And I just found that really fulfilling and gave me that full purpose of, wow, like I can educate people even if they don't like mushrooms, even if they don't know what mushrooms are or that they have benefits, um they still kind of got into it because I was passionate about it. And so that's kind of what was like the topic of my trip.
00:27:00
Speaker
is i we ah went out and collected some mushrooms and just kind of like separated them into different categories and just kind of showed them the diversity and by you know the end of the trip anytime we'd go on a hike in the bush they're like hey keke you gotta get up here you gotta check out this mushroom We had some weird slime molds, some, um, like big, um, puff balls that I've never seen before. They're purple puff balls. So if you like, you know, hit them, uh, purple smoke would just fly everywhere. And I was like, this is so cool. Like mushrooms are so weird. Um, so yeah, that was just really, that was something that I really learned is if you have a passion for something and you, and you show it a lot of people kind of grab onto that vibe, grab onto that energy.
00:27:45
Speaker
And people get really into a topic, even if they're not um too keen on it. OK, hold on a second, KK, because I want to share with our audience one of our eco-conscious business partners.
00:27:58
Speaker
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00:28:20
Speaker
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00:28:38
Speaker
It's in the show notes. Plant music is great for healing, sharing, and personal connection. Let's continue our journey of personal evolution and plant consciousness together with the songs of plants.
00:28:51
Speaker
I can also imagine that in some ways you know mushrooms really help you understand the diversity of life because mean we don't even and anywhere you go, especially if you go outdoors and you go any kind of woodland, like any kind of woodland, there's always something growing. yes you know, teeny tiny and really big. And like you said, puffballs and like, lichen bos like, like I love like, mom oh my goodness I, Moss and lichen are my, I love my like, and especially, yes, definitely a love language, especially because, I mean, come on, it's a three way. It's a like, permanent three way minimum.
00:29:31
Speaker
minimum. You can't have like them without minimum because sometimes you can have more. It's a party. Come on. It's a party. They're never alone. Lycan is always made up and we call this this you know trio of these fungi and algae yeah We call them some with a completely different name because they're so enmeshed in one another. They're so connected, so intertwined that it even took years before scientists were even able to discover the fact that there were you know different kinds of fungi and and algae that were connected together in order to make a like lichen. and so that's
00:30:08
Speaker
And they're so versatile. I mean, like, can you find them all over the place from the, go into a parking lot and they're covering the, you know, the, the parking meet things and you have, you know, into a forest or on a rock or on a piece of wood or on a tree. And it's like, this is this amazing variety, which is the same in some ways of mushrooms in the sense that they have, I have this, I have this thing in, um, this dream.
00:30:34
Speaker
So where I live we have the sacred woods temple this external sacred woods temple it's really beautiful and there's so many things and I keep trying to convince so you know we have these unusual names and our names are animals or nature spirits as our first names and our second names are plants or fungi and so hobbit I've been trying to convince Hobbit for the last few years, who's an amazing artist who lives in the Sacred Woods Temple. um Back when I used to live there, we lived in the same house in Nucleo, as we call them. And Hobbit, I've been trying to convince her to create statues made out of like wood, because um I want them to get covered by, you know, like the porosity of the wood and make it a very kind of like
00:31:18
Speaker
spongy wood that would soak up a lot of water, don't treat them at all. Because what I want is for her to make some kind of really cool art piece that then gets covered between the lichen and the mushrooms and probably some kind of plants and I'm like,
00:31:32
Speaker
It's co-creation, Hobbit. It's co-creation. I might convince my friend, the friend that I'm staying at right now where I am is she has a food forest and I'm like, maybe I'll convince her to create something like that out here. on Yes, absolutely. ah I mean, like the like air plants, like you could have so many different things on there. And I i also like it because it's kind of like ah a peek into time. Like it's like a timeline because you can kind of age something like, oh, this has lichen on it. It's, it's older. It's like older than, you know, 10 to whatever 50 years. Like it's, I don't even know how long it takes, but it's a really slow process. Um, so yeah, it's, again, it's just another, we have so many questions and we know so little about lichen. And so that's also why I'm really into it. It's like, something that like I could kind of discover and make mine. and It's very unique.
00:32:27
Speaker
Well, and lichen is also, you know, taking in it's it's um when you have a lot of lichen, you know, the air quality is really good. And yeah so there's so many different aspects of that. And I think that that's really about this. So I have a I love grass because I feel that grass is so ignored and undervalued in so many
Connecting with Fungi in Nature
00:32:48
Speaker
different ways. I think we think about like the lawn and I don't love the lawn. I love grasses, wild grasses.
00:32:54
Speaker
kill the lawn exactly and let whatever wants to grow. And I love everything that's so close to the ground from that perspective. And I think that that's where I started to kind of start a relationship with fungi. I have to admit, because I come from South Florida and when I lived in Seattle, unfortunately, I didn't have an opportunity to get into this world. I really wish I did.
00:33:17
Speaker
Um, I have a little bit of a fear of I don't pick anything because where I live, like I said, there's so many kinds of mushrooms and I'm like, I'm not even going to try it. So I go out with my friends who are Fungaioli who know how to pick. I mean, I know how to pick porcini because they're big and they're thick and they're, you know, kind of like yellowy white. I'm like, okay, that is obvious. You are a porcini. I can pick you. And I know that that's going to be delicious.
00:33:41
Speaker
as well as like this relationship but there's all these other you know woody type like you said fungi and I do think So because I don't pick them, because i I don't know enough, I like to just sit around and talk to them. Like, I'm just going to sit down here. You are the fruiting body, which means there is an entire world underneath me connected to you. So what are you guys doing out here? Like, well what's going on? How did you decide to come up here? And why did you come up here? And like, what's going on? That's kind of, that's my way of doing things. like well That's fun.
00:34:20
Speaker
You kind of become the mushroom sometimes. Exactly. Exactly. And so it's like, I'm just going to sit here and I'm going to try to understand what is it like to be the mushroom? Mm hmm.
00:34:32
Speaker
Or like the fairy rings are like a whole nother category of different types of mushrooms. So that's like the shaggy mane or the inky cap. Um, honestly, the, the death angel, I think is one of those two. Um, there's so many different categories of, uh, mushrooms. And so there's a whole category on the fairy ring mushrooms. So they grow outward. And so they make these like big fairy rings or circles. And that's a whole nother folklore thing that a lot of people, you know, lay in the middle of them and during like a full moon and you're getting like cleansed and um there's like a whole like portal people would say. So that's like a whole nother thing. But yeah, like becoming the mushroom, talking to them.
00:35:12
Speaker
Well, I mean it makes sense right because you have like you said, underground this whole I just recently did an episode where I was talking about scototropism which is, you know, we think of photo photo tropism so plants that grow towards the light but We don't think of scototropism, which is the plants that are growing towards the dark, like big monstera plants and such that grow towards the darkness because they're looking to stabilize. And so they need that they need to stay in the darkness until they completely stabilize. And I think that in some ways mushrooms live inside of this sort of s scototropic world
00:35:49
Speaker
where they're underground you know the the whole mycelial networks are all kind of underground and they're having these explorations and I think even there there's a lot for us to learn because we as humans have uh of our of our senses of the senses we're aware of the main five senses that we're aware of Our dominant sense is the sense of sight. It's the vision. yeah And so, but if you think about the idea of connecting, like you said, be be the fungi, be the fungal threads, be the hyphae, right? Like we're talking about complete darkness and that's really scary for us as humans.
00:36:26
Speaker
So I think that there's a lot to be said about connecting and finding that connection of how do I, first of all, enjoy the darkness because the majority of their lives are underground. How do I become one with the darkness with this experience? How do I learn how to explore the darkness and find that nourishment and find those relationships in the darkness And then when do I want to fruit to to allow this come up? And so how do I experience that growing outwards into the world of you know that darkness? And so I'm really curious as to for you when you're exploring, especially you know when you do have the opportunity to go out foraging maybe or finding areas that do this, how do you
00:37:16
Speaker
How do you feel like you connect? Like, how do you but how do you find? Since, you know, it's not like they're everywhere. Sometimes they're yeah far between. Yes. Yeah. So to find mushrooms, honestly, it's, it's, um, kind of what we were saying before, worth all those factors that you're looking at, like what trees are inhabiting these mushrooms. So, uh, and this is where the plant and fungi space kind of flows together is because if you want to find a specific mushroom, you have to find that specific tree. And so you're trying to look for those types of species.
00:37:51
Speaker
Um, a lot of the ones that people cultivate are hardwood mushrooms. And so they're hardwood trees. So a lot of oak, um, or, um, a lot of apple trees for like morels sometimes too. But yeah, oak is what a lot of people kind of look for. And that's why I was like, Florida would be great for mushrooms because there's tons of live oak everywhere. There's tons of oak trees. Um, so that's kind of what a lot of people are looking for, especially like lion's mane and things like that. And so.
00:38:20
Speaker
Yeah, kind of looking for that plant species, um looking for obviously mushrooms after it rains. So that's kind of, you know, you're kind of figuring out the temperature and the climate and that's when like morels would come up is that only that little ah space around Mother's Day Is kind of when they come out for a few weeks to a month so that's you're kind of looking for that season that those grow so like porcini would be more of like the summer to fall months. um Oysters are honestly I think year round in a way like there's even winter oysters that you can find. lobster mushrooms are more of that fall time. so And then morels, the springtime, black trumpet more, the summer or fall. So yeah, you're kind of looking for the timing. And then also when it's rained, um I think they get triggered by a little cold a little cooler snap um and then with wetness or after rain. So that's kind of what you're looking for as well as that specific plant.
00:39:23
Speaker
ah interaction. But yeah, I think I wanted to cover before we moved on of how much the mushroom is underneath or, you know, the fungus is underneath
Ecological Role of Mycelium Networks
00:39:33
Speaker
the ground. A lot of people think that, you know, the mushroom is like the only organism or the part of the whole thing, but it's honestly just the apple to an apple tree. um And most of the organism is actually underneath the mycelium. That's like what you're saying.
00:39:49
Speaker
So some people might not know that or maybe no, it is it's one the refresher. Yeah, it's super important because I do think that that that most people don't know that the majority of what is, you know, the fungi world is all underground and that's those relationships underground, how important they are. And that, you know, it's.
00:40:11
Speaker
Yeah, sure, you might be seeing one species, but that that you're seeing that fruit come up in that one species. But most likely, there's probably a lot of species underground that might not even ever fruit in a way that you might yeah see or notice or interact with because they could not be edible or because they maybe do it in a very small way or maybe because they don't at all or they do it under you know really shady locations that you might come across.
00:40:39
Speaker
And I do think it's interesting that most people don't realize just how much the mycelium networks are underneath you. he Yeah, I think ah in that book, um mycelium running, if you take like, you know, one inch of soil, like inch by inch or something, you get like seven miles of mycelium if you like put them together. So there's um so much that we, you know, don't know because we can't see, but there's so much more happening, um you know, under uh under the eye or you know without the naked eye and stuff like that right right so i um so your podcast tell yes what tell me tell me about more like the name of the podcast what it is that the podcast is mainly focused on tell me tell me more i want to know more yes absolutely so
00:41:28
Speaker
ah It's called Flora Funga Podcast.
Origin and Focus of KK's Podcast
00:41:31
Speaker
So we're bridging the gap between plants, ah fungi, and humans. So that's kind of what my whole um thing was about. And I started this podcast, I think four years ago now. It's been 20, yeah, since 2020 in February. And so I really was interested in listening to podcasts, but there is no podcast at the time that bridged or combined plants and fungi. There is just, you know, houseplant podcasts or um the OG mushroom podcast, which would be ah Mushroom Hour, Welcome to Mushroom Hour, Mushroom Revival. So those are kind of like the top um two that I can think of that a lot of people got a lot of their information from. But again, you can't really have fungi without plants or plants without fungi.
00:42:17
Speaker
So to to me, it was just, I want a podcast to listen to that gets really nerdy into topics of both of these categories. And that was not a thing back then. And so I just decided to make my own Flora Funga podcast. And so I'm actually releasing an episode coming up on how I kind of created a podcast. And so that was just really interesting to me that other people are you know interested in learning how that works.
00:42:44
Speaker
But yeah, so that's really what got me into it, per se. And my first five episodes, if you dare to go back to those, um are me honestly scripting my episodes. And I want to make it really broad for all of the audience to kind of get into it. So my first episode is like, what is a plant?
00:43:05
Speaker
And then I get into what is a fungus? So I get really down down and nerdy really quickly of like, what even is this? And then, you know, what's the importance of these and then what's the importance of those interactions? So I released those five episodes altogether just to like create something for people to kind of get involved in and kind of, yeah, encapsulate mostly everybody um if they were interested.
00:43:32
Speaker
And then people want to be on the podcast so I was like well I can do like interviews and then also I have like topics and questions that I'm interested in so I might as well reach out to some of these people and so I actually was really interested in talking to a farm on sea beans if you know what those are.
00:43:52
Speaker
And so I'm actually um meeting with somebody next week on a sea bean farm in South Carolina. So I'm really excited to kind of do an in-person interview with that. So there's been a lot of evolving with the podcast. It was just me um and then I got to interviews and then now I do video editing and now I'm doing in-person interviews and now I'm going to different mushroom festivals.
00:44:17
Speaker
to film for them. So that's what I've been doing the um all last month is every weekend I was actually in a different state going to different mushroom festivals. um So that was really fun to do. And I make different documentaries for them kind of showcase, you know, all of these beginning mushroom festivals. And so that's what I've been kind of doing is educating people. And so that's what Flora Funga podcast is all about educating and bridging that gap between plants, fungi and humans.
00:44:48
Speaker
That's so much fun. That's awesome. I mean, I do think that that podcast give us the opportunity to really explore in depth all these topics that we love and to meet all these amazing people that we can then have these conversations. One of my favorite podcasts and it is true that a lot of the plant podcasts are kind of hard or to find or they're just in this other world. One of my favorite is called Indefensive Plants and I absolutely love Indefensive Plants because I just love somebody who can be such a nerd and so geek out on everything to him that is like academic ah exploration of plants, and he just loves it so much. And I think that that's, that's what we adore, like why we do this, we do it because it gives us the opportunity to give people a different taste, a different way to look at
00:45:35
Speaker
the world in our case you know that the world that's that's pretty much been feeding us that's been taking care of us that's been nourishing us because without fungi we don't have all of that rich soil that comes through regardless of whether there's a fruiting body that we can eat there's still so much other nourishment that comes for the entire ecosystem and I think that when we remember and we connect into that kind of mushroom part, that that fungi part is to really remember about that ecosystem creator, that that nourisher, that that conduit that brings everything together and allows it to all flow in that perspective. And and it's just so important. And we've we've lost it because so many of us, because we have a lawn that covers it.
00:46:20
Speaker
and in so many places. So you have this lawn that doesn't allow you to really get in there and have that connection and see and not everybody lives in a place that has a woodland nearby and they can see that kind of aspect. So I'm glad that there's somebody like you that's out there that's bringing it to people and and having them, you know, showcasing it for them in so many different accessible ways.
00:46:41
Speaker
Yes, absolutely.
Impact of Plant and Fungi Podcasters
00:46:42
Speaker
And I wanted to shout out a few more people that um kind of been more about plant stuff, but then they're like, oh, wait, fungi are part of the whole thing. um So Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't is a awesome. he He has a podcast, but he also has it on YouTube if you know who um he is. But yeah, he is a he he talks about different plant species. He knows all of the Latin names to all of these plants.
00:47:09
Speaker
And then he realizes, you know, how mushrooms are interweaved in that. So he's been um getting more into kind of um the psychedelic mushrooms and kind of doing more in-person things of that nature too. And so he just has a really fun, like crude kind of way of expressing plants. So he's really fun. If you like people that swear a lot and talk about plants,
00:47:33
Speaker
Uh, crime pays, but botany doesn't is a really, really cool guy and then completely arbitrary. So i completely aror yes, you got to love Alex and Casey. They're just so much fun. Yeah. They started their podcast right when I was. So we in the beginning, we actually swapped ah trailers.
00:47:53
Speaker
um And so I'd love to have them on too. They just seem really busy and I've honestly um lost track of listening to podcasts at the at the moment. So it's just been like, I've been trying to keep up with like all of these people making podcasts. So I recently looked and I was like, whoa, there is a lot of like plant and fungi type of podcasts nowadays, um at least you know a few episodes.
00:48:15
Speaker
So I'm glad that more people are understanding the importance of that. So yeah, it's it's been really fun to watch watch the space grow.
Podcasting Effort and Future Plans
00:48:23
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. and and And it is great because everybody has their own angle. I love that that completely arbitrary. It's like you know one is an arborist, andrologist, and the other one is a musician. And so you get exploration from these both points of view, as opposed to somebody like you know in defensive plans where you have um you know somebody who is PhD and a plant biologist. There used to be a really fun one that they don't, unfortunately, they they no longer broadcast.
00:48:53
Speaker
that was called Plants and Pipettes that I also really enjoyed. And it was super fun. They're two molecular biologists. Okay. And um they had created a bunch of different segments on um on different aspects of plants. You can still go back and listen to the old episodes, but they're no longer. What is it again? a new one Plants and pipettes.
00:49:11
Speaker
Oh, yes, yes, I did know. I listened to them too. Okay, they don't make any more. Yeah, they're not they're not broadcasting anymore. I think because you know, one of them has two kids and the other one yeah have a different job. And it just kind of, you know, podcasting, podcasting takes time. All of this stuff it takes a lot of time.
00:49:29
Speaker
it's a full-time job and I don't know if people know how much work it ah goes into it and that's what I've been trying to do is turn my like four-year hobby um into a full-time job so that's kind of I think before we were talking about you know the future with the podcast a little bit and so that's kind of where nerdy jobs would come into play and I think this would be a huge um you know if you know the the show dirty jobs It's kind of where he goes around and tries out different, you know, dirty jobs per se, um and see what it takes to partake in those. And that's what I'd like like to do with nerdy jobs is kind of educate the youth or people what you can do with a plant biology degree, mycology degree, you know, um
00:50:17
Speaker
like environmental conservation degree. um you can't You don't just have to work in a lab. You don't just have to make money by photography, but there's so many other aspects that I think a lot of people don't know about. And so I'd love to try out different jobs for a weekend and just kind of give you like the raha, you know, juicy news on that and just kind of educate people. And I think it'd be really fun. It would be, you know, more of like a comedy but also education. And so that's something that I'm looking forward to in the future. I'm actually writing my outline for that right now. And um Zephyr Gill's mushroom farm was like, hey, it would be cool if you know you could you could totally use me as your like pilot episode. um So it'd be, you know what does it take to ah work in a mushroom farm? like What does that really look like? What are some of the obstacles, pros, cons, um things to look into? so
00:51:11
Speaker
So I'm excited for that. Nice. Well, tell, tell everybody again, what is the name of the podcast, your podcast? ah My podcast is called Flora Funga podcast and I am KK. Perfect. Perfect. And we will make sure that we add all of the information about your podcast and for you in the show notes.
00:51:31
Speaker
I am just so grateful for this, for the fact that we finally were able to meet up, and we're able to do this. And I'm so excited about what you're doing. Because like we said, every everything that gives people more exposure and the ability in a fun, because plants and fungi are fun. so Yeah, fun with fungi. And the thing that gives them the opportunity, fun with fungi, exactly. Whatever gives people the opportunity to really connect, I think is amazing. And I am so grateful for what you're doing.
00:51:59
Speaker
Thank you. thank you for Any last words you want to give anybody? um Well, I release episodes every Wednesday. One week I do interviews and the other weeks I do little bonus episodes where I kind of cover juicy news. So that's kind of where I ah create a scientific paper into a digestible bit where I kind of educate you on how to really read through these research papers In as little as a few seconds, ah how does she do it? That's for you to find out. So yeah, let's get down and nerdy with ah KK and Flora Funga podcast. So thank you for having me on so much. Thank you. Thank you so much. And everyone, please go and check out her podcast. Check out. Everything will be in the show notes. And thank you for also being here and for listening in for this episode.
00:52:51
Speaker
Wow, I am just so grateful to KK for that episode. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the episode. What did you think like share your experiences tell me what you thought you can leave me a comment. You can come into the naturally conscious community. You can reach out to me on any social media. I would just really love to hear your thoughts and your also experience with fungi. I mean, was the stuff that we talked about something you already knew? Was it new? Are you just looking to start your relationship with fungi? I know it's a
00:53:22
Speaker
completely different world and therefore sometimes it's hard for us to get into it or to understand. I know that I'm still relatively fearful and I'm very cautious when I go but at the same time when I'm cautious on the whole eating uh fruiting body part I am super excited about everything that is the underground mycelial networks and everything else that goes into it. So I want to hear what your thoughts on that as well. Is this something that you would like to hear more of? Do you want us to expand into other kin homes? And so let me know. Also, remember to like and to subscribe because all of these connections
00:54:02
Speaker
help expand our reach and help us really touch the people that are looking for this type of information. Plus, if you need any help on your own evolutionary journey, you know where to find me. I'm here to help you any way I can. So that's it for this episode. Remember to resist the urge to hold back your emerging green brilliance. Bye. Thanks for tuning into this episode of Reconnect with Plant Wisdom. To continue these conversations, join us in the Naturally Conscious Community.
00:54:29
Speaker
your premier online ecosystem for plant reawakening and accelerated evolution and co-creation with other kin. Here you'll find expansive discussions, interactive courses, live events, and supportive group programs like the Plant Wisdom Book Club and the Sprott Writing and Creativity Group.
00:54:46
Speaker
Connect with like-minded individuals collaborating with plants to integrate these insights into life. Intro and Outro Music by Steve Sciulli Poinsettia from the Singing Life of Plants. That's it for me, Tigrilla Gardenia, and my plant collaborators. Until next time, remember, resist the urge to hold back your emerging green brilliance. I'm out. Bye!