Our ancestors have used mushrooms as medicine for thousands of years. The Greek physician
Hippocrates, 450 BCE, classified the amadou mushroom (Fomes fomentarius) as a potent anti-inflammatory and for cauterizing wounds. Although mushrooms have long been used by various cultures, only recently has modern science rediscovered what the ancients knew long ago—that mushrooms can be deep reservoirs of powerful medicines (Stamets & Zwickey, 2014).

Indeed, it is well established that both the human population and Mother Earth could benefit from the existence of mushrooms which could one day save the world. From fulfilling our macro-nutrient needs to increasing our immune system in order to fight off viruses & diseases (Stamets, 2009; 2012).

Some mushrooms, however, are now under clinical trials due to their mind altering effects which has the potential to cure a number of mental health disorders such as depression, addiction, and anxiety with many more results soon to come. And as long as there are organizations who are allowed to study any psychedelics with medicinal uses, then it could very possibly be that they have been part of our evolution for thousands of years (Jr, 2017; Mcrae, 2017; Thomas, Malcolm & Lastra, 2017).

Mycelium is the roots of white fuzzy threads or network where mushrooms spawn. Paul Stamets has briefly explained on Fungi the impact mycelium has on our ecology

Four components of mycorestoration are described in detail:

• Mycofiltration: the filtration of biological and chemical pathogens as well as controlling erosion
• Mycoforestry and mycogardening: the use of mycelium for companion cultivation for the benefit and protection of plants.
• Mycoremediation: the use of mycelium for decomposing toxic wastes and pollutants.
• Mycopesticides: the use of mycelium for attracting and controlling insect populations. (Stamets, 2005)

These hardwood dowels, or “plug spawn”, have been inoculated with a single species of fungi. Plug spawn is used to inoculate a fresh cut log to encourage the growth and fruiting of a specific species of edible and/or medicinal mushroom. Plug spawn can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4-6 months before use.

After the incubation period, logs can be soaked to force a fruiting.

Soaking Method

• Immerse log in chlorine-free cold water for 12 hours or until logs are fully saturated.
• Stack logs off the ground in a shady area.
• If outdoor humidity levels are low, plastic sheeting can be used as a tent to increase humidity. Avoid logs having contact with the plastic.
  
• When the logs are done fruiting, allow them to rest 8-10 weeks before forcing them to fruit again.

Click the following link for suggestions on burying Nameko, Maitake, and Reishi logs after incubation.

Ballroom, Jr. (2017). Psychedelic Science 2017, Psilocybin Mushrooms and The Mycology of Consciousness. Retrieved 01/16/2019 from http://psychedelicscience.org/conference/interdisciplinary/psilocybin-mushrooms-and-the-mycology-of-consciousness

Mcrae, M. (2017). Science Alert, Research Shows Magic Mushrooms Can Offer Real Benefits in Depression Therapy. Retrieved 01/16/2019 from https://www.sciencealert.com/therapy-for-depression-gets-a-significant-boost-when-combined-with-psilocybin

Stamets, P. (2005). Mycellium running. Berkeley, California,: Ten Speed Press.

Stamets, P. (2009). Fungi Perfecti, The Search for Agarikon. Retrieved 01/16/2019 from http://www.fungi.com/blog/items/the-search-for-agarikon.html

Stamets, P. (2012). The Blog, Agarikon: Ancient Mushroom for Modern Medicine. Retrieved 01/16/2019 from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-stamets/agarikon-mushroom_b_1861947.html

Stamets, P., & Zwickey, H. (2014). Medicinal Mushrooms: Ancient Remedies Meet Modern Science. Integrative medicine (Encinitas, Calif.), 13(1), 46-7. Retrieved 01/16/2019 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4684114/pdf/46-47.pdf

Thomas, K., Malcolm, B. and Lastra, D. (2017). Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy: A Review of a Novel Treatment for Psychiatric Disorders. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. [online] 59(5), pp.446-455. Available at https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2017.1320734 [Accessed 16 Jan. 2019]

Dunbar's number is a suggested cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships—relationships in which an individual knows who each person is and how each person relates to every other person. This number was first proposed in the 1990s by British anthropologist Robin Dunbar, who found a correlation between primate brain size and average social group size. By using the average human brain size and extrapolating from the results of primates, he proposed that humans can comfortably maintain only 150 stable relationships.

Dunbar is an anthropologist at the University College of London, who wrote a paper on Co-Evolution Of Neocortex Size, Group Size And Language In Humans where he hypothesizes:

... there is a cognitive limit to the number of individuals with whom any one person can maintain stable relationships, that this limit is a direct function of relative neocortex size, and that this in turn limits group size ... the limit imposed by neocortical processing capacity is simply on the number of individuals with whom a stable inter-personal relationship can be maintained.

Dunbar supports this hypothesis through studies by a number of field anthropologists. These studies measure the group size of a variety of different primates; Dunbar then correlate those group sizes to the brain sizes of the primates to produce a mathematical formula for how the two correspond. Using his formula, which is based on 36 primates, he predicts that 147.8 is the "mean group size" for humans, which matches census data on various village and tribe sizes in many cultures.

Want to grow fresh veggies and flowers but space is limited? A raised garden bed is a perfect solution. Here's how to make one.

People are isolated from each other, public spaces are being privatized, and we are being punished for attempting to grow our own food. There is only one solution: resistance. Join James for this classic Corbett Report episode where he explores how to build communities through revolutionary gardening, revolutionary walking and other everyday activities.

Using wikis and digital fabrication tools, TED Fellow Marcin Jakubowski is open-sourcing the blueprints for 50 farm machines, allowing anyone to build their own tractor or harvester from scratch. And that's only the first step in a project to write an instruction set for an entire self-sustaining village (starting cost: $10,000).

The most common, man-made, building material is undoubtedly concrete. Each ton of cement produces about 900 kg CO2. But researchers have observed that the addition of hemp fiber to concrete resulted in a high performing, eco-friendly construction material. Hemp is not a new construction material. Archaeologists have confirmed the use of hemp fiber (also called ‘shive’) in the construction of a bridge, dated to the 6th century AD, in southern France. Hemp is a fast-growing plant that has prospect not only in terms of biomass energy recovery, but also of material in the construction field in accordance with the principles of sustainable development.

Hempcrete is non-toxic, bio-composite mixture of hemp shive, lime binder and water. The hemp shive is the wooden part of the hemp stem (approximately 2/3 of stem) in the processing of hemp plant to the fiber. Commonly, it is lime or cement but could be any combination of elements to make a hemp binder. A lightweight material, it is about one eighth the weight of concrete. Hempcrete can be used to construct walls, floors and roofs; or molded (monolithic), sprayed or precast (e.g. hemp bricks or panels). Generally, it is inserted as infill insulation around the structural framing of the house. Often for clarity, hempcrete is referred to as Lime Hemp Composite (LHC).

Like other plant products by photosynthesis, hemp absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere as it grows, retaining the carbon and releasing the oxygen. This process is called carbon sequestration, and involves the capture of carbon and the long-term storage of atmospheric carbon dioxide. It has been proposed as a way to slow the atmospheric and marine accumulation of greenhouse gases.

Even when the hemp shiv is mixed with concrete (80-90% of hemcrete composition as hemp shiv), it is able to still sequester CO2. The lime-based binder absorbs carbon from the air continuously over time, petrifying the hemp shiv. Each tonne of lime-based hempcrete is estimated to absorb and sequester 249 kg of CO2 over a 100 year lifecycle.  Generally, hempcrete is estimated to sequester 110kg per cubic meter (depending on transportation use) which means large-scaled projects have the capabilities of drawing tonnes of CO2 out of the atmosphere.