Reishi Mushroom uses

marcy_northlightsfarm

I have purchsed reishi mushroom powder in the past but now I've been able to forage my own. I've started tincture and dried the rest of it. I'm just looking for ideas in addition to tincturing. One article online said they put a slice or two in cooked soups and stews. I found the purchased powder way too bitter for adding to tea.

So I haven't tried that yet with my foraged reishi. Have you used it in other ways?

Torey

@marcy_northlightsfarm I purchase dried, sliced reishi and put a couple of pieces (or more depending on pot size) into my broths. It doesn't affect the flavour of the broth. It has to be strained out cause even after cooking it is too tough to be edible.

How lucky that you are able to forage for reishi. Is it Ganoderma lucidum or G. applanatum? G. applanatum grows in my area but isn't all that common. G. lucidum may be found in the extreme south of my province but I haven't found any.

marcy_northlightsfarm

What I harvested are Ganoderma tsugae, which only grow on hemlock.

Torey

We don't have that species in BC. At least not identified as being here. However, we have an Interior Cedar Hemlock Zone not far from where I live and it has many coastal temperate rain forest type plants, including a HUGE variety of fungi. So maybe it is there. A friend has a wellness centre that does classes in a variety of alternatives and she had Robert D. Rogers come and do a mushroom class. He was really surprised to find some of the species growing so far from coastal climates. I am still very mush in the learning process when it comes to harvesting medicinal mushrooms. I have harvested Red-Belted Conk and Turkey Tail but they are pretty distinctive for beginner mushroom foraging.