Mushroom Miscellany is a love letter to all things mushroom. This charmingly illustrated gift book explores the fantastical world of the mushroom – featuring profiles, fun facts, recipes, and more.

Over 80 species of fungi glow in the dark

The world’s oldest mushroom is 810 million years old

Bigger than a blue whale, the largest organism of any type in the world is the 2,384-acre Armillaria mushroom in Oregon

Mushrooms are one of the world’s most sustainably produced food sources, requiring minimal space, energy, and water

With imaginative names such as Witches’ Butter and Jelly Ear, Chicken of the Woods and Beefsteak, mushrooms have been at the heart of medicine, folklore, cookery, and science throughout history and across cultures. Foragers, artists, scientists, healers, and chefs have been drawn to mushrooms for their implausible aesthetics, incredible healing abilities, mind-altering power, versatile flavour, and magical potential.

CONTENTS

Introduction: Mushroom Miscellany

Mushroom Profiles

Fungi Fun Facts

Mushroom Recipes

Additional Resources

Did you know that you can grind acorns into flour to make pancakes, for example, or use oak galls for ink? Or that Willow can be used for weaving; ash, hazel and oak are all good for making charcoal. Packed full of recipes and things to do, there is also a sprinkling of folklore and superstition, as well as helpful recognition tips. Overall it traces the fascinating story of the intimate relationship between humankind and our trees.

In today’s world of increasingly sedentary lifestyles and a growing detachment from the food that we eat, it has never been more important to encourage children to put down their screens, get outside and engage with the natural world around them.  Foraging with Kids  is a fun, practical book for parents to work through with their children that encourages families to interact with their environment and gain knowledge and practical understanding of the natural world through exploration and play. The projects are based around 50 easy-to-identify plants that are abundant in parks, forests and hedgerows worldwide, making the challenge of discovering functional flora just as achievable to those who live in the city as in the countryside. Once they have foraged their plants, children will be amazed by the diverse practical uses that they can set them to; from making soap from conkers or setting a delicious egg-free custard with plantain, to stopping minor cuts from bleeding with hedge woundwort. Children will take great pride in seeing their gatherings forming part of the family meal and parents will be amazed at how even the most vegetable-averse child will develop an enthusiastic appetite for a meal that they have contributed to. Illustrated throughout with beautiful hand drawings and with essential information on plant facts and identification, as well as a diverse range of engaging, practical projects that the whole family will want to get involved with, this is the perfect book for anyone who wants the children under their care to get outside, connect with nature and have a lot of fun in the process.

A fabulous inspirational reference book, packed with historical facts, myths and real-life spiritual encounters with birds. Ranging from the robin to the phoenix and the everyday to the mythological, any bird lover who is interested in esoterica, history and folklore will find the book a must for their bookshelf.

Arranged thematically, each section explores a different aspect – e.g. Birds of Myth and Legend, Divination and Auguries, Birds and Astrology, Symbolism of Eggs and Feathers, Alchemy and Birds; plus sections on birds in the Celtic Tradition, in Ancient Latin America, in India, and the New World. Find out how to find your Spirit Bird, and in another section discover an A-Z of the history and folklore of individual birds, and how their symbolism is often shared in many cultures and myths.

One of the key themes in the book is the concept of the winged creature carrying messages, as well as the history of bird-as-augur from Greek and Roman times where they studied birds’ flight patterns and entrails to make critical decisions. Many people will love the many wonderful true stories of ordinary people in the present day too, who have encountered the miraculous, or healing qualities of birds in their own lives.

This book is an enormous treasure trove of information that is spiritually uplifting and historically fascinating. It contains many general tip bits for bird-lovers to be enchanted by, such as:
– baby robins eat 14 feet of earthworms a day
– condors can fly for 10 miles without flapping their wings
– a bird flying into a house foretells an important message
– hummingbirds weigh less than a penny
– a jay is said to spend Fridays with the devil, telling tales!