Cultivating and Cooking Garden Giants with Paul Stamets

The Garden Giant is a stellar species for folks to grow in their backyard, and especially in their gardens. This species is plant friendly, helps transform woodchips into rich soils, consumes nematodes and filters out E. coli. Garden Giants produce long, abundant rhizomorphs, and the stem butts can regrow. See Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World for step by step instructions.

Once you have this species (Stropharia rugoso-annulata, aka The Wine Cap, The King Stropharia) growing on your property and if you annually use wood chips as a mulch, the Garden Giant can become resident for years. Not only are the mushrooms huge (see the 4-5 lb specimens in the photos), and edible (mild flavor), but this species can produce acanthocytes - which allow it to eat nematodes, important for protecting root crops.

Acanthocytes of Stropharia rugosoannulata Function as a Nematode-Attacking DeviceAPPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, Apr. 2006, p. 2982–2987 Vol. 72, No. 4
0099-2240/06/$08.000 doi:10.1128/AEM.72.4.2982–2987.2006

Moreover, this mushroom will distract slugs from eating your vegetables, and fly larvae love them. I discovered when raising sliver (coho) salmon fingerlings that the fish would strike at the floating maggot-ridden mushrooms to dislodge the larvae and aggressively consume them. So, this suggests that this species could be useful for feeding fish, from salmon to tilapia.

Also, see my YT video on MycoTotes - for the massive expansion of mycelium using a low tech fermentation method.

Crazy fun with fungi.

Location: Earth
Filming by Pam Kryskow

[johnharrison]

Only Paul Stamets would drink wine from a Erlenmeyer flask. You can't help but just love this guy. I want to have a crack at growing these. :)

[meerafinearts]

I can't explain why but I love this man; he has such wholesome dad energy.

[vaughnprecision]

You should do more videos on cooking, I really enjoyed this.!

[heyphilphil]

Paul took that bite....and stopped and paused and nodded like he just heard the white album for the first time. Love it!

[purplemonkeyelephant]

I can just imagine Paul getting a few tonnes of fresh wood chips delivered and just skipping through his garden throwing handfuls of Stropharia spawn, Azurescens spawn, Pleurotus spawn, Cyanescens spawn, all throughout his garden. Chuckling as he goes thinking about the future harvests that will come over the years

[TrippyEverythingVisuals]

Paul Stamets needs his own cooking show ASAP

[dalewinter]

Paul Stamets is the Bob Ross of mushrooms

[ChrisPBacon-yznk]

I was so glad to see you switch to the wooden spoon on that nonstick pan. Metal on nonstick is like nails on a chalkboard to me. 😂

[slowbaker]

I live in Denton, TX. Just found some Reishi's (Lingzhi, Ganoderma lingzhi) growing under my Shumard Red Oak tree in the back yard. They were quite tough, so, I made several batches of Reishi tea (for me), then made a syrup supplement using the tea, old honey (turned to sugar) and cane sugar to feed some wild bees that visit my patio garden. They LOVED it! I'm a 4 time cancer survivor (2 lung and 2 breast) and plan to keep treating myself to mushrooms.

[sieve]

"such a luxurious mycelium" LOL love you paul!

[SoapyFord]

He saved my brother! I told my brother what he said about Lion's Mane mushrooms, and my brother started taking capsules every day, and he's doing really great now and getting better all the time. His advice really did save my brother!

[Jonas_Fox]

What a great excuse to start a no-dig, woodchip covered garden. Can't wait to see more!

[Wickedaubergine]

I love that he is sipping his wine from a flask!

[floflotantan]

thanks Man. I've built a small exotics mushroom farm in france thanks to your books. like, seriously. it's my daily work now, and all the help i had was your books. Five years now and still producing :)) Please continue helping people with knowledge. Thanks so much

[autonomousindividual]

I wish I met people like this now and again.

[naturesADHD]

HELLO PAUL Im a big fan from mexico. I love to hear your talks, i have learned allot from you thank you

[velboyd]

I have heard so much about you. I love your video. Thank you for sharing it. I love your garden too.

[zane]

Watched one of your Ted Talks with my partner and today we went mushroom hunting. Rained so hard our shoes got soaked, but got 2 meals worth of Chanterelles. You are an inspiration. Thank you and take care Paul!

[Tranman]

Thank the mushroom Gods you switched to a wooden spoon! I felt uneasy when you had the metal spatula. Keep up with the forage and cook!! :)

[kailashyogi]

Stamets and "Dusty" are top tier humans. Never stop doing what you guys are doing. Live long and prosper.