i love this essay and I have already sent it on to my garden helper who will also love it. She has written a book about the inner garden and the outer garden. I am going to remember trusting a chanterelle before anyone in the regime. Whenever I see the arrival of bulldozers where they don't belong, I want to cry. Kudos to the Albanians for raising hell about this sort of thing. I have gardened for a very long time and have seen the problems wrought by climate change. I also respect my garden including that which I cannot see and try to keep tilling at a minimum. It is an organic garden which means a lot more work. I often stop to watch a bee at work. I also keep in mind that I am gardening on stolen land and try to keep Native American cultural values regarding nature in mind. Brava Shanley!!
Fabulous post! Thank you. Have you read "Understory"? Ooops, I meant "Overstory," by Richard Powers. On third thought, this essay called "understory" is also appropriate: https://emergencemagazine.org/essay/the-understory/
Love this article, Shanley ... thank you. I shared it on my Facebook page. Agree with Dian that 'perfect lawns' seem to be a bad habit that came into fashion in the 1960's or 70's when suburbias were built and is certainly difficult for some to let go of. I live in a seniors' park and my lawn is an unpopular outlier with beautiful, edible dandelions and clover galore amidst perfect lawn after perfect lawn. I'm persisting though. Pollinators rule ... literally! I don't see the extras in my front yard as 'weeds' ... they are plants and each has a proper name and I choose to acknowledge and appreciate them accordingly ... as I do with the neighbors themselves.
You wove soil and politics into this essay brilliantly. Whodathot! :-)
Enjoyed all the comments too (thanks, friends). I've noted the suggested readings and will pursue them.
I first learned of mycchorizal fungi when reading “Finding the Mother Tree,” a memoir by Suzanne Simard. If you haven’t read it, do! She was a woman in Canada’s forest service (British Columbia), a lone woman amongst men, in an industry that made $$$ matter more than replenishing what they had harvested, and then couldn’t figure out why what they did to “fix” it didn’t work. She was a true pioneer in the understanding of how those tiny threads bind so much together.
Did a wee bit of work on mycorrhizae back in grad school. I'd humbly suggest that Trump fits into the mycorrhizal world perfectly...as a mycoheterotroph. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myco-heterotrophy They're all plants grifting off fungi, and like him and his reflecting pool, they prefer to ditch their chlorophyll. Have a good weekend.
I absolutely love all the articles you write, but this one brought me particular joy. For many years I have said I want to be reincarnated as mycorrhizal mycelium!
Love the way you connected the mycelial network with democracy's core principal of community!
And from one fungiphile to another, I invite you to join us at the wild rivers mushroom festival, happening in Brookings (just 3 hours south of where you are in coos county!) on November 7-8 this year. www.wildriversmushroomfestival com.
i love this essay and I have already sent it on to my garden helper who will also love it. She has written a book about the inner garden and the outer garden. I am going to remember trusting a chanterelle before anyone in the regime. Whenever I see the arrival of bulldozers where they don't belong, I want to cry. Kudos to the Albanians for raising hell about this sort of thing. I have gardened for a very long time and have seen the problems wrought by climate change. I also respect my garden including that which I cannot see and try to keep tilling at a minimum. It is an organic garden which means a lot more work. I often stop to watch a bee at work. I also keep in mind that I am gardening on stolen land and try to keep Native American cultural values regarding nature in mind. Brava Shanley!!
As a biologist who is fascinated by fungi, and as a plain old American citizen who is horrified by our politics, THANK YOU for this essay.
so many good ideas and perceptive comments here. I particularly like "diversity is not disorder." Could be a sign at a rally...
You're right! That would make a great sign!
Fabulous post! Thank you. Have you read "Understory"? Ooops, I meant "Overstory," by Richard Powers. On third thought, this essay called "understory" is also appropriate: https://emergencemagazine.org/essay/the-understory/
Fantastically great article! LOVE, love, love, your sparkling analogies, metaphors,and similes, Shanley!
I wish everyone on the Planet could read this; it might make people think more deeply and change more than a few minds and hearts.
And at the very least, to rethink the suburban concept of the "perfect lawn"!
Love this article, Shanley ... thank you. I shared it on my Facebook page. Agree with Dian that 'perfect lawns' seem to be a bad habit that came into fashion in the 1960's or 70's when suburbias were built and is certainly difficult for some to let go of. I live in a seniors' park and my lawn is an unpopular outlier with beautiful, edible dandelions and clover galore amidst perfect lawn after perfect lawn. I'm persisting though. Pollinators rule ... literally! I don't see the extras in my front yard as 'weeds' ... they are plants and each has a proper name and I choose to acknowledge and appreciate them accordingly ... as I do with the neighbors themselves.
You wove soil and politics into this essay brilliantly. Whodathot! :-)
Enjoyed all the comments too (thanks, friends). I've noted the suggested readings and will pursue them.
Cheers for the fungi!!!
This is so cool!!!
How about an
UNDERGROUND
REPUBLIC
hat?
Read this during a break from (what else?) gardening. Perfection!
Thank you for a terrific essay. Here's a fascinating article about the extent of the underground fungal network on our planet. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/science/ecology-mycorrhizal-fungus.html?unlocked_article_code=1.rlA.nFwb.gmK-QDvpQpZn&smid=url-share
I first learned of mycchorizal fungi when reading “Finding the Mother Tree,” a memoir by Suzanne Simard. If you haven’t read it, do! She was a woman in Canada’s forest service (British Columbia), a lone woman amongst men, in an industry that made $$$ matter more than replenishing what they had harvested, and then couldn’t figure out why what they did to “fix” it didn’t work. She was a true pioneer in the understanding of how those tiny threads bind so much together.
Did a wee bit of work on mycorrhizae back in grad school. I'd humbly suggest that Trump fits into the mycorrhizal world perfectly...as a mycoheterotroph. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myco-heterotrophy They're all plants grifting off fungi, and like him and his reflecting pool, they prefer to ditch their chlorophyll. Have a good weekend.
I absolutely love all the articles you write, but this one brought me particular joy. For many years I have said I want to be reincarnated as mycorrhizal mycelium!
Sounds like you may have seen the 2019 movie documentary - FANTASTIC FUNGI.
If not - then you will love it! It’s beautiful!
Love the way you connected the mycelial network with democracy's core principal of community!
And from one fungiphile to another, I invite you to join us at the wild rivers mushroom festival, happening in Brookings (just 3 hours south of where you are in coos county!) on November 7-8 this year. www.wildriversmushroomfestival com.