INTRODUCTION
Fungal Consciousness
M
ycorrhizal fungi have been waiting a
long time for people to catch on.
Building soil structure and fertility
that lasts for ages results only once we comprehend
the nondisturbance principle. This alone guides the
fate of an exceptional, yet too often forgotten, soil
ally. Mycorrhizal fungi partner with the root sys-
tems of most every plant on our planet. The story
behind this symbiotic relationship of fungi with
roots launches all sorts of earth awareness. Carbon
gets sequestered in more meaningful ways than
“human offsets” will ever achieve. Healthy plant
metabolism keys to balanced nutrient exchange
delivered by fungal allies offering a savvy deal for
sugars that plants create through photosynthesis.
A profound intelligence exists in this underground
economy that in turn determines the nutrient
density of the foods we eat. Pick up a handful of
old-growth forest soil and you are holding 26 miles
of linear mycelium, most of it mycorrhizal.
Exploring the science of symbiotic fungi in lay-
man’s terms sets the stage for practical applications
across the landscape. The real impetus behind
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gardening with mulches, digging with broadforks,
shallow cultivation, forest-edge orcharding, no-till
farming, low-impact forestry, and “everything per-
maculture” is to disturb the soil as little as possible.
This in turn allows the fungal dynamic to thrive.
Virtue lies in doing less so as not to screw things up,
a tenet that I suspect most of us can handle.
Every biology book starts with scientific con-
cepts. Just listen to people try to say mycorrhizae
the first time when encountering this word, and it’s
obvious that a number of basics need to be covered.
Those of us already applying fungal notions in
working with plants know that the soil food web is
important . . . yet we’re not necessarily tuned into
the full nuance of what’s going on down below.
Getting advanced about all this isn’t so much
PhD territory as it is appreciating how amazingly
well plants and soil organisms “do” health. The
complexity of enzyme synthesis and bidirectional
protoplasm flow in mycorrhizal networking reflect
Mother Nature in her finer hours.
We build on the work of many in tackling an
elaborate subject like symbiotic fungi and plant
 M YCORRHI Z AL P LANET
health. New insights currently being gained
through molecular exploration can be coupled with
the dedicated observations of microbiologists, soil
scientists, and plant physiologists over the decades.
Reading through all the research has been quite a
trip, and, well, let’s just say you owe me one. I come
at these vast fields of knowledge with a farmer’s
sense of the practical coupled with gratitude for
science that offers a systems view. The parallels
between human health and plant health just make
this account all the richer. Thomas Jefferson has
been described as having a limitless curiosity,
backed by a deep faith in agrarian democracy. This
nation’s third president took into consideration a
broad perspective in everything, from founding
a university for higher learning to the pursuit of
happiness as a natural right. We need more of this
now. Those who know fungi must talk with those
who know plants. Those who know phytochemical
progression must talk with those who know the
smell of rich earth in the furrow.
The facts and nothing but the facts come from
the vast research laid out in Mycorrhizal Symbiosis,
last updated by Sally Smith and David Read in
2008. The majority of unreferenced particulars
presented in this work trace back to this pri-
mary source. More recent leads will be shared in
endnotes, especially those providing important
explanations of the issue at hand. Sorting through
science papers is a language all its own (Phillips,
2017). Accordingly, every past history has origins
(Phillips, 2017). Which of course makes every-
thing a tad more dense (Phillips, 2017). But we
do want to say thank you to each and all (Mom,
1965). And so we carry forward in this generation,
triumphantly (Marley, 1980).
Our collective future pivots on many people
coming to understand that soil fungi matter. That
plant ecosystems must be respected. That soil
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stewardship is our highest calling. Such has been
said before, but now the jig is truly up. We either
recognize the urgency involved at this critical junc-
ture or the next century won’t necessarily include
the human race. Take these as fatalistic statements
if you wish . . . or come on over to the other side.
The Nearings called it “the good life” and laid
out a trail that Nancy and I picked up not long
after college. Plant trees. Make compost. Sow
cover crops. Harvest healing herbs. Build stone
foundations. Chop wood. Let the chickens roam
about. We share such pursuits with many of you.
All sorts of amazing farmers, ranchers, gardeners,
herbalists, orchardists, landscape professionals,
and foresters are leading the charge. People are
integrating livestock, market gardens, native
plantings, and perennial crops into multifaceted
systems. Goodbye monocultures, tillage, and bare
dirt. Goodbye clear-cuts and monster skidder ruts.
Rebuilding soil and increasing diversity go hand
in hand with making a living doing authentic
work that can be enjoyed. Equally important are
the communities that support these efforts. From
making local agriculture viable to organizing
guided mushroom tours through community
forests; from gardening up high on urban rooftops
to remediating desperately hurting ground—we
ourselves become healthier through every direct
connection made with the soil that sustains us all.
Discovering the miraculous in the common
would be the fungal slant on all this. The everyday
ways of very small critters hold lessons for our
species as far as planetary commitment goes. Hon-
ing one’s ability to intuitively see the interaction
between fungi and roots in the microscopic realm
is how fungal consciousness takes hold. That we have
things to learn from fungi isn’t such a very big
stretch to make. Hyphae reach out to nourish and
communicate. Our neighborhoods would thrive if
 F UN GA L CO NSC I OUSNESS
only people reflected the same sense of provision as
found in any mycorrhizal network. Spores become
the dreams we give our children. Life truly wants
to go on.
Yes? Was that a question in the back? Who am
I to expound on the ways of mycorrhizal fungi and
healthy plants, you ask? No doctorate, no master’s,
no bachelor’s degree in any such subjects. But for
a found love of the soil—and more than a few
fruit trees—I very well might never have ven-
tured below. Days that began as a civil engineer
on municipal construction projects inside the
Beltway of this nation’s capital shifted radically
when I up and retired at age twenty-three to seek
a more heartfelt path. Leafing through Thoreau, a
rucksack of berries, and a classified ad in a home-
steading magazine soon brought me to the White
Mountains of New Hampshire. Long story short, I
got my hands in the earth.
You become a “plant person” by discovering
a passion within yourself for growing, well, just
about everything. A “tree person” happens to go a
bit further out along the limb, that’s all. Enter the
whims of microbe eating microbe, that very first
dipping of bare roots into mycorrhizal inoculum,
and the dawning realization that orchard trees
want to grow in a fungal duff ecosystem. Root tips
proceed behind a vanguard delving into soil aggre-
gates and rock crevices where little other than the
finest hyphae can go. Ever notice how the universe
only grows bigger as you zoom in on minutiae? I
was hooked on learning more about the soil food
web and what makes for long-lasting soil fertility.
Back on the receiving end, plants prove healthier
when you honor that Nature knows best. Put
another way, those apple trees of mine proved to be
the very best teachers. Nancy’s work with medici-
nal plants opened my eyes to the marvel of healing
synthesis, only for me in the context of what a
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guy needs to get by. Plants and fungi become that
much more resilient by looking out for the other.
The resulting phytochemical cascade in turn serves
both the farmer and the herbalist. Worlds merged
yet again as fascination led the way.
Are you getting a feel for how this works?
Thinking fungally, exploring fungally, intuiting
fungally. We’re each quite capable of taking what’s
been gifted to us and going further still.
Trusting that journey makes it possible for me to
share practical teachings about mycorrhizal fungi
and real-time plant health. The two are intimately
linked in ways that make a holistic approach all the
more spot-on. I always liked what Liberty Hyde
Bailey of Cornell had to say, slightly paraphrased:
If a grower knows why, he or she will teach themselves
how. You’re about to get a good dose of plant wis-
dom interspersed with some guy humor to keep
things hopping. Jump around; take what’s useful;
have fun. Every growing season is a renewed
opportunity to let the green world astound.
We start off with a requisite shot of science to
launch a fuller understanding of mycorrhizal fungi
and healthy plant metabolism. Chapter 1 intro-
duces the relevant fungal concepts upon which
practical application will follow. Knowing about
species adaptability, propagules, and nutrient
transfer mechanisms makes us better earth stew-
ards, frankly. The lure of the “fungus-root” comes
into its own once we appreciate it’s not about
green plants alone. Chapter 2 brings in aspects of
plant physiology and organic chemistry to get at
the heart of phytochemical progression. Sounds
daunting, perhaps, but know this has been finely
tuned to help you better understand the natural
world. All starts to click as growers recognize why
investing in health is far preferable to dealing with
the myriad of problems that arise as a result of
mistreating soil life. I double dog dare ya to embrace
 M YCORRHI Z AL P LANET
holistic means in growing food for your family and
community . . . as of course you will after taking in
this wholesome plant conversation. Working with
resistance metabolites and fungal allies beats toxic
thinking hands down.
That front-end dive into science allows us to
further explore symbiosis benefits as we move
along to consider the wider ecosystem. Chapter
3 explores how entire plant communities are
linked by far-reaching mycorrhizal networks
in an underground economy. The language of
trade helps in understanding how deals get done.
Profound intelligence exists in natural systems,
so prepare to be awed. And then prepare to not
disturb the impeccable! Chapter 4 shares ways
that we as growers can specifically favor the fun-
gal dynamic and thereby create good soil tilth.
Soil aggregates are the direct result of respecting
the primary role of fungi in what might best be
thought of as biologically induced alchemy. We’ll
get down and dirty in chapter 5 when it comes to
inoculum nuance and traditional techniques to
further the fungal cause. Pay particular attention
to the “carbon pathways” that in truth are our one
saving grace in these tenuous times.
Weaving an integrated tapestry of health on
land we care about comes through actual doing.
Chapter 6 finds us outside and raring to get to
work. Thinking fungally puts the right framework
on how to garden, design landscapes, and grow
tree fruit. Fostering fungal precepts makes for
more resilient forests and farms. Those who love
nuance as much as I do will enjoy the fungal riffs to
be underscored in every deed.
Inspiration for the fungal gourmet will be found
in chapter 7. Finding the edible among mycorrhi-
zal mushrooms in the wild is a passion unto itself.
Lastly, all comes round in chapter 8 with a big-pic-
ture view of what a world versed in carbon flow
might look like. Our species has some daunting
choices to make, but in the end it will come down
to each one of us finding joy in fungal ways. Trans-
formation happens when we take the initiative to
do better by soils everywhere. The fungi will take
it from there.
This notion that “plant toes being tickled by
fungi” bestows life to our dear planet—and so
many two-leggeds don’t even have a clue—means
the time has come to tell the full story about
mycorrhizal fungi.