Fungi Trip to Grow Wilder

Last term, in collaboration with the Justin Smith Foundation, Year 7 Nature Club members took part in a project to raise awareness of the importance of fungi. Among the facts discussed it is estimated that 90% of plants rely on fungi to live and that 93% of the worlds fungal species remain to be discovered.

This project involved the growing of Lions Mane and Oyster Mushrooms in class followed by a visit to Grow Wilder, the Avon Wildlife Trusts gardening hub in Frenchay. Here they spent the day foraging for Fungi and learning about their amazing biology.

Activities included looking at fungal spores, painting with fungal ink, scientific drawing of fungal fruiting bodies and the use of fungi in cooking. Under the expertise of local mycologists, we ate our mushrooms on garlic bread and tasted spicy fungi for lunch. It is of course not recommended to taste fungi unless expertly identified as safe to do so.

Further information about the project can be found here: https://justinsmithfoundation.org/workshops/ and if you want to grow your own mushrooms our kits were supplied by Bristol based Upcycled Mushrooms:  https://upcycledmushrooms.co.uk/pages/about-us