THE ENCHANTED NATURE NEWSLETTER
Issue 30
July 2023
Greetings Enchanted Nature Community
Please enjoy our latest issue of The Enchanted Nature Newsletter
Summer Heat
Greetings Enchanted Nature readers. If you've been watching, listening to or reading the news, you are well aware of the record temperatures that have been wreaking havoc on the country. The planet is warming at an alarming rate and all of nature is showing signs of distress. It's extremely frustrating to feel so powerless and in some cases, we don't even want to discuss climate change because it opens the door for political idiocy. We're not talking about party platforms. We're talking about discussions descending into grammar school level name calling and immature behavior.
How can we make any difference at all? Is it too late?
No, it is not too late. We know that every one of you, the Enchanted Nature Community are doing what you can to help the environment and leave a sustainable world for the future.
What can we do?
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Have the courage to speak up. Inform yourself with the scientific facts being provided by reliable sources. Be aware of the talking points from the opposition that want to continue with the status quo. Don't be afraid to ask someone for the source of their information by saying that you would like to read some of the studies.
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Ask why the person you're speaking with would not want to make changes that would help the environment. What benefit are they and future generations going to receive by keeping things status quo?
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Pay attention to what your senators and representatives are doing. Call them, email them and write them letters. You will most likely receive a "form letter" in response. If you call, you will most likely never speak with them. If you email, it will be an automatic reply. Here's the catch, if enough people are tying up the phone lines with the same issue, it will get attention. If letters are clogging their mailboxes, they will take notice. If enough of us take the time to speak up, there will be a response.
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Encourage others to speak up and do the same.
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Try to spend and invest your dollars with companies that are honestly supporting efforts to reverse climate change.
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Most importantly, please don't lose hope.
If you're craving some nature or know somebody that is, come and be enchanted by nature with us:
From Our Readers
Thank you for your contributions to The Enchanted Nature Newsletter.
If you see anything of interest in nature, take a picture and please send it along.
Mark Carroll of Virginia Beach, VA sent some pictures from a hike that turned into a mushroom hunt while he travelled to Pennsylvania. Above we find Chanterelles and a Coral Mushroom peaking through the upper right corner.
Above, we have what appears to be a very immature Chicken of the Woods mushroom.
Thank you for sharing your pics Mark!
Martha Hills shared pictures of what we believe are Russula emetica, which are commonly called, "The Sickener" because that is what will happen if you eat them.
Thank you for the pics Martha! While this mushroom may look delicious, you want to avoid it. There is a similar mushroom that is edible but it is difficult to tell the difference between the two.
Ella Roach of Churchville, VA of Churchville, VA shared this fungal fruit that is something new for us. She identified it as Eyelash Cup.
WOW! Thank you Ella. We LOVE to learn new mushrooms!
Eileen Feim from Mount Solon, VA sent in some wonderful mushroom portraits this month.
This appears to be Laetiporus persicinus. It is commonly called the White Chicken mushroom. While it is considered edible, it is known to make some people very sick.
The above mushroom appears to be an Amanita muscaria. This is the mushroom of fairy tales and commonly found on anything trying to represent a mushroom.
This handsome mushroom is an Old Man of the Woods (Strombilomyces floccosus).
Spending time being enchanted by nature is important!
Please keep sending us your pics Eileen. They help to inspire others to do the same.
Please send us your pics and queries:
adventures@enchantednaturetours.com
You can also text your pics & questions to (540) 324-8778.
Pics from the Writers:
This lovely lady was hanging out in our vegetable garden. For those of you unfamiliar with it, it is a Black Widow (Latrodectus mactans). The red mark on its underside is the telltale sign.
Kim and Al Schweizer decided to enjoy an Enchanted Nature Tour for Al's birthday.
It was great spending the day with you both. We hope to see you again.
Mushrooms: Delicious, Nutritious and...YES...medicinal.
By: Christopher Vacher
Fungi are responsible for many of our pharmaceuticals. Not only in their whole form, but their secondary metabolites. Secondary metabolites are the chemicals fungi exude when they come into contact with food. Fungi digest their food on the outside and absorb the nutrition after. What humans do inside their digestive tract happens outside of the fungal organism. These metabolites are also produced when they come up against an adversarial microbe.
The most obvious example of fungi saving lives is Penicillin. Tens of thousands of lives have been saved thanks to this fungi and it's power as an antibiotic.
More and more, fungi are being recognized for their potential health benefits and therapeutic properties. Fungi contain a diverse array of bioactive compounds, such as polysaccharides, beta-glucans, triterpenes, and antioxidants, which contribute to their medicinal properties.
Worldwide and through history, the consumption of medicinal mushrooms has been associated with immune system modulation, anti-inflammatory effects, and antioxidant support, making them valuable allies in maintaining overall well-being and supporting the body's natural defense mechanisms.
Most recently, mental health professionals have been using mushrooms to treat and cure illnesses such as PTSD, addiction, depression and many of society's most pressing mental health issues.
This is not folk medicine or trials on rodents. This data is being published in the most respected medical journals using double-blind, placebo-controlled, gold standard studies on human beings.
Medicinal mushroom studies are focused mostly on their potential to support the immune system. Several mushroom species, such as Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum), Shiitake (Lentinula edodes), and Turkey tail (Trametes versicolor), have been studied extensively for their immunomodulatory properties. These mushrooms have the ability to enhance immunoactivity to help the body defend against pathogens and combat infections.
We are not doctors or health professionals. The data is already available and we don't have to be. From cancer to cholesterol and many health issues, mushrooms have been shown to improve our health. We want to encourage all of you to incorporate them into your lives.
If you're interested in reading studies about particular mushrooms, search here:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
For nutritional information, here's a great place to start:
https://www.mushroomcouncil.com/nutrition/benefits-nutrients/
*Enchanted Nature News*
Enchanted Nature Tours will be seen around the world. Virginia Tourism worked with an international marketing firm to create a series of videos that will be shown in airports. The company reached out to us for an interview. Keep in mind that were no scripts, no rehearsals and we had no editorial input on the piece. We met in the forest, answered a few questions and they cobbled together the video.
Give the gift of nature! We now offer gift certificates. They can be customized and emailed for any occasion. The gift certificates are available at our Trading Post
If you have any nature, gardening, or horticultural questions or comments, feel free to send them to adventures@enchantednaturetours.com
If you're interested in Mushrooms, check out the weekly posting at: https://friendsoffungus.com/the-fungus-among-us.html
Our next mushroom class is Sunday, August 13th. If you're interested in attending,
Click Here
Harness The Power
is this month's video theme
This month, we are going to end with something a little different. Normally we provide a video with scenic qualities and relaxing music. This month we are going to embed a video from mycologist Paul Stamets speaking about the amazing power of fungi.
Findings reported in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, suggest that keeping a few snapshots of greenery around yourself might be beneficial. When participants viewed the natural images in the experiment, their stress levels lowered, thanks to the activation of their parasympathetic nervous system – which controls certain rest functions. "Viewing green scenes may thus be particularly effective in supporting relaxation and recovery after experiencing a stressful period and thereby could serve as an opportunity for micro-restorative experiences and a promising tool in preventing chronic stress and stress-related diseases." Take a deep breath, hold it, and let it out slowly as you relax.
If you're ready to explore the forest,
come out for an adventure with us
NATURE IS CALLING, WILL YOU ANSWER
There are many proven health benefits to spending time in nature. It has also been proven that just looking at images of nature can provide multiple health benefits including: reducing depression, speeding healing, improving your immune system, preventing dementia, improving your mood, and increasing happiness. We plan on ending each newsletter with a short video of a natural scene. Hopefully the videos will provide you with some of the benefits listed above.
Stay safe and enjoy nature
If you haven't taken the time to explore our website, please do.
There are a lot of free educational resources to enjoy
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