Our latest kitchen, right here in London Town features the most beautiful of timbers: Spalted Hornbeam. The dark markings you can see are created by a fungus which gradually eats away at the tree once it is nearing the end of its life. Although tragic at least in this case rather than being destined for wood chip we have been able to give this striking timber a new lease of life so it can be loved and appreciated for many years to come.
This led us on to think about the importance of fungi, how vital it is to our existence and every other living organism on the planet. We’re not just talking about mushrooms, its an absolutely humungous family with over 1000 new species being discovered every year. Without fungi, nutrients would not cycle through the ecosystem, this would lead to the breakdown of the entire food chain. Every handful of soil contains unseen mycelium which help nurture and protect the plants that grow in it. Fungi even affects the climate of the planet by locking carbon into the soil.
Every time we pave over our gardens, clear areas of forest, cover crops in pesticides and herbicides and use huge areas of the countryside for grazing animals we are wiping out the very thing which sustains all life.
We can help our fungal friends starting from the roots up! Yes, if we the consumers did our utmost to focus on plant based diets we would need far less land to produce enough food to feed the world (many times over!). This would allow for land all over the planet to be returned to nature’s restorative hands. Its a win win situation. We are not powerless in this, we hold the key: Consumerism.
Think,
Buy,
Eat,
Repeat.
ReliCreation - furniture, kitchens, gardens 