Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, November 8, 2017
Page A-5
Mushy forecast for mushrooms
Jason McMillen
IVN Contributing Writer
A local mycologist, who
prefers to go by his online name,
Matsiman, specializes in the growth
and lifecycle of wild mushrooms
and predicts, with 95 percent
certainty that 2017 has been and
will be a bad year for hunters and
buyers alike. Matsiman runs a
website found at Matsiman.com
and it features various educational
materials, including a handful of
scientific studies that he’s been a
part of, and also has resources to
connect hunters with buyers.
Matsiman began studying
mushrooms back in 1990 when
he ran into a mushroom hunting
enthusiast that showed him the
ropes. “We hunted mushrooms and
I quizzed him the whole time,”
Matsiman said, “The bottom line
was nobody knew anything so I
started keeping numbers and just
tried to figure out what was going
on because I had to know.” At
the time, Matsiman noted that he
could find very little reading on
the subject of wild mushrooms
but is happy to see that there’s
more knowledge in circulation
today. However, the scientific
community’s knowledge is still far
from complete and thus his work
must go on.
Throughout Matsiman’s
lengthy career, he’s found that
the effect of temperature ranges
is much more important than the
more or less ubiquitous wetseason
that good mushroom hunting
areas experience. “I’ve tested this
theory a hundred times in at least
10 different areas over the past
27 years and it’s never failed,”
Matsiman said, further explaining
that some of the locations he’s
rainfall is again ubiquitous in good
mushroom hunting areas during the
mushroom season, Matsiman holds
that the most important variable for
a good or bad season rests in the
temperature range.
One study that was of
particular importance and was
conducted by the Diamond Lake
Ranger District, Umpqua National
Forest and Matsiman himself,
concerned itself with determining
the most sustainable method
in which a hunter can harvest
matsutakes. The study began in
1994 at 18 different locations and
went on for 11 years. Although the
raw data of the study can be found
on his website, picking by hand, as
opposed to deep and shallow raking
where the mycelium is present,
had no numerical effect on yearly
mushroom production.
Since the study, Matsiman
is happy to see the frequency of
forecasting are in Canada.
Although his temperature
theory still finds resistance
among some hunters who tend to
believe that rain has to fall at the
correct time, Matsiman rebutted
by providing a few counterpoints
to this view. The first of which
is that moisture has very little to
do with predicting the growth of
mycorrhizal mushrooms like the
truffle, matsutake and chanterelle
because, Matsiman holds, they
get the majority of their moisture
from the tree roots they are in a
mutually beneficial relationship
with. However, Matsiman admitted,
saprotrophic mushrooms like the
white button, morel and shiitake
do need ample moisture from
rainfall. As such, moisture is a
more important variable for them
but it is not entirely conclusive
in predicting whether or not they
will grow in abundance.Since
raking on the decline, especially in
the Cascades where he said areas
looked like they’d been rototilled
after harvest. The change in
mushroom hunting tactics, at least
in the Cascades and the Illinois
Valley, could be in part attributed
to an educational video that was
put together after the study which
showed hunters, before getting their
permits, what to do and what not to
do. “Most of it was due to lack of
education,” Matsiman concluded,
“That’s all it was.”
Matustake mushrooms
Healthy U News: by Nicole Rensenbrink
I always knew exercise was good for me,
but I didn’t do it with any consistently until I
was in my forties. Possibly maturity helped,
or my kids didn’t need me anymore, or I saw
old age looming. More likely my success was
due to stumbling on a formula for creating a
sustainable habit.
In “The Power of Habit,” Charles
Duhigg notes that habits are made up of a
few components. When one has a habit of
constant phone checking, for example, the
cue to engage in this habit could just be free
time. Craving for constant phone checking
could be a craving for distraction, for light
social engagement, or for avoiding boredom.
Engaging in this habit, the phone checker gets
a reward (perhaps a “Like” on a Facebook
post).
In order for habits to become fully
entrenched though, one must develop a craving
for them. It’s easy to see how this formula
works on sugar and other addictions. A cue for
sweets could be certain times, like a holiday
or after school or after dinnertime. Sugar
consumption produces an endorphin rush that’s
easy to crave.
Changing habits isn’t as hard as sticking
with habit change. Many of us try to change
our poor eating habits for healthier ones. The
cue for this could be finding our jeans are too
tight, or going over a mark on the scale we
swore never to pass, or nudges from concerned
doctors. We study meal plans online, choose
one we think we can manage, and off we go!
Our reward is that descending number on the
scale and being able to squeeze into those
pants. We could likely go on like our healthy
habits indefinitely if it weren’t for stress. New
habits fall away in times of stress unless we
establish firm cravings for them.
After I’ve shared morning coffee time
with my husband, I know it’s time (cue) to
get ready for my run. Running (habit), almost
everyday, keeps my endorphins up, gets me
out in nature, keeps me strong and breathing
well, and keeps my body fit (rewards). I
don’t always want to do it, especially when
I’m feeling sorry for myself, or if I’m stressed
out, but my dogs absolutely love it. I give in
to them, and providing them with such joy is
the incentive (craving) that keeps me running.
So my hint for today is this: before you again
abandon changes that you’ve started, see if
you can identify a craving to go with your
new habit. It can sustain you through difficult
times.
The staff and volunteers of Healthy U
present this column as part of their mission to
promote health in the Illinois Valley.
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