October 2024: The Fruiting Body: IMMERSION INTO THE WORLD OF MUSHROOMS AND FUNGI

PRESENTATION By Olga Tzogas

Wednesday October 30, 2025

AT FYDANI SPACE

We explored the vast and diverse world of mushrooms and fungi, examining their ancient story and connections to humans and all life. The roles mushrooms and fungi play in our lives, within forests, and in food systems were shared. We learned foundational concepts of mycology and explored their biology. This was a delightful introduction to the “wood wide web” revealing how mushrooms and fungi exist in nature and how they can nurture us as food, medicine, and through ceremonial use.

Mushrooms breathe oxygen and consume food, making them more closely related to humans than to plants. The fungi kingdom is one of the most diverse and complex on our planet, with over 5 million species ranging from tiny yeasts to large mushrooms emerging from the ground. Mushrooms act as composters, returning nutrients to the soil to support plant growth. Olga explained the basic life cycle and biology of mushrooms and their fungal relatives. She described how mushrooms exist in nature, enhancing our understanding of how they grow and how we can apply these methods to our lives, agriculture, health regimens, and more. We discussed the medicinal and nutritional properties of mushrooms like the Golden Oyster, Shaggy Parasol, and Shiitake.

Mushrooms also have rich cultural histories. For example, in Romania, they have been used to make hats, while in Japan, turkey tail mushrooms have been utilized to strengthen the immune system when paired with cancer treatments.

We also tasted medicinal tea made from mushrooms gathered in Northern Greece.

Olga Tzogas started her love affair with Fungi and plants 20 years ago, with the help and guidance of family, teachers and community. In 2011, Smugtown Mushrooms in Rochester, NY.  Smugtown Mushrooms provides cultivation supplies to grow mushrooms, indoors or outdoors, for food or for medicine. Olga has taught thousands of folks how to grow mushrooms, make medicine and learn about the glory of Fungi and the natural world. Alongside the collaboration of the collective, The Mycelium Underground, Olga helped create the New Moon Mycology Summit in 2018.  Annually, Olga returns to her ancestral homeland to guide small groups immersed in land based and traditional knowledge of the country of Greece, highlighting the Mushrooms + Culture of Greece.