BTW, if you've not watched QI you should give it a whirl.
Here in the Wold we'll not be growing anything as exotic as "Trumpet of Death".
But we could.
As it turns out these bad boys are not only good looking they're good for you. And tasty to boot. A very interesting but somewhat dated study out of Portugal shows these are high in protein, low in fat, and contain vitamins and other beneficial nutraceuticals.
Who knew?
Apparently those Iberians better known for putting the cork in your wine knew, that's who.
What this study also indicates is that wild Shrooms (at least those in their study) tend to be more nutritious than the store bought varieties. In comparing their study with those done by others in other regions there is also reason to believe that the same Shroom cultivar will have nutritional value and flavour profiles that vary according to region and cultivation techniques.
Of course there are the concerns about poisonous Shrooms but as Steven Fry observes this appears to be blown out of proportion. Most of the harmful effects are to the liver and kidney, but what the hell, Viagra does that too and that hasn't really cut into sales now has it? (FWIW, neither has the treatment for priapism which seems a bit medieval for our times--blood letting and all). There have also been some reports of rat tumors due to a steady diet of mushrooms but when air dried the Shrooms seem to have lost all carcinogenic properties. And no one is suggesting you eat a diet comprising nothing but mushrooms even though it looks like that could sustain life for quite a while.
So like many other things in our Smart City when taken in small doses the benefits of Shrooms outweigh the potential risks and there just might be something to growing your own Shrooms after all.
So sign yourself up and Shroom on over to the Nature Center and get some fungi among yee.
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