Huge chaga haul

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Apr 12, 2014
476
2
middle earth
Seen this huge chaga on a felled birch this morning. Returned with my axe to harvest it. Good job to as my last lot was nearly done. Thank you nature!

5c251a3fa62d40c1dc7e35ada83785ea.jpg


I will make a fire board out of this one to I think.

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Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
i hope the birch hadn't been felled long. as the tree dies, so does the chaga. but that is a lovely piece.

How though ? because it's normally gathered and dried anyway. So long as it's still sound, why should it lose anything. Water apart, birchbark doesn't, and the chaga is a fungus that grows literally from the tree.

M
 
Apr 12, 2014
476
2
middle earth
Far more beneficial for Medicinal use.
True. And I will use the majority of this beautiful fungus as a tea. However, the heart of it is grade A tinder fungus, golden and really light, like cork, so I have fashioned a hearth board already, cut off all the black outer and chopped the remaining fungus clean in half, ready for slow drying.

I will chop it all up tomorrow, processing relevant parts into those used for tea, tinder and more fire hearths.

If anyone would like some, pm me and I will gladly send you some, maybe as a trade for another natural item? That way we can share our skills and knowledge?

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Leshy

Full Member
Jun 14, 2016
2,389
57
Wiltshire
True. And I will use the majority of this beautiful fungus as a tea. However, the heart of it is grade A tinder fungus, golden and really light, like cork, so I have fashioned a hearth board already, cut off all the black outer and chopped the remaining fungus clean in half, ready for slow drying.

I will chop it all up tomorrow, processing relevant parts into those used for tea, tinder and more fire hearths.

If anyone would like some, pm me and I will gladly send you some, maybe as a trade for another natural item? That way we can share our skills and knowledge?

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
That's a great offer! 👍👍
 

baggins

Full Member
Apr 20, 2005
1,563
300
49
Coventry (and surveying trees uk wide)
How though ? because it's normally gathered and dried anyway. So long as it's still sound, why should it lose anything. Water apart, birchbark doesn't, and the chaga is a fungus that grows literally from the tree.

M
That is a good point, but everything i've been told and the basic research i've done on it, seems to say that once the tree has died, the Chaga rapidly starts to lose its medicinal benefits. There appears to a lot of speculation on why this happens. but some ideas seem to relate to the fact that once the nutrients that feed the Chaga have stopped, the tree reabsorbs them from the fungus.
But, hey, i'm no expert, and there is plenty of very long and dull research papers out there i've yet to fight my way through.
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
I honestly cannot see the tree re-absorbing anything once it's dead. This fungus feeds on the inner bark, so once that's gone, only then will it 'die'…..you know how we find hollow tubes of birch bark ? very useable birch bark ? still full of tar and the like ? that's how I reckon the fungus ends up.
I admit that for the folks we gather for tea that it's taken fresh from the tree, but that's us just trying to get as good as possible, as clean as possible. For myself I've tried both and it tastes the same, it dries out the same and it takes a spark the same way.

:dunno:

M
 

woodstock

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Apr 7, 2007
3,568
68
67
off grid somewhere else
True. And I will use the majority of this beautiful fungus as a tea. However, the heart of it is grade A tinder fungus, golden and really light, like cork, so I have fashioned a hearth board already, cut off all the black outer and chopped the remaining fungus clean in half, ready for slow drying.

I will chop it all up tomorrow, processing relevant parts into those used for tea, tinder and more fire hearths.

If anyone would like some, pm me and I will gladly send you some, maybe as a trade for another natural item? That way we can share our skills and knowledge?

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk

Wait until you find someone that really would benefit from it then give it with love in your heart and ask for nothing in return, thats what we do when living in abundance we share and when we need something it usually appears.
I received some from Toddy and family and some meadow sweet oil which was a absolute God send and I was extremely grateful for, a year or two ago Fi and I gave jars of hen of the wood tictures to anyone that needed it and the magic happened when I needed something for my aches and pains "Toddy" bless you.
 
Apr 12, 2014
476
2
middle earth
Wait until you find someone that really would benefit from it then give it with love in your heart and ask for nothing in return, thats what we do when living in abundance we share and when we need something it usually appears.
I received some from Toddy and family and some meadow sweet oil which was a absolute God send and I was extremely grateful for, a year or two ago Fi and I gave jars of hen of the wood tictures to anyone that needed it and the magic happened

what a beautiful thought.....
 

Sundowner

Full Member
Jan 21, 2013
891
341
70
Northumberland
Seen this huge chaga on a felled birch this morning. Returned with my axe to harvest it. Good job to as my last lot was nearly done. Thank you nature!

5c251a3fa62d40c1dc7e35ada83785ea.jpg


I will make a fire board out of this one to I think.

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk

I've been looking and looking at 1000's of birch trees in Northumberland. Not a thing ��
Your find spurs me on to look even harder��
 

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