Mycologos “Everything is connected”: Not yet a review

If you are here for a proper review, please hold tight, it will be coming as I progress through the materials.

I started Peter McCoy’ course in mycology in March 2021, to start filling in the gaps of my soil fungi knowledge, so I can be more effective in supporting their growth, and create healthy gardens and landscapes.

It is a 14 week course, and for me it is still early days.

Some of the things that have impressed me so far:

• Peter directs us to well-researched and well organised materials from within the mycology and ecology science community. This makes it very robust and trustworthy.
  
• He takes us on an evolutionary journey, sometimes these are hypotheses, but open minds to possibilities of connections and/or disagreement.
  
• Peter recommends a deeply meaningful engagement with the materials, including reflections, practicals, creative explorations and community engagement. Positively challenging!
  
• If you have many other commitments, 14 weeks is ambitious (it is for me). But you have one year to complete the studies.
  
• There are no slides along the visual presentation (we are watching Peter talk).
  This would be better in a portable audio-format, whilst doing work engaging hands (I certainly need to concentrate, but don’t need to watch the presenter).
  
• The course is a worthwhile investment in my view. However, if this is hard to finance at the moment, Peter’s book Radical Mycology is full of useful information and on-point references for self-directed learning.
  
• If I could turn back time, I would first engage with Peter’s teaching/writing, prior to considering a soil food web course. One reason is he first lets us dive into terrestrial ecosystem ecology, which provides a very helpful framework for critical and holistic engagement with the soil food web approach.
  The other reason is that I find re-establishing mycorrhizal fungi in dysfunctional soil is the biggest challenge, and a key to unlocking soil potentials.