In this episode, I’m joined by my friend Eric Puro as we catch up on what he’s been doing since we last saw each other in 2016. Quite a bit has changed since then, as he’s now living in Finland running a biotech company that cultivates chaga fungi, manages forests holistically, and explores the nutritional qualities, health benefits, and medicinal properties of mushrooms.https://www.thepermaculturepodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/Chaga.mp3

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Donate to the Summer to Fall Fundraiser OnlineJoin The Permaculture Podcast Patreon CommunityThough he’s now in the for-profit world, he continues to bring the spirit of permaculture and connection to all of this work.Find Eric and his biotech work at KaapaBiotech.com. Their line of single-species extracts, including chaga, lion’s mane, reishi, and shiitake, at KaapaHealth.com. Their work on mushroom cultivation in Finland is at NordicMushrooms.com and forest management at KaapaForest.fi.Below are my other interviews with Eric, including our first time together, talking about The Poosh all those years ago, as well as round-table, community conversations recorded when I visited Eric and friends while he was still in Kentucky. In the episode Community and Traditions, Eric facilitated the conversation when I stepped away to call my children, so you can hear him in the host seat for bit.Though they’re all different from the interview today, I’m sure you’ll like those glimpses into the history of the show and hearing more about Eric’s worldview and philosophy about connection to place through engagement.

Long before I went off to university to study computer science and worked as a radio DJ, the skills and experiences that lead me to create this show, I wanted to be a medical doctor who incorporated holistic health, clinical herbalism, and plant-based options into my practice. As a teenager, I attended classes and workshops, grew a small herbarium, made tinctures and extracts, and read whatever I could get my hands-on when it came to plants as medicine. Unable to find a program that I felt fit this particular path at that time, it was the mid-90s after all, I went in a different direction. Still, I continue to hold a broad whole-person approach to how we can create, sustain, and promote our health and well-being.Now, in addition to working regularly with my doctor on preventative medicine and to resolve acute issues, with the ongoing research that shows the benefits of fungi for human health, part of my wellness plan includes incorporating mushrooms into my diet. As we closed out the interview, I’d like to continue the conversation with Eric to go further into the world of medicinal mushrooms and see if something like an extract or tincture is right for my overall goals.If you’re using mushrooms in your life for food or medicine, or have a question you’d like included in a follow-up interview with Eric about Medicinal or Psychedelic mushrooms, let me know. Leave a comment below or get in touch in the usual ways.

Until the next time our paths cross, spend each day caring for your health, while taking care of Earth, yourself, and each other.Related InterviewsCommunity and Traditions (Where Eric takes over the duties as host.)Community BuildingWe Can All Be BuildersNatural Building and The POOSH

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