Stalking the Wild Chaga!
You have been asking, so here it is!
My first Wild Mushroom foraging video!
One cold snowy day in New England I took my camera into the wilds in search of the Wild Chaga!
Inonotus Obliquus, the “Clinker” polypore… better known as Chaga is by far my most favorite of the medicinal fungi. You could call it a Totem for me. For years I have been harvesting this prized medicinal from the Wilds, and now I will show you how you can too!
Chaga, like many of the Polypore Mushrooms, are extremely rich in the long chain Beta-Glucan sugars that have long been known to powerfully modulate the human Immune System. While it has been used in many cultures, it is most well known for its value to the Siberians who have been the keepers of wisdom with regard to its immune enhancing and anti-cancer properties.
I consider it one of the true secrets of Invincible Health and Longevity!
More than that, I would say it is one of the Earth’s greatest tonic adaptogens. By this I mean it can be taken daily without and concerns of overdose. It is completely nontoxic and increases our bodies ability to cope with a myriad of stressors. Not just mental stress, but physical, emotional, and according to the reports of the ancients (in addition to my own experience) even those things that challenge us spiritually as well!
What’s more, Chaga is the richest naturally occurring source of antioxidants found anywhere! Thats right its ORAC is higher than blueberries, acai, and even cacao! This is evidenced in the rich orange color of its interior flesh.
Chaga is found (almost) exclusively on birch trees, and despite that fact that there are some companies who have cultivated its mycelia artificially, is most potent and active when it is wild crafted. For those who cannot access it in the wild, SurThrival sells the worlds premium, double extracted, wild-crafted chaga powder.
These capsules are are extracted in both alcohol and hot water to yield the most complete medicinal preparation available anywhere. These are a great value, and though I harvest my own, I still consume these on a regularly. They are perfect when I am traveling and teaching, or anytime when making tea for 2 hours isn’t an option. I love to open the capsules and take the powder directly.
The taste is intense and reveals the potency of the formula!
In the coming video post I will be turning this harvest into a decoction (tea) and using it to prepare a superfood elixir! The tea is so flavorful, and unlike most medicinal fungi it doens’t have that charactorisitc mushroom flavor. Instead it tastes like maple/vanilla! It is a perfect base for blended drinks, and fully supports the path of personal adaptation and physical reclamation.
It is an ideal compliment to your re-wilding strategy!
Stay tuned for the next installment!
Thank you for sharing your time! Your presence here is appreciated! ~Daniel
Anthony
First thank you so sharing so much with us!!!
I love your videos.
Second every time I drink Chaga tea I get low back numbness and stiffening. Do you have any advice?
Many Blessings
~A
Feb 03, 2010 @ 9:47 pm
Bruce Achterberg
Very cool!
I love your blade, too (i.e. the machete you used).
Definitely looking forward to seeing what you do with the chaga (I already have a pretty good idea of what you do with them, but it’s cool the see the process from start to finish).
Thanks for the great videos, Daniel. It’s really cool to see info like this getting out there, and to have a resource like your website I can point people to.
Be well.
– Bruce
Feb 04, 2010 @ 3:57 am
Ernesto Aguila
Excellent foraging video bro! I assume that if you were to harvest those mushrooms in the winter, it’ll take hours or maybe even days to really get the medicine out of em huh? Are birch trees located in certain areas of the states? Keep it coming bro! =)
Feb 04, 2010 @ 4:40 am
kalililla
Wow! Thanks for that! You had much more success than my foraging attempt – LOL: http://thelabrawtory.com//2010/02/02/wild-mushroom-foraging-in-nj/
Feb 04, 2010 @ 10:20 am
aurelia
awesome! you have super-charged my consumption habits and eye am more excited about thriving (than surviving) than ever! favorited on youtube, subscribed to your channel, and now eye am going to order this stuff, since here in the central mountains of idaho eye am told we do not have this type of tree (lotsa pines and aspens tho). xo, aurelia (aka zo valentine)
Feb 04, 2010 @ 1:44 pm
Heikki
That’s a stunning piece of video, Daniel! I just can’t wait for the preparation part!
Feb 04, 2010 @ 2:33 pm
Lisa Marie Lindenschmidt
Daniel –
Thanks for this video. Could you talk more about the knives used, more about how one should cut the mushroom from the host, and the appropriate time to harvest different mushrooms (I assume it matters…?)?
These videos are rockin’ my world! Thank you!
Lisa Marie
Feb 05, 2010 @ 5:58 am
doraw
I want to go foraging for mushrooms and i want to extract the medicine from them but I think I am suffering from Mycophobia!!
HELP
http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/deaths_of_550_000_confirm
Feb 05, 2010 @ 11:21 am
curtoe
Thank you for making this video Daniel! I’ve been foraging chaga for the past 3 weeks and making tea out of it. The past few days I have been forwarding this very page to relatives, just so show them a bit more proof of what I’m drinking is actually the real mushroom. They get so nervous about mushrooms!
ALSO, I was most excited about you identifying the red-belted polypore. You cleared up the issue I had of identifying them (various colors of the belt around the outer trim of the mushroom).
I’ve purchased both exlircraft and invincible health mastery and I will never look at health in the same way ever again.
Much love
Curt
Feb 06, 2010 @ 12:57 pm
Liver Gallbladder Man
looks cold but worth the time. Awesome video Daniel. keep them coming!
Feb 07, 2010 @ 12:02 am
Debbie Young
Hi Daniel!
So sorry I did not get to stay longer at Erewhon! I am very glad I got to meet you and to bring my family to share the incredible knowledge and passion you have for real food!
I have CLL, a form of leukemia. I am very very hopeful that adding deer antler velvet will be a turning point in normal blood tests for me. I am in the building phase of things.. after a two year raw food clean out!
Thanks again and when I post about your talk I will send you the link to my blog!
Debbie
http://debbiedoesraw.blogspot.com
Feb 07, 2010 @ 5:33 pm
Angelique
I love these videos! I SO appreciate you generously sharing this information.
Feb 09, 2010 @ 1:20 pm
Daniel Vitalis and Winter Mushroom Foraging « SURTHRIVAL
[...] Check out Daniels latest Chaga video in the forest showing you what he has found: http://www.danielvitalis.com/2010/02/stalking-the-wild-chaga/ [...]
Feb 09, 2010 @ 1:44 pm
Angelique
p.s. I know I’ve told you that before (being grateful for these videos), but really, after the videos finish playing I just feel so impressed, inspired, and grateful that I feel I just HAVE to say something!
Can’t wait to see your next adventure…
Feb 09, 2010 @ 1:50 pm
Kati
Wow, awesome! This makes me want to run right out and look for some…in fact, I may just do that. Plenty of birch trees here in central NY – I’m sure I’ve seen this and just didn’t realize what it was. Thanks!
Feb 12, 2010 @ 1:51 pm
Meghan (Making Love In The Kitchen
This was awesome! So incredibly informative. We are off to hunt Chags next weekend up in Northern Ontario. Can’t wait!
Feb 14, 2010 @ 9:42 am
Yardsnacker
Awesome bro! Can you give me the name of that blade you have…looks pretty sweet. We’ve only got pressed stainless here in WA. Can’t wait to find chaga now. Thanks for the awesome video!
Feb 20, 2010 @ 11:08 pm
Juha
Hi Daniel.
Very nice videos you have made. How have you used red-belt polypore? Like chaga? We have lots of them both here in Finland : P
Cheers with chaga tea,
Juha
Feb 23, 2010 @ 1:07 pm
Making Love in the Kitchen » Blog Archive » King Chaga: Ruler Of The Land
[...] This video from Daniel Vitalis revealed what we needed to know. Chaga are a mushroom, though some consider it a fungus that grow on dying birch (versus a parasite which would grow on living organisms and proceed to kill them). As I mentioned in the video, one of the really amazing things about chaga is its age. It takes roughly 15 years of growth before the chaga even appears on the outside of the tree. This was crazy interesting to me, as it is believed cancerous tumours develop inside us for 15-20 years before we are able to detect them. [...]
Mar 03, 2010 @ 5:01 am
Daniel
Juha!
You got it… Decocted (boiled in Water) for an hour. Tincture is good too. Even better is to combine a tincture and a decoction… but that is level 2!
I am in Denmark is October for some talks… Maybe you can make it!
~D
Mar 08, 2010 @ 9:17 am
Daniel
Yardsnacker!
That is a Bark River Knife and Tool Golok!
This knife is insane! It is a convex edge, so requires a sharpening reeducation… but wow… the edge is like a dream.
~D
Mar 08, 2010 @ 9:19 am