Scarecrow

12th sounds good to me

I'm looking at buying a nice field manual for mushroom foraging, but I haven't had much luck finding out what is actually covered in such books. I'm just wondering if anybody can point me to a good guide with content relevant to Australia that definitely covers psychoactives? For science, of course.

libran here, i think you make some good points but also i disagree with some points overall i have no strong feelings either way :^)

+1 for tolle, watts will also mention aldous huxley

neat, i'll have a look. thanks guys

I was reading about this just earlier today actually... sounds like the key thing is to dehydrate them, converting the ibotenic acid into psychoactive muscimol. Once the mushrooms are dried they are no longer poisonous. You can then extract the water soluble muscimol by boiling it, leaving you with psychoactive tea and edible mushrooms. The tea should of course be discarded :^)

i'm flexible and keen for pretty much whenever at the moment. i'm wondering if anybody would be interested in a mycology excursion at some point, though? i can only speak for myself, but i'm sure there might be other newbie mushroom hunters who would benefit greatly from some of you folks with years of experience.

i've got exams next week and i'm going camping for a few days at some point but other than that for sure

got some seed from SAB a while back. any idea if these'll grow in melbourne climate at all? any suggestions?

MAPS is having good results with MDMA assisted psychotherapy to treat PTSD. I don't know the details, but the impression I get is that it allows them to talk about the experience and then move on organically.

Some strange stuff going on here, never seen anything like it. It doesn't look like a healthy thing... anybody have any ideas what might be going wrong here? http://imgur.com/a/JMcEC

Hmmm... frankly I'm not too well-versed in the details here (I'm a complete beginner as far as gardening goes) but I'll give you what information I can. The plant has been in the pot that it's in basically since I got the plant. I have no idea exactly what the capacity of the pot is (and the label has long since rubbed off), but it measures up to be about 33cm diameter by 20 cm vertically. If I remember right, the soil mix was basically a combination of some stock potting mix and the chicken-fertilized dirt from my veggie patch, with a top layer of hay. The plant was until recently confined to (and busting out of) a big garbage bag humidity tent. It was reasonably healthy but when it was outgrowing its tent some of the leaves got burnt. I have got the impression that its leaves have always been a bit pale, though. Just a few weeks ago I got hold of a proper greenhouse and it's been growing pretty wildly since. The greenhouse is typically warm and humid, regardless of the weather, but I don't have any measurements. Feeding regime is nonexistant; until recently the plant has not been properly fertilized apart from adding more top layer hay and chicken poop, which seems to have been adequate. A week or so after I moved the plant into the greenhouse, a friend of mine brought over some liquid fertilizer (a blend of canna terra vega and flora), so we gave the plant a half dose of it. As for pH, I think my dad's got a testing kit kicking around somewhere, but I don't know where to look. I'll have to wait until I see him then ask, but he's on holidays at the moment. Any suggestions on how to actually go about insulating it? I could stick a slab of wood under the pot and that might do the trick for coldness from below, but I don't really know what to do about insulating it from the sides. It seems to affect leaves at random. Some of the leaves are older, some are newer, some are lower, some are higher. I haven't been able to pick a pattern.

I didn't know you can use the leaves. I've got a nice bushy valerian plant that I've been contemplating digging up some time soon. It'd be great if I could just harvest some of the leaves instead and let the roots grow for another year.

found this little gem on reddit, thought you guys would like to see it. http://imgur.com/a/vcdN1 the thread author (/u/brachiomyback) comments: "I recently had the opportunity to be a part of a group that helped out an area commercial shiitake farmer inoculate his logs due to an injured hand. My two kids and I had an absolute blast. It was such a great learning experience." (original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/mycology/comments/316t8j/shiitake_101/ )

I'm still wandering around, will head there shortly

anybody here yet? I can't find yall and the pavillion has some function on

good old MAPS. they're doing god's work

you'll get a lot more out of it if you do a double decoction: throw it in a pot with a few cups of water, then simmer it down for 30 minutes, strain the juice into a jar or something, then add more water and simmer it again. that's how we do for medicinal use in chinese medicine. while i'm at it, take caution with this substance. it has a strong action on the heart, and is a strong diapohoretic, which can leave you drained. we use it mainly to sweat out a strong wind-cold pathogen, but many people can't handle it because their constitutions aren't strong enough to take it safely.

all good! the event that i was going to go to ended up being cancelled, so i should be able to make it now anyway. i'd like to bring some snacks of some sort but i'm a terrible cook. how about beer? i can bring beer

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/web/metadata-retention-laws-will-pass-as-labor-folds-20150227-13qd4m.html

as if buddha would give a fuck

I don't know how much detail the testing will go into, but I'm sure some of you might be able to take advantage of this offer. http://research.science.mq.edu.au/vegesafe/how-to-participate/

stargate SG-1 was good back in the day

Well, shit

Here's this from my Chinese Med textbook: Lu Hui (Dried Aloe - Aloe Vera or Aloe Ferox) Properties: Bitter, Cold Channels entered: Liver, Large Intestine Herb category: Moist purgatives Therapuetic actions: 1. Purges downwards, for hot excess-type constipation. Most effective if constipation is accompanied by digestive heat rising to attack the Heart, leading to irritability and insomnia. 2. Clears Liver Fire. Liver fire is characterized by symptoms such as vertex headache, hypochondriac (flank) pain, red eyes, dizziness, irritability, propensity to anger, constipation, hypertension, red complexion. 3. Kills intestinal parasites. Specifically, roundworm and ringworm. Dosage: 0.6 to 1.5 grams in powder, capsules, or pills. Decoction is not recommended, as Lu Hui is extremely bitter and has an unpleasant smell. Cautions/Contraindications: Lu Hui is contraindicated during pregnancy (due to its downbearing purgative action), and in cases of deficiency or cold of the Spleen and Stomach. Caution to avoid injuring the Stomach and Spleen should be taken when using any Cold medicinal for extended periods of time, regardless of constitution. Chemical composition: Alon, aloe-emodin. Pharmacological effects: - Laxative: Alon has a marked laxative effect. - Antibiotic: Water extract of Lu Hui has various degrees of inhibitory action against pathogenic fungi and dermatophytes. - Antineoplastic: Alcohol extract of Lu Hui has demonstrated preliminary ability to inhibit the growth of cancer cells. Herb-drug interactions: Cardiac glycosides: Overuse of Lu Hui may cause potassium depletion, leading to increased toxicity of cardiac glycosides, such as digoxin. Toxicology: No fatalities were reported following intramuscular injection of Lu Hui continuously for 6 months at 10 mg/kg. There was, however, necrosis of tissue at the injection site. there's also associated citations but they are a pain to copy out of a textbook