This picture captures 3 of my favorite things on planet Earth: my wife, my son, and Chaga. Chaga is a fungus that grows on Birch trees. It has been used by the native people of Siberia and Canada for millenia as medicine and as a ceremonial firestarter. Although it is rather homely in appearance and would escape the attention of most passerby, this fungus contains more life-giving nutrients than most substances known to humankind.
In February of '14, I and two comrades set out for Yukon from the Eastern coast of North Carolina in a Denali SUV with summer tires, 2WD, and a small boat trailer with 12" wheels that we had conscripted to haul nearly a ton of rough-sawn walnut lumber, carpet, carpet underlayment, a door and a window, a gas heater, a spare tire.... I sent someone to Lowes with a "git list" that included plywood- they returned with OSB. Despite my profuse and abusive protestations that they are NOT AT ALL the same thing, that became the deck for the little trailer and we headed off for the great white North. 5000 miles and many adventures and misadventures later, we found ourselves in a silent, frozen expanse of wilderness the likes of which defy description. It is a beautiful and terrifying universe, which at -40 degrees Celcius or Farenheit, does not promise you your survival. I learned many things there, but most of all I am grateful for having seen the Northern Lights up VERY close, and for having been introduced to Chaga.
One of our hosts had a decent collection of natural medicines in their kitchen, and I perused the shelves with my characteristic unapologetic curiosity that some find eccentric. I looked in the tea kettle that was turned on the lowest setting, and there I found a dark black brew with an interesting energy. "What is this simmering on the kettle?" I asked my host. "That is Chaga. have you heard of it?" I had not. My host explained how the grandmothers in this latitude always had a pot of it on the back of the stove, and claimed that it cured and prevented cancer. One Russian doctor remembered what his grandma said and took some of the fungus into a lab. What they discovered was that it has a number of bioactive compounds that do wonders for the immune system, including the highest levels of antioxidants ever discovered- 1000x more potent than Acai or Goji or blueberry! They began using it in Russian hospitals to treat cancer patients, with successful results. They also found it lowers blood pressure and balances diabetic sugar levels.
NB! If you are on blood-thinners, blood pressure meds, or diabetes meds, Chaga is contraindicated, which means don't take it! It could interact badly with your medicine from the doctor, which could be dangerous!
Well, after I heard all that, I started asking Yukon natives about it. Most of the 700 residents of the little town do not venture into the bush, and many that do are not well versed in wild medicine. Sadly, drugs, alcohol, and TV are the major influences in most people's lives. One of my new friends earns a living cutting and selling firewood. He has a permit to fell trees in the bush, and so he gets out more often than most. He is a small-framed man, and was suffering from a severe hernia, but that did not slow him down much. He could shovel 6 ft snowdrifts with a fury that was unnerving. He carried logs by leaping upon them with his arms open wide (not unlike Arnold Winkelreid) and grabbing more logs than was prudent. It was painful to watch. "What does it look like?" He asked me. I showed him a picture. "Oh yah- that stuff is all over out there. grows on Birches, eh?" He invited me to join him cutting trees the following day, and he would be happy to drop a Chaga-laden Birch for me if I would help him drag out the trees. Well I may be crazy but I ain't no fool- I agreed!
The next morning I put on my thermal base layer, thinsulate boots, flannel shirt, coat, hat, gloves and borrowed snowshoes and stomped out after my wild lumberjack friend on top of 7 ft (2 metres+) of snow, and started felling and dragging trees. Before long I was shedding layers, and by the time I acclimated I was wearing no more than I would to go Christmas Caroling in Virginia. We found a nice chunk of Chaga and brought it home, and I spent the next few days chopping it up into nickel-sized chunks.
The Yukon territory is infamous for severe cases of cabin fever, mutiny, and madness, and we had a touch of all three before we left. Sometimes having something to chop up for many hours, or some kind of artwork helps relieve the malaise
Well I made it back to my love alive with a coffee can full of fungal miracle chunks and many stories. We got married that fall, and headed to a little cabin high in the mountains for our honeymoon. One day we were taking a walk and she pointed waaaaaay up the mountain and said "Is that Chaga?" For one thing, I can't see that far, and for another, I had never heard of Chaga growing any farther south than Northern Minnesota. We climbed up to double check however, and Jumpin Jehoshephat! It was Chaga after all! I prayed a thankful prayer that I got me such a good wife and that our pathway was blessed with good medicine.
I follow the principle that we should only take about 1/3 to 1/2 of what medicine we find. I do not divulge my harvest spots. If there are seeds or some other method of progagation, I ensure that the plant will continue to grow where I found it by planting one of the seeds or splittling the bulb, etc. Unfortunately, no one has yet successfully intentionally propagated Chaga. I hope to try my hand at it someday.
Soon after harvesting, I chop the Chaga into smaller chunks. Fresh Chaga is the consistency of cork, softer in the center and harder toward the outside. After a few days it dries out, making it more like wood in consistency. The outer layer is black, and is not useful as medicine. It is not harmful either, so I do not go out of my way to exclude it from the prepared tea, but it is not worth saving. the inner flesh of the fruiting body is a rusty brown mottled with yellow.
Preparation
After it is all chopped, I store it in the freezer until use to keep it from losing its living properties. When I prepare tea, I do not boil the water- only simmer! It is best to use spring water, reverse osmosis filtered water, or distilled water if you can. Any sediment or impurities or additives in the water will be concentrated during the tea preparation. While I use well water, I am aware of the fact I may be growing kidney stones.
For each cup of water I add about 2 tablespoons of chopped Chaga (I have heard the dollop compared to the size of a silver dollar, but how many people know what that is anymore?) Then I simmer it for 4-6 hours. when the water level gets half-low, I top it off to the original level. usually I have to do this 2 or 3 times. Usually I turn the stove off when I go to bed and cover the pot with a lid and leave it to soak overnight. Then I re-heat it in the morning (still don't boil it) and drink it. I love to pour the Chaga tea over coffee grounds in a french press and kick-start my morning. I have even poured it over Yerba Mate (another perennial favorite of mine) but neither tea is considered palatable and most people are not ready to live that dangerously. It Occurs to me that perhaps I am the first lunatic to mix a plant from the equatorial region and a fungus from the taiga region in human history, that it may be the first time it is possible, and that I may be my own guinea pig. Nothing stated in this post reflects the opinion of anyone but the author.
Well, it does in fact taste like Birch-bark and forest floor. But I like it. I try to share it with friends to show them how much I love them, but after the first polite sip and a few face calisthenics they assure me they've had enough. Suit yourselves- I intend to keep the doctor away from my doorstep. Each time I fix a pot of Chaga and enjoy its earthy goodness I remember my lumberjack friend, the Northern Lights, the inestimable fortune I have in my wife, our honeymoon, the wild places I have harvested from, and the Creator who must love me very much to bless me with all these things, and I say "Thank you".
