Greetings everyone,
My name is Merlyn, excuse my delayed introduction . Fungi has always been a point of interest for me for many year but only up until recently (the last few months) have I taken the initiative to begin my own cultivation practices from home.
The first mushroom to really capture my interest was Chaga.
It was at a time that I was highly excited about nutrition and plant based medicines.
From David Wolfes book i learnt that Chaga was about 25% melanin by weight (compared to Reishi which is 3% - 7%). Not to mention the very heavy density of nutrition inherent in Chaga (and other mushrooms)
Which gave me the idea to use chaga in skincare for cellular rejuvenation (since no one i had seen was doing it yet)
This gave me the idea to launch my own myco based skincare company called Lin (Forest in Chinese). Which was based on vegetable oil extractions of plant and fungal species for healing purposes.
(CBD, cacao and chaga balm - the last of my skincare creations)
Its been a few years and the passion for Lin has died down to a ember but has now been resparked in a new line of sight.
Now i want to go from working Fungi to growing fungi - all in the effort to deepen my relationship with the ecosystem and fungi alike.
The new dream is a big one. But my vision (inspired by Paul Stamets) is to co-create a “Mushroom healing arts center”
An umbrella term that encompasses mycoremediation, mycofiltration, mycomaterials, medicines, food, art and alot more.
I am only just beginning this journey and will always be a student on the path. Nonetheless I am very grateful to be a part of this community of spore minded individuals which has been truly insporerational 
