The mycelium spores are collected in the new forest and transported to 18 Osbourne Road where the equipment has been set up ready to grow mycelium. The spores are carefully placed into sterile containers and water is added. They are being overlooked for the next weeks, so no mould contaminates the mycelium growth. Meanwhile, The Horse chestnut tree and English oak saplings are being collected at the nursery in Somerset. The volunteering team is ready at the location where they will place the saplings after cleaning out all of the trash at the site. Placing them at some distance from each other but still close enough so the trees eventually will provide the shade needed. Planted and ready for the light and organic mycelium structure to come and wrap around the trees like protecting shields. Both adults and children are helping at the site with the trees and inside by the mycelium. A few weeks have passed, and the mycelium is ready to be mixed with the organic binder material, which is sawdust collected from woodworkers around Hampshire. The space is prepared to be warm and humid with a temporary greenhouse structure that can be taken down and reused again for production at other sites. So, the growth begins, letting the mycelium pieces grow within the premade frames that will still allow them to grow in their own way. Frame by frame is filled with mycelium that will be burned to become a strong building material. Once the first pieces are done, they are carried outside and start to be assembled with the natural connectors made out of mycelium. Every piece of the structure is biodegradable except for the screws that will be attached to the wall. The pieces are carefully put together by the volunteers, and week after week you can see how the structure grows wider, longer, and taller. It looks like slime mould slowly creates the space moving around for the fastest way to reach the oat which is the tree in this case. One piece leads to another, and the flow continues through the space, reaching up to the sky and horizontally towards the green space.
Animals are moving under, on, and above ground, finding the new space that is starting to grow bigger and bigger. The structure and trees are creating more shade where insects, some plants and fungi like to grow. Following the organic shapes of the structure, water is moving through reaching the soil where natures engineer the earthworm in moving around creating tunnels where the water, air and nutrition can reach the roots of the trees. The roots are interconnected with the mycelium, communicating with each other in times of distress. The earthworm is moving up to the ground where it is met by a woodlouse making its way up the bark. Stopping for the water collected in one of the dents before it moves up to find the perfect spot to rest, away from wind and sun. Walking past the woodlouse out on the branch of the tree is a spider that has found a shortcut over the mycelium structure to the next tree. There is moss and vines wrapping around the mycelium which makes it easy to hide in if necessary. A bird is flying by with some branches to the nest located at the top.
Time is passing by, and the structure is finished, the trees are continuing to grow and creating connections under and above ground. It is a warm summer day and the bees have built a hive between the mycelium structure. Flying to the flowers growing on the Horse Chestnut Tree and on the ground. The insects and fungi are very happy to have the shade created by the greenery covering the structure. A few people are walking through the space admiring the plants and animals. There are tours available that inform children and adults about the important connections in nature between animals, plants, and fungi.
Continuous growth is going on year after year, and the space gets more and more covered in moss, mushrooms, spiderweb, leaves, flowers, insects and many more connections are happening. They all work together to create a stronger ecosystem at the location. The more it thrives and succeeds the more it will encourage animals and plants to continue to come and reproduce. Nature maintains the space itself if humans interfere it might destroy the natural ecosystem. The only thing for humans to do is observe and learn from the space. The nature and animals could give a human some strength and calm in an otherwise busy environment along the street.
Twenty years are passing by, and animals, plants and fungi are thriving and growing strong together with the mycelium structure that is getting weaker. Water, wind, and sun are slowly tearing the structure down. The vines and trees have formed a strong connection by climbing onto the structure, when the structure is starting to fail, they keep a strong bond with each other. The animals have created their homes amongst all the wildernesses. The lifecycle of the animals has had the time to go around a few times creating food for the microbial life. Giving it more strength to give back to the new animals, plants, and humans who eat the mushrooms, plants, and other animals. Meanwhile, the trees are starting to reach their height of 40 meters while the 10-meter-tall structure is getting smaller.
The site will be closed while the structure is getting weak and start to fall to biodegrade, it is not safe to be around while parts might fall, just like the trees sometimes break and fall to the ground. Once the structure is on the ground it will take time for it to biodegrade. Nature might grow over it which could fasten the process. Soil from building sites can be dropped off over the structure on the ground to create small hills where animals and the soil can help to degrade it faster just like bark biodegrade once it is in the soil.
Comments