Mycelial Healer

Christopher Parker is co-founder, along with his wife Katherine, and an instructor at The Forest Farmacy. He is a self-taught mycologist who started cultivating mushrooms at young age and has continuously expanded his knowledge of mycology, botany, agriculture, permaculture and ecology, with 30 years of experience in mushroom cultivation, wild harvesting, and herbal medicine making. He is passionate about food sovereignty, resilient local food systems, and the use of fungi in innovative applications such as myco-remediation. Christopher loves being in his mycology lab where he experiments with and expands various strains of mycelium. He continues to be a teacher and mentor to many beginners and professionals who are interested in and share his passion for growing mushrooms for food, medicine, and profit. Christopher founded Asheville Fungi which provides mycological supplies—including cultures, spawn, grow kits, and tools—across the country and fresh mushrooms locally.  As a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Christopher carries knowledge of ancestral food practices and skills such as arrow making, bow building, animal processing, flint knapping, and fire by friction.Katherine Parker is co-founder, along with her husband Christopher, and an instructor at The Forest Farmacy. She is a psychologist, a transformational coach, and transpersonal hypnotherapist engaged deeply in the evolution of human consciousness. Katherine is working to co-create a more beautiful world and be part of our collective liberation.

“The Mycelial Healer is a fantastic addition to the library shelf for growers and health-conscious consumers alike. The Parkers bring a wealth of information and expertise to this beautifully designed contribution. Well done!”—Robert Dale Rogers, author of The Fungal Pharmacy“The Mycelial Healer is a profound journey into the fungal world—blending Indigenous wisdom, hands-on cultivation, and scientific insight. Parker and Parker invite us to reconnect with the unseen networks that sustain life. As an edible landscape enthusiast, I find this book an outstanding resource for optimizing all that shady space—transforming understory into abundance. More than just a guide for growers, it’s also a profound meditation on the idea that true restoration and reconnection with the natural world begin beneath our feet, radiating outward from the soil.”—Michael Judd, author of Edible Landscaping with a Permaculture Twist and For the Love of Pawpaws“In your hands is a comprehensive and immensely personal resource celebrating the power and provision of the fungal world. At once a moving exposition and a highly approachable technical compendium, The Mycelial Healer inspires, empowers, and nurtures by weaving together worldview and application rooted in deep tradition and experience. Your mycelial journey will certainly benefit from exploring the insights and methods shared within its pages.”—John Munsell, professor and forest management extension specialist, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; coauthor of The Community Food Forest Handbook“The Mycelial Healer deserves a spot on every mushroom enthusiast’s bookshelf. Chris and Katherine Parker set the stage for a fresh look at mushrooms as food and medicine. Their detailed, practical descriptions of how to set up a lab, grow mushrooms outdoors or indoors, and ethically wild-harvest are supported by dozens of photos and diagrams.”—Jeanine Davis, professor, North Carolina State University; very small farmer; author of Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and Other Woodland Medicinals