We’re Living In A Mushroom Kingdom
We’re Living In A Mushroom Kingdom This story is part of Fungi Week, a deep dive into the myriad ways mushrooms and fungi make the planet a healthier place for all its inhabitants. It is supported by UPIC Health. It wouldn’t be wrong to say Sam Shoemaker crossed the ocean on a mushroom. This August, the Californian artist launched his 14-foot kayak off Catalina Island and paddled for 12 hours across the 26.5-mile Catalina Channel to San Pedro. He says when he lost strength during the last miles, a fin whale appeared and accompanied him. But even more astonishing is the brownish-white boat itself: “a boat made entirely from a single mushroom growing outside my studio,” Shoemaker explains — the world’s largest mushroom boat. Sam Shoemaker in his mushroom boat on August 5, 2025. Credit: Jordan Freeman / Fulcrum Arts. He built it from wild Ganoderma polypore collected near his LA studio, propagated in a hemp-and-sawdust substrate for about four weeks, molded into kayak form and dried until i…
