What Is Organic Chaga?
December 11, Leave a Comment
Author: admin
So many ingredients in the things we use in our everyday lives involve traditional framing practices. These practices often include pesticides and herbicides, which are harsh chemicals. These chemicals have allowed farmers to grow large amounts of crops quickly and efficiently. However, it is becoming more and more apparent that these harsh chemicals are taking their toll, both on our bodies and on the environment. Soil quality is degrading, important pollinators are struggling to survive, and ground water is contaminated. In addition, our bodies risk exposure to multiple toxins.
What is Organic?
Organic is a growing movement that offers an alternative to traditional farming practices. Organically grown crops are not exposed to chemicals. Farmers revert to deeper methods of cultivating, including smaller plots, companion planting, and hand weeding and extracting pests. It is more labor intensive and much more risky to farm this way. However, these practices treat the land with kindness and prevent our body’s exposure to toxic chemicals.
Organic Chaga
Organic Chaga is a bit different from other organic products. Chaga is not cultivated in the same way that many other crops are. Chaga grows naturally on birch trees and is foraged from the forest. While it has never been grown with chemicals, it is still important to ensure that Chaga is harvested sustainably and in ways that care for the environment and our bodies.
Sustainable Harvest
Chaga grows on aging birch trees. It takes many years for the mycelium to develop. The fungus typically enters through a wound or weak spot in the tree. It grows under the surface and then protrudes from the tree in a large conk. It is its growth on birch trees that infuses Chaga with so any healthy components that are beneficial for our body. To sustainably harvest Chaga, it should be large enough to remove carefully, leaving some Chaga in tact against the tree. If the tree contracts an injury during Chaga removal, it risks exposure to disease. Chaga from dead birch trees is no longer beneficial for human consumption. Carefully harvested Chaga will allow the tree to live and another conk of Chaga will emerge again a few years later. Over harvesting without caring for the tree could cause Chaga to become increasingly more scarce.
Safe for Consumption
Because Chaga’s healthy components come from the birch tree, it is important to know the birch tree’s level of exposure to toxins. Birch trees near cities and populated space can take in toxins, contaminating the conk. Many Chaga hunters find it near local municipalities to save time and resources. Chaga Natural harvests Chaga from deep in the woods. Our Chaga comes from at least 100 miles from any urban population.
Continued Access
While Chaga doesn’t grow in traditional ways, it is still important to pay attention to where Chaga comes from. Careful harvest means we can continue to have access to Chaga throughout the years. This important mushroom is significant to its eco-system and provides life-giving nutrients, antioxidants, betulinic acid, and more.
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