Mike Spooner is a 25-year-old tree climber and gardener, who has always had a deep passion for nature. Growing up, Mike would spend most days outside, exploring the woods and climbing trees. He went to school for environmental sciences, and got his degree through Southern New Hampshire University. During this time, Mike’s passion for nature flourished, as he discovered the wonders of fungi. Through his own personal research efforts, Mike became inspired by mushrooms, seeing the vital role they play in maintaining the biodiversity of ecosystems. In four years of environmental lessons, Mike had never been taught about these incredibly beneficial organisms in school — which made his curiosity and fascination even stronger.

Mike learned that fungi are largely responsible for decomposing organic matter, making nutrients available for plants. Without fungi, we wouldn’t have the rich fertile soil necessary for sustaining crops and trees. Simply put, there would be no life without fungi… This astonished Mike, as he had never even learned about fungi, until he began researching on his own. As he dove deeper into mycological research, Mike discovered that scientists have tested-out the decomposition abilities of fungi. Amazingly, studies show that fungi can remove toxins from soil, improve the fertility of soil, and improve the health of other organisms in the soil. In general, fungi can be used for restoring soils and improving biodiversity.

Mike was very inspired by these studies, and wanted to test-out the promising claims of fertile soil and biodiversity. In an initial test-run, Mike took home the plant scraps acquired from gardening jobs, and made a pile in his backyard. Mike then introduced various species of fungi to the pile of plant debris. After about eight weeks, mushrooms began springing up everywhere, and the pile had been reduced to usable compost — a process that would typically take many months. Seeing this success, Mike understood the power of fungi, and knew what he had to do.

Landscaping, gardening, and tree removal can often have negative impacts on the environment. A lot of people today are becoming weary of destructive practices, as biodiversity loss is a growing concern. However, these services are often necessary for keeping a property safe and livable. Therefore, Mike envisioned an environmentally-friendly way to offer these garden and tree services — through fungal remediation. By taking home the garden and tree debris from jobs, Mike could recycle the organic material by decomposing it with fungi, and then reintroducing the fertile compost back into the environment. That way, no organic material is lost from nature, it all becomes recycled back into the ecosystem. And with that, the idea of Mycelia Mike LLC was born.