Shiitakes are delicious and nutritious!
Since Shii is the type of wood that they grow on in the wild and take means mushroom, it is a little redundant to call them Shiitake mushrooms, but that is how we know them.Shiitakes have grown wild since before recorded history. They are important in Asian medicinal traditions and were described thousands of years ago in some of the first books on herbal medicine. docaitta.com
Simply
put, they are good for what ails you.
They
show benefits, including antioxidants,
anti-cancer,
absorbing
fat in the diet, and helping the
immune
and cardiovascular systems.
For more: whfoods.com
I liken growing mushrooms on logs to growing asparagus. The initial work is followed by a waiting period and then a continued harvest over a period of years. Harvesting the mushrooms is akin to picking beans, the plant stays, as you only pick the “seed pods”.
Logs are inoculated by drilling holes 6”-8” apart in rows about 4” apart. You then inject sawdust, laden with spawn, into the holes. The top of the holes are covered with a wax seal. The spawn “runs” from the holes, spreading around the log in the sterile environment under the bark. Once the shiitake colonize the log it will keep most other things out and produce fruit for 4 to 10 years (until the log disintegrates). The first few years are the most productive, and as the log rots, yields falls off. Harder woods tend to last longer.
Planting is typically done in the spring or late winter. With good weather, the first mushrooms should pop out in the fall.. Mushrooms usually come out after a rain and or a sharp change in temperature. You usually have a day or three to harvest and they will stay fresh in a paper bag in the fridge for 2-3 weeks.
So far, I have harvested logs from my own property, cutting surplus trees. I use a variety of hardwood, mostly sweetgum, but also oak, ash, and a few other species. I haul the logs out mostly with a Honda Recon four wheeler and a heavy duty trailer I built for the purpose. Industry standard is a 6”-8” log 40” long. Mine tend to be much bigger, especially for the sculptures. I often cut logs as big as I can move.
I haul logs to a staging area and process about 20 logs at a time.
After inoculation they are moved to a shaded stacking area.
Late in the summer the logs are stacked up like a winding split rail fence maze, in anticipation of a fall crop.
It is a back breaking and time consuming, but to me, a very enjoyable task.
more pics of shroom growing process here
