Some funfarmfacts that we have learned about our shiitake yard.
Shiitakes can be grown by two methods, on natural hardwood logs and on sawdust blocks. The highest quality shiitakes are grown on oak logs. We have had great success on sugar maple cut in the late winter or early spring time before leaf out. The logs or branches have the highest sugar content in the spring that will help feed the mushroom mycelium to produce larger flushes of mushrooms in the future.
After the logs have been inoculated with mushroom spawn, they have to sit for six months to a year for the mushroom mycelium to run through out the log. After the logs are colonized with the proper moisture they can be fruited. You can force a log to fruit by "shocking" it . The shiitake mycelium needs to be awakened by hitting or dropping the log gently. A large thunderstorm with lots of cold rain most of the time will trigger a large fruiting for us or a sudden drop in temperature with high moisture levels by soaking into cold clean water for 12-24 hours. The logs will give mushrooms for a longer period of time if left up to nature to fruit. The smaller logs will only give for a few years but the larger logs will give for much longer.
With high vitamins and minerals a shiitake yard can help feed a family for many years.
Shiitake are not only gourmet mushrooms to eat they also have many medicinal properties.
Our shiitake yard helps us thrive in so many ways, it's such a nice sight and feeling to walk into our mushroom yard and see the logs fruiting with little help from us . They provide us with all of the shiitake mushrooms we can eat and help us maintain a healthy lifestyle. The yard fits in very well with our idea of the perfect permaculture farm.
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