Schitaake Mushroom Planting Day Party

We have 12 acres of land here, so you'd think we would have lots and lots of room for crops, right? Actually, not as much as you would think. We may have only about one acre of open, relatively level ground for growing food.  The rest of our land is quite rugged and rocky, very steep in places or is wetland, ponds or streams.  It is really beautiful and diverse and is home to countless bird species and all kinds of wild animals including bear, coyote, fox, and many smaller mammals too.

Trying to obtain a yield from the wooded parts of our land is really fun and interesting.  There are obvious things to harvest e.g. firewood and building lumber and tree fruits such as hickories and acorns. 

Under the trees is the perfect habitat for logs impregnated with mushroom spores so we are trying our hand at Shitaakes.  We have already spread Winecap mushroom spores in beds of compost covered with wood chips under our fruit trees. That species will take more sun exposure than the Schitaakes.

To pass on the knowledge about this fun "farming" activity, we invited a few of our closest and earthiest friends over on a Sunday morning recently to help us plug the fresh cut oak logs with the mushroom spore plugs.  Of course, it was the coldest morning to date at about 20 degrees so we made a makeshift firepit on the driveway with cinder blocks.  The fire really threw off a lot of heat and kept everyone comfortable, along with hot tea and coffee from a never-ending pot.

The first task is to drill small holes into the logs in a uniform diamond pattern around the circumference  of each log.  Then we pounded the plugs into these small holes with rubber mallets.  The last task is to seal the plugs over with melted wax painted on with small paint brushes.  The fire came in handy to keep the wax melted - since it was so cold out, the wax only stayed melted for a few minutes at a time.

When all the logs were done, they were set out under trees in a very moist area as close to the house as possible.  It will be important to keep an eye on them from next spring on to see if they start to "flush" the mushrooms.  When the mushrooms emerge, they must be harvested as quickly as possible otherwise flies or slugs will infest and ruin them.

We've been told that once the logs start producing, they may continue, on and off, for a few months, and then again in subsequent years.  That would be really lovely!  Either way, though, we plan to do more next year and keep a continuous supply coming.  We can sell them to restaurants, at farmers' markets or preserve them by drying or freezing, for our own use.

All intrepid helpers enjoyed a sumptuous pot luck brunch afterwards and took home a couple of logs to try at their homes.

I'll be sure to post pictures next year when our logs start producing.