Shitake Bounty

[Darth Slater]

A few months back i showed you some of the logs I spored, and here is the results 4 lbs of Shitakes, and at 12 a pound I made some ok money with them.
If you do this, I suggest using smaller diameter logs because it takes less time for the mycillium to prosper.

[mnjrutherford]

GORGEOUS! How big where your logs? The "other hand" to using smaller logs is that the larger logs produce longer as they deteriorate more slowly... well... not more slowly exactly. It just takes longer because there is more "material" to decompose.

[Darth Slater]

I used the 6-8 inch diameter, i also seeded some larger logs that will probably be a year or more in waiting, but will be worth it.
Its not that expensive when you figure you can easily get 12-14 dollars a lb for wood grown as opposed to straw grown Shitake.
What was in the basket shown netted me 48 bucks.

[canadamike]

Great picture. I would love it if you shared a bit more on the ''details'' of growing mushrooms for market, the possibilities, and so on.

I always was interested in them, but for some reason never ever tried them.

That picture makes me feel guilty

[steev]

Has anybody got a clue about the keepability of shiitake plugs? What I'm wondering about is that I often have windfalls of a few fresh-cut oak rounds, and it would be great if I could have a supply of spawn plugs on hand to draw out a few as needed. I don't suppose they would dry well or freeze, and still be readily viable, but I have no idea.

[garnetmoth]

Lovely Darth :-) thats a nice price!

Im going to a mushroom cultivation workshop on this coming Sunday, ill ask Steev! there isnt a mushroom seller at my most close farmers market, I know one of the vendors went to a workshop last fall so hopefully hes coming into production soon.

my husband doesnt really like mushrooms a lot, but there are are so few we actually get really fresh here. He likes broth flavored with them, mebbe Ill make him a convert!

from what ive read, logs should be 2 weeks - 2 months old.....

[12540dumont]

Steev, I have mushroom plugs in the fridge that are a year old! Oyster Mushrooms.

We've grown them in the box too.

www.hollyhock.ca/cms/index.cfm?Group_ID=3801

More fun for fungophiles.

Darth's shitakes are prettier.

Attachments:

[steev]

It occurred to me that the trick to keeping spawn plugs in good condition for a long time might be to freeze them in ice, so they'd not dry out in the freezer, defrost, and voila!, healthy plugs as needed. Might work; nothing ventured....

[peppereater]

unfortunately freezing destroys the spawn. Logs should have a short period between cutting and plugging, I don't recall specific time, basically just to allow some drying but not long enough to "season" as firewood is allowed to. A friend with plugged shiitake logs harvested many times from his logs. steev, you can also buy chainsaw bar lube which will innoculate certain species during cutting, might go that route?
anyway, for anyone interested, dumonts link has a direct link to a paul stamets site, www.fungi.com/, and googling fungiperfecti will take you directly to the source for any spawn available, probably more than any other sellers, and that is stamets' company. He is the cutting edge expert on all things mushroom, and his site and business practices are beyond rebuke.
The fungiperfecti site, last time I checked, had in-depth detail on characteristics and growing practices with gorgeous pics...some things he offers, like chicken-of-the-woods, are far more rare and valuable than pleurotus or shiitake, I would love to grow some.
Also, he offers at least one "garden mushroom" that enhances soil and is a great companion to other crops, as well as I believe one or 2 compost mushrooms...most or all of his offerings are edible, although there may be many offerings strictly for land reclamation purposes, etc., as his company has ongoing research into many branches of mycology.

[peppereater]

I failed to mention, I'm pretty sure plugs are recommended for storage up to 6 months? As far as I know that's a recommendation, not something set in stone....
I did my research on all of this too many beers ago to recall many details!

[steev]

Too many beers to recall many details? Anheuser's Syndrome. Runs in my family, linked to the Y chromosome.

I don't cut much oak, per se. I know a guy who has a tree service, and he leaves wood that's too big for his chipper on his lot, free for the taking. Saves him $130/ton in dump fees. I'm so picky, all I take is oak and it seems mushrooms would be a good use for the gnarly parts that are hard to split. That's why I'd like a few plugs every week or two. Are you sure it's the freezing, not the desiccation, that kills the spawn? Seems like there are lots places that get pretty cold for months where mushrooms re-fruit on the same log for years. Anyway, if I buy a bunch of plugs, I'll check out freeze vs fridge for curiosity.

[peppereater]

They survive hard freezes in logs, as other mushrooms do in logs, running through leaf litter, or whichever medium they're adapted to. I don't know the mechanics of it, but many insects survive freezes with only marginal cover, while the same insects would simply be destroyed if they were to remain in the open. I believe some of the biological pesticides are destroyed by freezing as well, Bt and nosema locusti should not be frozen is I recall. Yet these will persist in the environment almost regardless of low temperatures...
Could it be that inherent antifreeze chemicals don't develop until mycelium has run through a medium? Spawn, plugs, mycelium and fruiting bodies of mushrooms share identical properties, the cells that constitute them are identical, you can easily grow spawn from bits of mushroom stems and caps, and yet these same cells form stems and caps, then gills and spores...only the spores are distinctly different, there is some sort of cell division which sorts genes into distinct packets...spores become mycelia or mycelia-like structures in appropriate media, but these mycelia are incapable of producing fruiting bodies until they merge with mycelia produced from another spore...it's all very interesting and complex.
Sorry to be so long winded about something I'm not qualified to lecture on, just kinda thinking outloud so to speak, lol. I recommend anyone interested in the subject read Stamets' book, The Mushroom Cultivator, which is where most of my knowledge comes from. Here's a site with several good Stamets books: www.fungi.com/books/cultivation.html
Reading the description of the first book on the list will give you an idea of how wide the range of benefits is from mushrooms and mushroom culture. One idea that excites me a good deal is mycoremediation, which is bioremediation using mushroom culture. I've researched that somewhat a couple of decades ago, and the research since then has produced exponential gains in the knowledge and implementation of this practice.

I

[garnetmoth]

Hello again!
Ive been to the class, and it was great. Ive also started some cardboard spawn by pressing Oyster mushroom stem-butts into moist cardboard. Nearly effortless!

I think for a good overview of things, Mycelium Running by Stamets is fascinating. Ive got an oyster straw indoor kit, an outdoor log, and just got more spawn and looking to plug a couple more logs before winter- will likely keep them in the mud room (above freezing but not humid like a greenhouse) for the winter. may the mycelia be with you!

oh Peppereater- I think the spore-strands are hyphae (hi-fee) and need to merge to make mycelia... ill double check that!

[steev]

My Celia, your Celia; she's all fun, Gus!