Shiitake Mushroom Culture

My next fun thing to do is to try out Shiitake mushroom culture utilizing wood that would otherwise be firewood. Seems like a great way to improve soil while minimizing pollution signatures

I recieved the plugs today and will be innoculating the logs over the next few days or perhaps weeks.

Anyone with any hands on experience want to provide advice before I start?

I do have Stamets book "Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms".

 

OK, took the first few steps. Did the hard part. Thinned a little patch of tress in my forest. Logs standing by for innoculation.

Details and pictures at: http://www.redbayfarm.com/Shiitake.html

Anybody else doing this?

 

Here is a guide from Minnesota. You may find it interesting or maybe not.

http://www.cinram.umn.edu/publications/landowners_guide1.5-1.pdf

I recommend reviewing the chart on page 18. By removing stunted hardwoods the area can be naturally reseeded by loblolly pine. Note the difference in sequestration rates of various tree types. Also, note how sequestration rates max out and even diminish after certain ages.

Utilizing trees that would otherwise become slash (no commercial value) seems like a good idea to me. Using this slash for mushroom production may also provide landowners with an additional income stream. The other alternative is firewood.

My goal at Red Bay Farm is to experiment with environmentally sound and perhaps profitable silviculture concepts and share my experiences with the general public and other small landowners.

If interested please see my strategic plan at:
StrategicPlan

 

Thank you,

I appreciate your thoughts and welcome your comments. I have much to learn if I am to meet my goals. Let me know if you have any ideas you believe would be of benefit to my tree farm or landowners in general.

To answer your original post on this subject. I think shiitake culture reduces a tree farm's pollution signature by providing an option which can improve the soil versus burning slash or selling the slash as firewood.

Anyway, today shiitake mushrooms...tomorrow?

 

Thanks,

Onboard nearby Camp Lejeune and in the Croatan National Forest they utilize these techniques to promote the Long Leaf Pine Savanna ecosystem. Links on my local area page provide info on these efforts and info about these very unique environments. Visit http://www.redbayfarm.com/Local_Area.html for more info.

However, my forestry advisors say utilization of burning the undergrowth in my area is not viable because of proximity to residences <500' and a major 4 lane highway <300'. Visibility and local area pollution are the two major problems.

Take a look at the link above and you will see a recent aerial photo ("borrowed" from a developers pamphlet) This aerial may help explain what I am talking about.

My Tree farm is the big block of forest under the words Red Bay Farm. By the way, the large open field that can be seen directly below Red Bay Farm will soon be developed and ~100 tract homes will be built there. The large field at 2 O'clock position from Red Bay Farm will soon be home to a strip mall/hotel/restaurant. Decades ago I picked tobacco in that field.

Back to the forest: I have considered goats for underbrush control/thinning but they are too indiscriminate and too materiel/feed intense (fencing housing, storage etc). I prefer the mechanical process because it gets me outdoors and is more selective.

 

OK, Logs innoculated. Site updated. Shows pictures of the simple tools used and the finished processed logs.

Here are some links that might be useful for anyone else wishing to try this project.

MushroomPeople

http://www.redbayfarm.com/files/mushguide_1_.pdf

Seems to be a great way to utilize hardwood from tree trimmings or storm damage instead of burning for firewood or hauling to the dump.

 

My touring prius doubles as a log truck. OK a tiny log truck.

Some shiitake logs for my coworkers up in VA.

And the car still gets over 50 mpg on the highway.

 

Thanks Dave,
I love to eat mushrooms and wish I had started this project when I moved onto a suburban lot which abuts my tree farm. I cleared about an acre on my lot. I could have really taken advantage of using all the hardwood slash which unfortunately was burned.

I tried some oyster mushrooms the other day and liked those also. In reading about the oyster mushroom I have found that it seems to be more agressive than the shiitake and should integrate into my forestry plans for the future. Oysters also have the added benefit of thriving on a wider variety of woods.

 

Well mushroom fans.

16 months later...shiitake! Missed them by about a day but was able to harvest a couple still in good condition. I sliced them up and sauteed them with a bit of olive oil and then added a dash of seasalt.

Very good! The sauteed mushrooms have a texture similar to a piece of steak. They were a nice meal and in a couple of weeks, I may soak the log overnight in well water to stimulate another flush.

I gave inoculated logs to friends over a year ago. One of my friends took the picture above...he missed his flush by a day or so also but ate the mushrooms anyway in a dish of bulgogi.