Shiitake, Maitake or Reishi Mushrooms

Anybody grow Button, Shiitake, Maitake or Reishi or ??? Mushrooms? I've been growing Shiitake for almost 10 years, I very highly recommend them.

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

hello P.O.D. , i grew oyster mushrooms with spawn plugs in logs a few years back.but would like to get into it agian only this time i would like to use spawn bags or beds.Ive messed arround with growing other types allso.id love to grow shitake this time,lots of projects goin on so ill think about it thru the winter and mybee get set up for spring.
i collect allot from the woods.spoted a hen of the woods (oyster) the other day,we had him with our iowa chops and garlic for supper.the fall mushroom season has just started here in zone 4.
Please keep us posted on your mushrooms,and anny tech. info would be nice allong with your methods.
ive learned by reading articals but would like to learn from a 10 year veteran.seeing your post just brung back the sprark in me for garmet mushroom cultivation agian.
Got anny exstra spawn ??wanna trade for garlic??
Take care P.O.D. and i would like to here more of your mushroom adventures.
peace
frog

 

Oh man, Frog, the idea of fresh mushrooms and some of your garlic is actually making my mouth water. I'm tied up harvesting peppers today, so gotta be short now. I'll give you a bunch of info tonight.
For now, as far as Shiitake goes, Think about if you can get 3 to 4 inch diameter oaks (red oak is best) or sweet gums... only time to start them is winter, but what else you doing in February? .... I got no spawn or pluggs but they're CHEAP...
More later

Peace, your friend,
poor_old_dad

 

sounds good,headin out to the farm now to till and i think i have some red oak branches i a pile out there ill look today
peace

 

I'm glad I got into Shiitake mushrooms for a lot of reasons. They're yummy good, very good for you, and for a small farmer trying to make a go of it, they sell for a lot of $$$ fresh or dried. Another big plus around here is that I'm busy with that while I'm not very busy with veggies & herbs. From mid-may til a week or two from now (here) there's almost nothing to do except keep the logs from drying out. The only other things to do are to start the logs and harvest. Shiitake are totally organic, in fact there's no such thing as fertilizing or bug control or anything. The only hard and tricky part is starting the logs. Keep in mind, when I'm talking about "logs", these are 3 to 4 inch diameter and four feet long - easy to handle a lot of them with no machinery needed. The logs must be from fresh cut trees, cut while winter dormant, hardwoods like oak are best but sweet gums are good too. Most other hardwoods are of too much other value to use. The perfect trees to use are some that'll have to be cut as part of a needed thinning in a wooded area, wood lot, yard, an area to be cleared etc. In other words, young trees that are going to be cut anyhow. When you down the trees it is of absoulute importance, totally critical, that the trees fall carefully. I know that sounds strange, but if the bark is much damaged - forget it. Easing a tree down can be dangerous, so 2 or 3 people going slowly is best. Remember, you'll only a few trees. Even a 20 foot tall tree'll give you 5 "logs". Down and remove the limbs carefully, but leave the trunks as long as you can haul, cut them to length when you're inoculating them.. Inoculatinf is what it's called when you start the mushrooms in the logs. Mushroom spore is mostly sold as sawdust spawn or as plugs. Both have good points, I started with plugs (easier) and went to sawdust (cheaper when doing a lot).

I've got a list of suppliers I'll post seperatly, but here's my favorite mushroom folks, in fact they're called MushroomPeople. I don't know if you know about "TheFarm" in Summertown, Tennessee, but MushroomPeople is part of it.

Every body should check out TheFarm at http://www.thefarm.org/
See what a bunch of hippies, working hard for a long time can do, they are incredable, they are the real deal.

MushroomPeople's web site is, no suprise: http://www.mushroompeople.com/
Everyone be sure to check their books (lot of books hippies will like) at http://mushroompeople.chainreactionweb.com/index.php?cPath=1&osCsid=d13e96d0a50ca6d6d87ec91394c89c2b

For a good how-to on Shiitake check this: http://mushroompeople.chainreactionweb.com/information.php?info_id=4&osCsid=ad62e9f3d3a9d61b3fe233a0bc7b3913

A good starter is the 10 log kit:
http://mushroompeople.chainreactionweb.com/product_info.php?products_id=150&osCsid=ad62e9f3d3a9d61b3fe233a0bc7b3913


Another great how-to is: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/nreos/forest/woodland/won-20.html

Finger tired, more later....

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

In addition to the seven regional suppliers listed below, there are many other sources are available for mushroom culture and spawn. A good way to get local information on mushrooms is at the North American Mycological Association’s Web site, www.namyco.org.

Fungi Perfecti
P.O. Box 7634
Olympia, WA 98507
www.fungi.com
Kits for oyster, shiitake, wine caps, cinnamon caps and almond portobellos, plus a range of spawn and pure cultures. Cultivation seminars four times a year.

Garden City Fungi
P.O. Box 1591
Missoula, MT 59806
www.gardencityfungi.com
Certified organic kits for three types of oyster mushrooms, indoor shiitake and lion’s mane, along with excellent educational materials for teachers.

Mushroompeople
560 Farm Road
P.O. Box 220
Summertown, TN 28483
www.mushroompeople.com
An assortment of wood mushroom kits, four types of shiitake for inoculating logs and rental of educational videos.

Spore Works
5201 Kingston Pike, Suite 6-324
Knoxville, TN 37919
www.sporeworks.com
Wine caps, oyster and shiitake kits to grow from inoculation to fruiting, along with pure cultures of numerous other gourmet strains.

Lost Creek Mushroom Farm
P.O. Box 520
Perkins, OK 74059
www.shiitakemushroomlog.com
Shiitake log kits and various gift boxes.

Mushroom Adventures
355 Serrano Dr., Suite 9-J
San Francisco, CA 94132
www.mushroomadventures.com
Kits to grow button, oyster and portobellos.

Field & Forest Products, Inc.
N3296 Kozuzek Rd.
Peshtigo, WI 54157
www.fieldforest.net
Starters for oyster, shiitake and wine caps.


Other than yummy, they are very healthy. Below's a chart... well, no there's not... it won't let me attach the chart. I'll try later.

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

Thanks for the info P.O.D.,,,you got me convinced.think im gonna try the shitake and oyster this time.ill start prepareing my area and collect some logs..so am i right in thinking i inoculate in febuary here in zone 4 .ill be doing this outside.ive grown mushrooms in grow chambers before and am familar with inituating fruiting.
allso am i right in thinking the area should be in the shade??if so i can build a structure for shade.
thanks for the help,youll probly see allot more ?? from me
pace
frog

 

Hi Frog, sounds great and "seing" more of you will also be great.

For now, scout out & mark the trees you'll use. Don't cut them until all the leaves have fallen. That's why I suggest to mark them now. With young trees it's sometimes hard (at least for me) to tell them apart without leaves. But they must not be cut until after fully dormant for the winter - otherwise is close to a waste of time and tree.

Shade - yes, for sure, and the deeper, darker shade the better. Sun will dry the logs and that's death to mushrooms. Remember we're growing fungus, dark and damp are good things.

As to the inoculation time in zone 4, let me check with some folks (college professors). Iowa State University I believe does some shiitake reasearch too. Check with your county agent, see what they have. I'll get back to you on that.

Give you an example of the $$$ benifits, I've hadf a deal going for a while with a guy who lives near Atlanta. He has more customers for dried shiitake than he can fill. What ever I can grow and dry I wholesale to him at $35 per pound. When the logs are really going, I'm picking a time or two a day, them twice a week pack up what I've got, UPS picks up & delivers and each monthI get a check... sweet.

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

Hi

I'm new at mushrooms, glad to find this forum.

Just finished my first shitake logs yesterday, used 3to5 inch sweet gums. I've set up a mister for them. and already ordered more spawn plugs. Going with fungi perfect this time.

Question I've read where some move their logs into a greenhouse in winter, Any one got experience with that? Or experience with saw dust for growing?

We just finished our 10x20 hoophouse last week. Very proud of it as we bent the fence tubing and built it ourselves in about two weeks, working afternoons.

 

All my experience, what I've read and advice I've recieved, say to inoculate logs from trees after their leaves have fallen (dormant).

The folks I know who use greenhouses are after "fruiting" in the winter.

Sawdust spawn is what most folks I know, or know of, prefer. It's cheaper, more flexible and gives a quicker spawn run.

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

Thanks, POD.
I moved logs in and then back out of greenhouse today, days still to hot on them from what I read on inside log setup. Thank goodness it was only 15 logs for now

 

About inoculating in February & about using greenhouses with Shiitake...

I wasn't sure about zone 4 inoculating. February was just an example, it is when I do it here in zone 8. I emailed back and forth with the folks at Mushroompeople. They pointed me to this, from their instruction page:

INOCULATING DURING OR BEFORE FREEZING WEATHER
Keep your inoculated logs indoors {note: that could be a greenhouse - pod} wrapped in plastic or in a plastic bag for one or two months before setting them outdoors. Otherwise, freezing at this stage will set the spawn back and it will take months longer to fruit {Note: but not kill them - pod} Another possibility is to make a rough cold frame outdoors using strawbales, with straw for ground insulation and then cover the logs with plastic and a layer of straw and plastic. With plastic alone you have to watch out for overheating from the greenhouse effect. Of course, a well-managed greenhouse is ideal for growing mushrooms. Mushroompeople sells a drawing of a small, solar-heated, straw-insulated greenhouse you could make to grow vegetables and mushrooms.

Check out their instruction page: http://mushroompeople.chainreaction..._id=4&osCsid=ddc14c57da6c3bd97d0e7f3f3621f1b2

And here's that chart about nutritional value of Shiitake. I was trying to attach it as a .BMP file instead of a .JPEG... Hint as a .bmp the size is 1MB, as a .BMP size is 68KB.... easier to load & attach.

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

Pod

Super, that sounds good. I think we can rearange somewhat, maybe we will build a separate hoop frame a 10x10 or so for the logs and use straw,ect as outlined, Thats the good thing about having the hoop bending tool.
Thanks POD

 

Sounds good. Your right the saw dust is cheaper. You use a injector for dust or just pack it in holes. Heres anther interesting link. Their prices are higher but more info on plug/log shi-takei.
http://www.oystercreekmushroom.com/order.html

 

I use an injector.

http://mushroompeople.chainreaction...d=162&osCsid=250ac46337df804379efa0ed48fe3445

Their prices are high. WOW, $10 for 1/4 LB for whole caps. I package my herbs about the same way they have their mushrooms.

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

I get everything from MushroomPeople. I first was interested in them because they're located closest to me. Then I went to a "Shiitake Producers of Alabama" meeting. It was great, it's the type event anyone interested should attend. There was everything from very technical info to a great meal to actually having a chance to inoculate logs with expert guidence. Anyway, I listened to all the suppliers being talked about (but none were there), and then asked about MushroomPeople. The typical answer was, "I guess they're OK, if you don't mind dealing with a bunch of hippies". Well, turns out I don't mind at all. They have treated me 100% perfect and I've gotten to know some of the good folks at TheFarm: http://www.thefarm.org/

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

I get everything from MushroomPeople. I first was interested in them because they're located closest to me. Then I went to a "Shiitake Producers of Alamaba" meeting. It was great, it's the type event anyone interested should attend.

Thanks POD
I'm headed that way now.

 

You're headed to MushroomPeople, Alabama, or an event where you'll learn more? You don't have to work real hard to confuss the old guy....

If it's an event, tell us about it.

And you're very welcome to what ever little help I may be.

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

POD sorry for delay in answer

No not an event, I went to their web site and ordered saw dust spawn.

 

No problem. I'm real busy working up to the upcoming election.

Did you check http://www.thefarm.org/

Peace,
poor_old_dad