A Tale of Ozark Shiitake Growing

Calling one of many commercial suppliers resulted in a wide range strain of spawn shipped to my door. After thinning out a variety of oaks trees, I had a few dozen gently collected fresh logs, about 3-4 feet long. The suggested optimal log harvest time for sugar and water content is mid-to-late winter.

After drilling a cross-hatch pattern of 1/2 inch holes in the logs, a spawn laced plug was placed in each hole and sealed with a paint-brush stroke of not-to-hot liquid wax. Soon a white patch with blackened edges will appear under the wax. Hmmm... Is this fungi? After a nice growing season with a little water and rain, the Shiitake come bursting out of the wax. Time now for the one-of-a-kind luxury of popping small tender crumbly pinhead primordia straight from log to mouth. I know where this mushroom has been.

(Editor’s note: cooking mushrooms thoroughly prior to consumption is generally advised, but this is a tiny taste indeed.)

Commercial mushroom cultivation in the Ozarks uses oak sawdust, water, and rabbit food (yep), placed in tubular plastic with rubber bands holding each end of the foot long “log”. After being cooked, a pencil shaped dowel injected with Shiitake spores is poked in one end. The logs are placed in a warm dry room and grow quickly. The stiff brown skinned logs are next placed in the rain room, minus plastic. Fresh cool humid air is pumped in with five minutes of sprinkler rain every few hours, resulting in commercial grade Shiitake.

Commercial Shiitake often have uniformly smooth brown caps. The home grower may have a variety of beautiful strains and environments. Shaggier caps or cracked caps from colder drier environments are more highly valued and UV exposure increases vitamin D content.

If placing your logs outside, give some thought to the ground the log resides upon. The log can wick up moisture from the ground along with whatever chemical substances that are in the ground. For instance the shady side of your house under the drip edge of the roof is an easy and convenient location, but consider the variety and strong doses of long-lasting termite and insecticides that may lurk underneath the surface. Think about an “organic” growing site.

Author- Unknown Hillbilly (by request)