Mushrooms aplenty

I was pretty excited in July when my shiitake mushrooms first started fruiting.  I inoculated several white oak logs (they hold their bark longer than other types) in August of 2008 with shiitake spores.  It took a full year of my ignoring the logs before they started fruiting so, after all that hard work, I was thrilled to see the logs sprouting some of my favorite fungi.  I was satisfied.

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Just last week, as I was…um…doing nothing, I happened to walk around behind the shed where I keep the shiitake logs.  I didn’t expect much…afterall, I had a great harvest in July…and I was satisfied.  To my amazement, my friends, the old white oak logs and the shiitake mycelia had joined to give me a wonderful Fall gift!

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I know it is not ideal to eat shiitake mushrooms when they are as big as my head, but I had so many huge mushrooms that I couldn’t even see my logs (which are 4 feet long and 6 inches in diameter)(ok…so maybe I am exaggerating…there weren’t that many mushrooms, but you get my point)!  I began to harvest the beauties and they felt excellent to the touch….like a soft, tender cut of meat I guess (ok…so I know that’s weird but it’s hard to describe).

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Anyhow, I did some talking to a friend and she said that mushrooms often delight  their collectors when the weather changes, particularly when there is a lot of rain to go with it.  That’s precisely what happened this Fall.  They are so easy to grow and so wonderful to eat!  My mushrooms…they always delight me!

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So, do you like mushrooms?  Do you grow mushrooms?  Do you ever feel like a mushroom?

12 thoughts on “Mushrooms aplenty

  1. Heyyyyyy…. Them are some good lookin’ mushrooms, boy!! I’m still interested in the morels… finding them, growing them…. I think I’m going to do some research this winter….

  2. I would love to grow mushrooms. Someday I’ll get into it, I just have so many other thigns going on right now. I do collect morels in the spring when they grow, but that’s the extent of my mushroom growing.
    .-= Chiot’s Run´s last blog ..Homemade Ketchup =-.

  3. AmyZ, Chiot’s Run – it’s easy to grow these if you have a dark damp place…

    Lacy – Welcome back!

    CeeCee – I can’t remember now…there are lots of online places that are good though I think

    Kim – my mushroom times seem to be increasing…in the dark and fed…well, you know…

    YD – get mycelia from a good place and there is no danger…

    Kim – we’ll use some but we’ll dehydrate most of them…

    Capri Kel – At least you have hair!

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