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Shiitake Heaven—Cultivating Your Own Gourmet Mushrooms
Plants & Gardens News Volume 20, Number 3 | Fall 2005/Winter 2006
by Scott D. Appell
My first attempt to grow edible mushrooms at home was a disaster! As a young teenager, I purchased a mail-order button mushroom kit from Burpee. The kit consisted of mushroom spawn and compost in a growing box. The instructions said simply to add water and put the box in a cool, dark place. However, because I knew that commercial button mushrooms (Agaricus species) are cultured in horse manure, I decided to collect some dung from the bridle paths of Brooklyn's Prospect Park and toss it into the mix.
Shiitake mushrooms. Photo courtesy www.fungiperfecti.com.
I also decided that the best place to put the mushroom kit was the cedar-lined closet where my father stored his woolen winter business suits. Two months later, in early November, after I'd completely forgotten about the project, a thunderous expletive rocked the apartment. My father had opened the closet and found that his entire winter wardrobe had picked up the unmistakable aroma of equine poop—and there weren't even any mushrooms to show for it.
Needless to say, I've been reluctant to grow mushrooms indoors ever since. That's not to say that you should be. These days, companies like Fungi Perfecti and Green Living Now sell preinoculated kits that allow you to grow everything from common pearl oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) to exotic cinnamon caps (Hypholoma sublateritium) indoors with relative ease.
Me, I like my fungus growing outside of the house. And I've found that an excellent candidate for this is the shiitake mushroom (Lentinula edodes). Humans have a lot of experience growing shiitake: The Japanese and Chinese have been cultivating it outdoors on wooden logs for at least a thousand years.
In its natural habitat, the shiitake grows on dead trees. It's what is known as a saprophytic fungus, exploiting only necrotic tissue (as opposed to a parasitic fungus, which acquires its nutrition from a living host). In cultivation, shiitake is often associated with the "shii" tree (Castanopsis cuspidata), hence the mushroom's common name. But it will grow on many other tree species.
Typically, you need a three-foot-long log, four to ten inches in diameter, cut from an oak, poplar, or other broad-leafed hardwood in early spring prior to bud break, when the sapwood is dense with carbohydrates. Then you inoculate the log with shiitake spawn.
Commercially packaged shiitake spawn consists of short, grooved, wooden dowels or pegs enveloped in living mycelium (a collective term for the hyphae, or vegetative bodies, of the fungus, which produce the fruiting bodies, or mushrooms). Great sources include Fungi Perfecti, Edible Landscaping, and Mushroompeople.
With an electric drill, bore holes in the log for the dowels to fit snugly into. Around 40 holes will suffice, and they should be evenly spaced, five inches apart, in a "diamond" pattern down the length and around the circumference of the log. Hammer the dowels into the holes with a rubber mallet. Then, using a small paintbrush, cap the holes with melted cheese wax—to keep harmful insects at bay and help prevent weather damage. Soak the log in water for a day and place it in a shaded spot in your garden. Shade will help the log retain moisture. During the inoculation period, the log should be sprayed with water for at least three hours per week, depending on the rainfall. In winter, cover the log with a burlap tarp.
Mushrooms may start to appear as quickly as six months, and there will be several crops or "flushes" annually for as long as six years. Harvest the mushrooms using a small, sharp knife, and use them in stir-fries, salads, soups, omelets, quiches, or whatever else takes your fungal fancy.
Scott D. Appell writes, gardens, and teaches horticulture in Vieques, Puerto Rico.