How to Grow Shitaake Mushrooms

Growing your own food can be an immensely awarding experience and if your locally grown food would otherwise cost an arm and a leg, even better. Shitake mushrooms, for example, can easily cost $10 a pound but can actually be grown in your backyard. To that end, growing shitake mushrooms can be both an educational and tasty experience.

Things You'll Need

• Mushroom spores
• Hardwood logs
• Electric drill
• Wax seal

Instructions

1. Determine the growing season for shitakes in your area. The spores should be planted right around the time of the last spring frost. In the meantime, procure some shitake spores, which can come in the form of plugs, from a local, reputable dealer.

2. Obtain logs of hard word, about 3-8 inches in diameter, and no more thabn four feet long. Oak, poplar, sweet gum and some maples are a good choice. Rather than cutting down healthy trees, consider asking around to see if any local trees have already been cut down. No more than three weeks should pass between the time they were cut, and the time they`re planted. By that point, natural rot will have set in.

3. Drill small holes, about 5/16th-5/8ths of an inch wide, and an inch or two deep, along the logs, every six inches or so, stopping a few inches from either end, Rotate the log about two inches to one side, and repeat. Continue this process all the way around the cirumference of the log.

4. Fill those holes with the plugs of mushroom spores. Alternatively, mix the loose spores with sawdust and use the mixture to plug each hole. Then seal the hole with wax: brush over each hole with a paint brush that has been dipped in pre-melted wax.

5. Stack the logs in a shady area that also allows for good air flow on top of each other as you would Lincoln Logs, leaning vertically against each other or a stable surface.

6. Wait six months to a year for the spores to mature. At the same time, make sure to keep the logs moist, but not too moist. Water them in the drier months, but cover them with a tarp during rain.

7. Harvest in the spring and fall. Although production varies, each foot of log should produce about a pound of mushrooms.