Spring shiitake mushrooms

[Grunt]

Good spring rains have brought out some shiitake mushrooms here in the NC mountains. We have about 75 logs producing.

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[Parnell]

Those are beauties.  Yum.

[sailordad]

mmmmmmmmmmm them looks tasty

i love mushrooms 
but i will never pick my own,dont know enough of whats what to be safe
seen some 2 yrs back when i was turkey hunting,i think they were morels,but i left them
like i said,dont know enough about em 

[Pat B]

Grunt, My wife got a good mess a week or so ago from out logs.
  Tim, the shiitaki mushrooms are cultivated by inoculating fresh logs with the spore. After a while the mushrooms will emerge.

[Grunt]

We have been cultivating them for about 15 years. Hardest part is getting the logs cut when the sap is down. 

[Pat B]

We've done 2 sets in the last 15 years but only about 20 logs each time.  The initial set up is quite tedious but the reward is great!

[Pat B]

Hey Grunt. Look what I got yesterday evening. This is the third flush this year. Not many but better than nothing! 

[Hillbilly]

I've got to set me up some shroom logs. I cut some white oak logs a couple years ago, but never got around to ordering the spawn.

[Pat B]

Steve, order and receive your spore before cutting the logs and do this early in the spring before the trees leaf out. If any other fungi has infected the log the Shiitake fungi will not enter the log. Our first batch of logs produced mushrooms for 8 years with a flush in the spring and one in the fall.