Shiitake Logs
Our shiitake logs are sustainably harvested each winter in a process called thinning. It’s an act that is essential to keep our forest healthy. Think of weeding your garden so that the healthier more dominant plants may thrive and grow.
After we collect our logs, we buck them up and inoculate them with shiitake spawn, turning “waste wood” into nutrient dense edible wonders. We let the logs rest, while the shiitake spawn spreads throughout the logs. This incubation period usually lasts 8-12 months and is called spawn run.
These logs, resting in the shade of the forest, will naturally fruit a mushroom or two at a time. This is a hands off approach to management for those who wish to receive sporadic flushes from their logs and keep them healthy and active for many years to come.
In order to control when the Shiitake fruit, we submerge the logs in water for twelve to twenty four hours. This shocks the logs into flushing, which is the reproductive act of mycelium forming fruiting bodies (mushrooms).
This will produce a full harvest of shiitakes! Soaking can be done every 7 weeks until the log goes into dormancy.