Shiitake!

Susan and Lloyd Lee have been working hard to cultivate mushrooms and one day, after months and months of waiting, the logs erupted with shiitake!  Yum!

Weighing some of the shiitake Susan harvested.

The shiitake are growing on oak logs harvested from the farm and  left to rest before drilling holes to place the spore.

The oak logs must be freshly cut during their dormant period to assure a fully hydrated log and to prevent the natural infection of fungi other than the implanted shiittake spores.

Growing mushrooms as naturally as possible means they decide when to "flush" or burst forth.  Without controlling their environment we cannot control the precise time they will bear a crop.  Commercial growers use climate-controlled buildings.  We use a shady place in the yard.

Shade and moisture in the form of high humidity and rain help shiitake grow.  They also prefer cooler weather so  we look forward to having more soon.  They were delicious and we're eager for more!