Workshop on growing mushrooms offered
by Scott Nicholson
Local gardeners are discovering a crop that does its best work
in damp, shady conditions.
Watauga Cooperative Extension Service agent Richard Boylan said that even after more than seven years of offering workshops in the area, the extension service still gets requests for more information on shiitake mushrooms.
While many producers grow mushrooms for home use, it's also become a commodity at local farmers' markets, selling for between $10 and $20 a pound.
Because it's a fairly exotic crop with a short shelf life, it's not practical for large scale commercial operations.
"Growing on logs is time consuming and hard labor," Boylan said. "The ideal time to cut logs is during the dormant season."
Shiitake mushrooms are grown on short logs often placed near wooded creeks. Oak is the most popular choice for a growing medium, followed by beech, maple and cherry.
Holes are bored in the logs and mushroom spawn is inoculated into the openings.
From there, it takes about a year for the crops to begin, but the logs will usually produce mushrooms anytime the temperature is above freezing.
Logs are stacked to make for easy harvesting, and the harvest periods are usually tied to rainy or damp periods, although growers can also time out their production by soaking logs.
"You need to inoculate sometime during end of freeze, from March to May, and the spore will need a year to get through the log, and in the second year, you get some mushrooms," Boylan said.
"If you soak the logs for 24 hours, in seven to 10 days you can have them for the market," he said.
In the past, North Carolina State University has distributed free spawn to help encourage new growers.
Now, many people buy their spawn and supplies from online vendors.
The Cooperative Extension Service is hosting an evening workshop on inoculating and cultivating shiitake mushrooms on natural logs in outdoor environments.
The workshop will take place at the Watauga County Cooperative Agricultural Conference Center from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 22. The workshop will consist of presentations of both basic mushroom biology and cultivation techniques, plus a hands-on demonstration of the tools and process for drilling, inoculating and waxing the logs for successful production.
"It's a classroom session with an outdoor demonstration, so people can come away with an idea of tools and strategies needed," he said.
The mushroom workshop is free and open to the public, but an RSVP is requested.
To register, call the extension service at (828) 264-3061.
Watauga Cooperative Extension Service agent Richard Boylan said that even after more than seven years of offering workshops in the area, the extension service still gets requests for more information on shiitake mushrooms.
While many producers grow mushrooms for home use, it's also become a commodity at local farmers' markets, selling for between $10 and $20 a pound.
Because it's a fairly exotic crop with a short shelf life, it's not practical for large scale commercial operations.
"Growing on logs is time consuming and hard labor," Boylan said. "The ideal time to cut logs is during the dormant season."
Shiitake mushrooms are grown on short logs often placed near wooded creeks. Oak is the most popular choice for a growing medium, followed by beech, maple and cherry.
Holes are bored in the logs and mushroom spawn is inoculated into the openings.
From there, it takes about a year for the crops to begin, but the logs will usually produce mushrooms anytime the temperature is above freezing.
Logs are stacked to make for easy harvesting, and the harvest periods are usually tied to rainy or damp periods, although growers can also time out their production by soaking logs.
"You need to inoculate sometime during end of freeze, from March to May, and the spore will need a year to get through the log, and in the second year, you get some mushrooms," Boylan said.
"If you soak the logs for 24 hours, in seven to 10 days you can have them for the market," he said.
In the past, North Carolina State University has distributed free spawn to help encourage new growers.
Now, many people buy their spawn and supplies from online vendors.
The Cooperative Extension Service is hosting an evening workshop on inoculating and cultivating shiitake mushrooms on natural logs in outdoor environments.
The workshop will take place at the Watauga County Cooperative Agricultural Conference Center from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 22. The workshop will consist of presentations of both basic mushroom biology and cultivation techniques, plus a hands-on demonstration of the tools and process for drilling, inoculating and waxing the logs for successful production.
"It's a classroom session with an outdoor demonstration, so people can come away with an idea of tools and strategies needed," he said.
The mushroom workshop is free and open to the public, but an RSVP is requested.
To register, call the extension service at (828) 264-3061.