Mushroom Growing at Foster Farm

On this warm spring day, Billy and Paulette are out doing farm chores. I've posted this story from Billy on his behalf.

Of the 100 acres our farm covers, 80 acres are wooded. Aside from the firewood that we cut each winter to heat our home, the land does not generate any income for us. Sure, I could cut firewood to sell or we could have a logging company come in and harvest, but neither of those options really appeals to us.

We love exploring our woods, enjoying nature and savoring the quiet time it provides. It’s important to us that these woods be a sanctuary for nature and wildlife away from the plowing, haying, mowing and grazing of the farm. Having said that, the town still expects us to pay taxes on these 80 acres of forest.

So I was intrigued when I read an article about farmers using oak logs harvested from their woods to grow shiitake mushrooms. It sounded like it could be a good match to our farm as we were already harvesting firewood in the winter off-season. Also, most of the “mushrooming” work happens before the frenzy of spring farm work arrives. Knowing the overhead was minimal and just few hand tools were needed to inoculate the logs, we decided to give it a try.

How We Inoculated 75 Oak and Beech Logs with Shiitake Mushroom Spore

In spring 2016 (yes, that's spring), Tank and Arnie dragged some logs out.
The logs were then cut into “mushroom logs” which are about 3 ½ feet long.

We used a high-speed grinder with a special drill bit to bore holes along the log which were then filled with the mushroom spore. Here are the inoculated logs waiting to be taken back to the woods.

Once inoculated, the logs need to remain fairly moist so the mushroom spore can colonize the log. This helps maximize production, as well as occupying any niches that could be populated by wild mushrooms. The logs are stacked on “bunk” logs close to the ground in a shaded location for at least six months before any mushrooms will fruit.

It worked! Here’s our first (and only it turned out) mushroom from last fall. Typically, if inoculated in the spring a log will begin fruiting in the fall. Because of the drought we had last summer, we only had this single perfect shitake fruit for us.

So the good news is that this spring has yielded some very nice mushrooms and the logs look like they survived the drought very well. We are picking about a pound a day right now and we expect this to increase a bit as things warm up.

Sharing Shitakes

We will take orders for shitakes through the spring, or as long as the logs continue to fruit. To give folks an incentive to try something new, we have adjusted the price to a bargain $8.00/lbs. 

This price will rise over time to match the market, but we as are starting this new venture, we want to share these “wood fruits” with as many people as possible. 

Email us at fosterfarmpolandme@gmail.com if you’d like to order some. 

A Simple Way to Enjoy Shitakes

Combine butter and garlic in saute pan. Heat until butter is melted and garlic starts to sizzle, about 30 seconds. Do not let garlic brown.

Add sliced mushrooms and saute 3 to 4 minutes, turning until lightly browned. Season to taste with salt and pepper, sprinkle with parsley and serve.