The Bottom Line for Shiitake Mushrooms. Shiitake mushrooms have been grown in the U.S. only since the early 1980s ... and mushroom inoculation classes, download the latest fact sheets and publi-cations, watch video demonstrations of inoculation techniques, register your farm in your mushroom grower directory and much more. Restack and check again in six weeks. ... Inoculation. Working with a number of partners, Mudge first held a shiitake inoculation workshop in 2009. Shiitake mushroom spawn can be ordered from a specialty mushroom farm online or through the mail (see below for sources). These suppliers may also sell a sawdust spawn inoculation tool that can help to measure and insert a more precise amount of spawn. Following are some relatively well-known vendors: •Everything Mushrooms – everythingmushrooms. Different strains are better suited for different environmental conditions. Once the logs start producing the shiitake mushrooms, they will keep doing so for several years. The video of John Boyle is intended to allow you to look in on an expert conducting a shiitake mushroom workshop to a group of beginners, but the video only covers the inoculation stage of a 3 stage process that includes inoculation, spawn run, and fruiting. Enjoy Your Mushrooms. 3oz Shiitake Wax -> Shiitake dowels are 5/16" diameter Easy Inoculation Instructions First fruiting 6-15 months based on wood type, Fast Running Shiitake Mycelium You will receive 100+ mushroom mycelium infused plug spawn and detailed instruction pamphlet Mushroom spawn may be purchased either in the form of dowel plugs or sawdust blocks or paste and should be ordered about a month before inoculation of logs. Plugs and sawdust are the most common inoculation techniques. In order to produce shiitake mushrooms, 1 metre (3-foot) hardwood logs with a diameter ranging between 10–15 cm (4–6 in) are inoculated with the mycelium of the shiitake fungus. It usually takes between 8 and 16 months following inoculation for the shiitake mushrooms to produce. Once you have inoculated the spawn into the logs, there is no need to repeat the process; the shiitake mycelium—the actual organism—will continue to grow un-til there is nothing left for it to feed on. Shiitake is “planted” into the newly dead hardwood logs by inoculation. Thus, he believes that forest cultivation of mushrooms not only produces delicious food, but is also one of the most reliably profitable non-timber forest products grown in a forest farming system. Shiitake Mushroom Spawn You will need to purchase sawdust or “plug” spawn from a reliable source (fig 2). Shiitake mushrooms are grown from spawn. Once you have inoculated the spawn into the logs, there is no need to repeat the process; the shiitake mycelium—the actual organism—will continue to grow until there is nothing left for it to feed on. Be-cause it is a type of rot, logs cut from trees that are badly Growing and producing shiitake mushrooms at home is a practice in patience. Shiitake is “planted” into the newly dead hardwood logs by inoculation. Although it was unusually cold and icy, 40 people attended. Using the most appropriate strain for your Because it is a type Should a log fail to fruit in the first place, peel back a bit of bark: If you see a white film, the inoculation was probably successful but needs more time to fruit. This base research fed into a three-year SARE sponsored project Cultivation of shiitake mushrooms as an agroforestry crop for New England where over 250 farmers were educated in the basics of cultivation and forest management. Inoculation procedures . The following estimates assume mushroom cultivation on 100 free logs and don’t factor in labor costs. For plugs, use a 5/16-inch bit to drill holes that are one inch deep, then gently hammer in the plugs. Typically it takes a year or two after inoculating freshly cut white oak logs with shiitake mushroom spawn to see your first flush of mushrooms. This will depend on your specific climate.