Highly fruitful and easy to grow, shiitake mushrooms are almost fool proof. As a "wide range" plug spawn, it has a wider fruiting range, so in both spring and fall, you can expect a bountiful harvest of meaty mushrooms full of savory flavor and nutritional benefits. Shiitake mushrooms are considered an excellent source of Beta glucan, a soluble fiber linked to improving heart health and reducing blood sugar levels, and can be made into a healthful extract. Making an extract is easy. Check out the simple instructions below to learn how.
Shiitake mushrooms are extremely versatile and one of the most widely cultivated mushrooms around the world. Healthy and delicious, they are high in protein and have a strong, earthy flavor, which make them a popular meat substitute as well as a welcome addition to endless recipes.
Plug spawns, dowels colonized by the shiitake mushroom used for outdoor log cultivation, are the easiest and most basic way to inoculate and grow mushrooms on logs, especially if you only want a few logs of any one species. Each pack of 100 plugs inoculates approximately 10 linear feet of fresh hardwood logs, or 3 logs about 3 feet long. After 8-10 months the logs will start fruiting and will fruit several times a year for 4 to 5 years, typically in the spring and fall.
This ecotype is recommended for temperate climates, with optimum fruiting temperatures between 55 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. You'll know it's time to harvest when the mushroom caps begin to flatten.
Grows well outdoors on the following hardwood logs: oak, pecan, walnut, alder, sweet gum, maple, ironwood, hop hornbeam, cherry, sycamore, tulip poplar, eucalyptus, chestnut, ash, birch, bitternut, and willow. Avoid conifers, fruit trees, elm, hackberry, sassafras, soft maples (red and striped), dogwood, black locust, beech, and hickory.
Some mushrooms can be poisonous, so it's always important to know your mushrooms. An easy way to identify any mushroom is by creating a spore print, so we have provided instructions below.
*Full instructions are included*
*This fruiting kit ships in a 16" x 4" x 4" box. The item requires a plug kit, which is not included. Just follow this link Log Plugging Kit to purchase separately.
These mushrooms are Certified Organic, GLOBAL G.A.P, USDA Organic, Certified South Carolina, and Certified Appalachian Grown™ products.
| Genus | Lentinula |
| Species | edodes |
| Item Form | Plants |
| Fruit Color | Brown |
| Additional Characteristics | Easy Care Plants, Edible |
| Harvest Season | Early Fall, Mid Fall, Late Fall, Early Spring, Late Spring, Mid Spring |
| Light Requirements | Shade |
| Moisture Requirements | Moist, well-drained |
| Uses | Cuisine |
| Restrictions | *Due to state restrictions we cannot ship to the following: Canada, Guam, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Hawaii, Alaska |
Spore prints are used for three main purposes: mushroom cultivation, mushroom identification (as different mushrooms have different colored spores), and, of course, art.
Making spore prints is not only an easy, fun way to get to know mushrooms but also a very cheap way to cultivate more mushrooms at home.
For mushrooms with gills (spores lie on the gill surface) and mushrooms with pores (spores inside the pores underneath the cap), follow these instructions.
If you don't want to separate the cap from the stem, make a hole in an index card, place the card on a paper cup and slide the stem of the mushroom through the hole until the underside of the cap is resting on the card; then proceed as above.
If the mushroom is hard, it is more difficult to obtain spore prints. Some polypores not only take a long time to mature and produce spores but also can often live a long time after they’ve produced and dispersed their spores. Try wrapping them in wet paper towels or newspapers overnight before putting them down on foil, paper or glass to make a spore print. Note that the spore bearing surface always faces down toward the ground as the polypore grows.
To study the spores with a microscope, scrape off some of the spores from your spore print with a needle or scalpel onto a microscope slide. Place a drop of water on the spores and cover with a cover slip.
To preserve your spore print, spray them lightly with an artist spray or hair spray. Hold the spray at least 12 to 15 inches away from the print.
A double extraction will pull out water-soluble beta-glucans and alcohol soluble triterpenes. Beta-glucans are a form of soluble fiber strongly linked to boosting heart health, improving cholesterol, and regulating blood sugar to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. Oyster and shiitake mushrooms are believed to have the most effective beta glucans. Triterpenes compounds have revealed anti-inflammatory, anticancer, anti-tumor, antioxidant, anti-anxiety, immunomodulatory activities, and liver protective effects. Reishi mushrooms are considered the best source of triterpenes.
Ingredients:
• 80 proof or higher alcohol (vodka and brandy are popular choices)
• Organic dried mushrooms
• Purified water
Directions:
1. Fill a quart-sized glass jar halfway with dried mushrooms.
2. Fill jar with alcohol, completely covering the mushrooms, but leaving about a 1/2 inch of space at the top of the jar. Secure lid.
3. Let it sit for a month. Shake daily.
4. After a month, strain mushroom-infused alcohol into another jar and set aside.
5. Next, make a water extract by bringing a half gallon of water to a simmer in a stock pot. Add the mushrooms from the alcohol extract to the simmering water.
6. Simmer the mushrooms for about 2 hours, until the water has reduced to approximately 8 to 16 ounces. Make sure to keep an eye on the water level, as you don’t want it to completely evaporate. You may need to add water to the stock pot throughout the process.
7. Let it cool.
8. Strain and compost the mushrooms using a funnel and cheesecloth, reserving the mushroom-infused water.
9. Combine the water extract with the alcohol extract.
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