Today, I celebrated Earth Day by participating in the Earth's biogeochemical cycles with a couple of old friends, namely the northern red oak and the shiitake fungus.  A month ago, overcrowded oaks trees were felled to improve the growth of their neighbors. A few days ago, these trees were bucked into 3-foot shiitake bedlogs and hauled out of the woods. Today, I made room in the shiitake laying yard for the new logs by hauling off old spent bedlogs to be recycled into forest soil. Tomorrow, my daughter will help me inoculate the new logs with pure cultures of selected shiitake strains. Next summer, the new logs will yield impressive flushes of delicious edible mushrooms. In 30 years, the old logs will have disappeared into the Earth and turned into new oak trees, and...

Fresh Cut Shiitake LogsNorthern red oak logs felled when dormant to improve growth of trees left & bucked just before inoculation. Spent Shiitake Logs DetailAfter shiitake logs lose their bark, mushroom production stops or is very low.

Spent Shiitake BedlogsThese shiitake logs are being used for erosion control after 8-10 years of producing mushrooms. Robust Flush of ShiitakeBig flat shiitake lkie these are great for grilling.