Shiitake happens: Bread Riot members learn to grow their own mushrooms

Christine Wilson looks at a log that is ‘fruiting,’ or sprouting mushrooms. Photo by Katie Scarvey, Salisbury Post

John Garner of SandyCreek Farm in Tyro drills holes in a pine log. The holes will then be injected with mushroom spawn from North Carolina A&T University. Photo by Katie Scarvey, Salisbury Post

Jack Thomson watches while Brenda Garner and John Garner break up a block of mushroom spawn. Photo by Katie Scarvey, Salisbury Post.

Logs that have already been inoculated are given tags to identify which strain of shiitake was used. Photos by Katie Scarvey, Salisbury Post

A T-shirt for mushroom growers.

Shiitake mushrooms sprout from a log that has been colonized with mushroom spores. Photo by Katie Scarvey, Salisbury Post

By Katie Scarvey

kscarvey@salisburypost.com

A few weeks ago, Jack Thomson and Christine Wilson, members of Salisbury's Bread Riot group, attended a workshop at SandyCreek Farm in Tyro to learn from John and Brenda Garner how to inoculate a log.

Why?

Because that's how shiitake happens.

Inoculating a log might sound like a practice to protect it from disease, but the term actually refers to systematically inserting mushroom spawn into the log in order to colonize it.

Before the workshop started, John and Brenda took Jack and Christine on a tour of their log forest, home to logs that have already been inoculated with mushroom spores. Eventually, the logs will fruit and produce many valuable shiitake mushrooms.

Since they began growing mushrooms in 2006, the Garners have inoculated about 900 logs, Brenda says.

Some of the already inoculated logs are arranged in a tee-pee like pattern in a wooded area on the farm. Others are stacked like Lincoln logs. They require little care, although the Garners do water them if the weather is dry. As one might expect, mushrooms like moisture.

John points out that east of Raleigh, mushroom growing must be done indoors because outdoor conditions are too hot.

After the tour, it's time for the workshop to begin.

John demonstrates how to drill holes in a log with a grinder that he's converted into a high-speed drill.

Within a minute or two, Christine has taken to it and works quickly, getting into a definite rhythm.

"She's taking out her aggressions," Jack says.

"Yeah, she handled that just fine," John says.

After numerous holes are drilled, it's time to inoculate the log. John brings out a large plastic bag full of mushroom spawn, or spores. Jack points out that it does not look particularly appetizing.

It's a solid block of material, containing sawdust, that must be broken apart before it's used.

Then, participants take a tool — a brass tube — which is poked into the spores. The cylinder is then inserted into one of the holes in the log.

After each hole has been plugged with mushroom spores, the top of the plug is painted with food-grade cheese wax, to seal the spores inside the log, which helps prevent them from drying out and prevents contamination.

The ends of the logs are also sealed.

And that's it.

Now, all that's required is keeping the log in the shade, or possibly even a basement.

And time. Lots of time.

At the end of the workshop, Jack and Christine each take home a log of their own.

"I had a great time," Christine says, adding that the workshop — which included an inoculated log — was well worth the $35 fee.

"I especially liked that it was very hands-on and that we could participate in every step of the process."

Christine says that she's looking forward to growing her own mushrooms, with very little maintenance.

It will probably take six months to a year, or even longer, for her log to start "fruiting," or sprouting mushrooms.

When Jack and Christine have their first mushrooms, Brenda said, they'll be amazed.

"Until you've had one really fresh, you have no clue. It's 100 times better than what you'd get in a store."

But that's only the beginning.

The log will continue to "fruit," up to three or four times a year, until the log has decomposed to the point where it is no longer a viable host for a mushroom colony.

A log can last three to six years, Brenda says.

John and Brenda began growing mushrooms in 2006. When they acquired the farm from Brenda's family, they knew they wanted to do something with the 15 1/2 acres, which is covered with pine trees.

A county extension agent came out and give them some advice. That's when they learned that growing mushrooms would be a good use of the small hardwood trees on their property.

They developed a relationship with North Carolina A&T University, which provides them with their mushroom spawn as part of a research program.

John and Brenda assist in research by reporting on how the different strains of mushrooms grow.

Each log receives a tag that identifies which strain it has been inoculated with.

Although they do sell some logs through workshop events, John and Brenda mainly sell the fruit of the logs — the mushrooms themselves. Restaurants in Winston-Salem, High Point and Lexington buy their mushrooms, and they also sell through buying cooperatives and at the Lexington Farmer's Market from May through October.

They grow some other things as well at SandyCreek Farm, like scuppernong and muscadine grapes, as well as heirloom pears and figs. They sell those fresh and also use them to make jellies and preserves. They have a small store where they sell their wares, including T-shirts that say, "Shiitake happens."

They have recently added a small greenhouse where they are growing things like old-fashioned johnny jump- ups, woodland ferns and some tropical plants.

The mushroom inoculation workshops are over for the season, but if you'd like more information, call SandyCreek Farm at 336-853-8834.

The farm's address is 3160 South NC Hwy 150, Lexington, NC 27295.

The farm has been in operation for a while, but has never had an official opening, so John and Brenda are hosting a grand opening from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday, April 25. The mission of the Bread Riot group is to cultivate a thriving local economy by facilitating a supply of locally produced food, utilizing sustainable farming practices and focusing on whole-life issues, education and environmental concern.

For more information about the Bread Riot, go to www.breadriot.org.