GROWING GOURMET - Anto2ni.it

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NATURAL CULTURE: CREATING MYCOLOGICAL LANDSCAPES
saprophytize with the gourmet and medicinal
mushroom species described in this book than
the softwood pines. And within the hardwood
group, the rapidly growing species such as the
alders and popiars decompose more rapidly—
and hence give an earlier crop—than the denser
hardwoods such as the oaks, etc. However, the
denser and more massive stumps sustain colonies
of mushrooms for many more years than
the quick-to-rot, smaller diameter tree species.
In a Colonial graveyard in New York state, a
four foot diameter oak has consistently produced
clusters of Maitake mushrooms,
sometimes weighing up to 100 lbs. apiece, for
more than 20 years!
Stump cultivation has tremendous potential.This
unexploited resource—stumpage—
can become production sites of gourmet and
medicinal mushrooms. Although more studies
are needed to ascertain the proper matching
of species to the wood types, I encourage you
to experiment. Only a few minutes are required
to a inoculate a stump or dead tree. The potential
rewards could span a lifetime.
Log Culture
Log culture was developed in Japan and
China more than a millennium ago. Even today,
thousands of small-scale Shiitake growers in
Asia use log culture to provide the majority of
mushrooms sold to markets. In their backyards
and along hillsides, inoculated logs are stacked
like cordwood or in fence-like rows. These
growers supply local markets, generating a secondary
income for their families. Attempts to
reproduce this model of Shiitake cultivation in
North America and Europe has met with modest
success.
The advantage of log culture is that it is a
simple and natural method. The disadvantage
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