1. Growing Shitake Mushrooms
Mushrooms are now becoming more popular as they can be a good substitute for meat for vegetarians.
Mushrooms, like shitake mushrooms, can be sautéed, grilled, fried and made into stew or soup.
Whichever way you cook them, they always taste good. Although most people like mushrooms, only a
few can really afford to buy them every day. So mushroom lovers who cannot easily afford to buy
mushrooms from the market resort to growing their own mushrooms. Shitake mushrooms are laborious
to grow but their colony could supply you with fresh delicious mushrooms for five to six months.
Here are some steps to grow your own < a href="http://growyourownmushrooms.net">shitake
mushrooms.</a>
Step 1. Find suitable logs where your shitake mushrooms can grow
Shitake mushrooms grow on logs and they feed on the nutrients that they can get from the wood. If you
are planning to raise this kind of mushrooms, you need to have plenty of logs where you can set up the
spawns. To keep your shitake mushrooms healthy and to keep their mycelium alive to supply you with
more mushrooms, you need to use hardwood. Oak, chestnut, beech, gum, alder and sugar maple woods
are ideal for mushroom growing. Choose logs that are four-feet long and six to eight inches in diameter
so that they would be able to provide food and nutrients to your mushroom for a long time. Poplar
could also be used but it might not last long because its wood is softer than the other trees previously
mentioned. The wood must be healthy and the bark should be intact. The logs must be inoculated with
the spawns while they are still wet, when they still contain lots of nutrients to feed the spawns. Dried
wood is not ideal for your shitake mushrooms.
Step 2: Buy your shitake mushroom kit
Once you have the logs already, it’s time for you to buy your spawn. For shitake mushrooms, the spawn
is on dowels or pieces of wood. You have to place this dowels on the wood that you have prepared for
growing your mushroom.
Step 3. Inoculate the logs with shitake mushroom spawn
Drill holes on the logs that you have prepared for your mushroom. The holes must be made around the
logs and at closer intervals and they must be shaped like the dowels so that the dowels would fit
perfectly on the holes. Push the dowels deep into the hole so that they won’t protrude and go dry easily.
Then, wipe sawdust from the log before sealing the holes with wax. You can use paraffin mixed with
petroleum jelly or you can also use cheese wax. Melt the mixture by heating but let it cool a little before
applying it to the hole.
Step 4. Setting up the logs inoculated with shitake mushroom spawns
Now, you have to find a good place for your inoculated logs. You can place them in a shady area where
they are away from direct sunlight and where you can easily soak them in water. The best place is near

2. your house where it would be impossible to overlook them. A few months after, you must expect your
first harvest of shitake mushrooms.