This week finds us learning new things at the farm. Every week finds us learning actually, but Colin is specifically learning about mushroom cultivation. He’s been harvesting his first crop of oyster mushrooms, and starting his next batch. The exact kind of oyster mushroom is one that is good for growing in cold weather. He plans to experiment with as many kinds as possible before attempting market production. We were sort of hoping to have some for sale the last few weeks of 2008 farmers market, but even the cold weather strain of mushroom was slowed down by the amount of winter we were having. That and we don’t even understand exactly how they grow, all the factors affecting them, enough to predict harvest windows. But that’s why we have time to play with it before depending on it, before offering it to CSA members or market shoppers. Along with learning to grow them, we are learning to prepare them and eat them. Mushrooms are very satisfying in a meat-y way, the texture is like chewy and soft and really soaks up flavors in the pan, very rich.

Mushrooms are new to us. We were inspired to grow them a few years ago when we heard Paul Stamets, of Fungi Perfecti, give a talk at a conference. He described the mycelial mat, a vast network of underground rootlike stuff that actually sends out little things to see what there is to eat around it, and then communicates that information to the network, which then makes enzymes to digest those food sources it finds. So to the non scientist this seems fantastic, as in magical creatures of fantasy, not exactly plant or animal, but something more mysterious and exotic.

Our first try at mushroom growing was shiitake logs in the woods. We inoculate some logs and set them out and waited for nature to take her course. That was three years ago, right after the conference of mushroom inspiration. From time to time we have gone out to those logs and collected a few shiitakes, but they don’t seem to come in any kind of a big flush, just a few at a time, good for eating but not for sharing or selling. And the slugs like to eat them, so we don’t even know how many we don’t get because of their appetites. What Colin is up to now is more laboratory like, there are plastic rooms with thermostats and everything is sterilized. We have our friend Zachary Burkhead to thank for his support and hand holding in our new mushroom project.
We love to learn new things, especially when some delicious reward awaits us at the end of our endeavors. I’ll be sure to let you know when we can share these rewards with you.