As I mentioned in an earlier post, last week a big bunch of oak limbs not literally fell into my lap that were perfect for shiitake logs. When the certified shiitake spore plugs came out in February I had bought a bag of 500 in anticipation of a forthcoming supply of oak logs, but that had been cancelled due to sale of the land the trees were on, so the plugs had been just sitting in my toolshed in a state of fungal lust, and were clearly eager to consummate their oaken orgy. Fungal shouts of joy are of course beyond the range of human hearing, but these spore were definitely ready to get it on: I could sense a sort of silken vibration when I opened the bag in the presence of willing oak, cut only a week ago. There was a hint of wild passion in the air, though that could just be Spring. As I was drilling and inoculating the logs in my role as fungal matchmaker, I kept thinking that although this was clearly Be Kind to Fungi Week, it was also Be Kind to Monkeys Week, since the monkeys are very likely to get most of the resulting shiitake, and are even now no doubt marking the event on their festive calendar; still, there is magic about freshly harvested shiitake mushrooms that makes it all worth while even if I only get only 10 or 20 percent (more if I harvest while the mushrooms are still small).
As I was going through the inoculation steps, I took some photos of the spore plugs 
and an oak log with the plugs about to be hammered in (ca. 6 inch diamond pattern), in case any of you kind folks would like to be nice to fungi in return for pure and clean and healthy deliciousness. If you can get spore plugs (or with only spore, make your own plugs). In any case, shiitake are superfood. Ask any monkey. For any further details or info, email me.
