Shiitakes and Soup

Maybe it’s just the mushrooms talking, but that’s a lot of mushrooms! 

I harvested nearly a pound of shiitakes from one of my logs last week.  There was a little bit of slug damage, but they were remarkably bug-free.  Because the weather has been so dry lately, I had to trick my logs into thinking it was the rainy season by giving them a 24-hour soak in the kiddie pool (after the kids were done using it, of course).  Only one of the logs fell for the ruse with any enthusiasm.  Meanwhile, one of the other logs seems to have developed some kind of green mold on one side.  Which isn’t a good thing unless I’m planning on growing my own penicillin.  Apparently there’s a fine line between fungus and mold, and I’ll keep you posted on where exactly that line is.

Isn’t it weird how mushrooms grow out of logs like that?  They just grow right out of the logs!!

As I was slicing the shiitakes from the log, I accidentally dropped one of them into a pile of rotting leaves.  I quickly picked it up, fretting and wiping it off like an overprotective parent, until I realized my ridiculousness.  Protecting my precious fungal outgrowth, the fruit of boreal decomposition, from a little dirt and detritus?  There were slugs crawling all over it a minute ago!  It’ll be okay.

Speaking of slugs, I’ve never considered myself to be particularly fleet of foot, but I always fancied myself faster than a slug.  Apparently not.  I had to break up a mid-morning, slow-motion feeding frenzy by nudging a group of them off the logs with a stick and slingshotting them across the yard.  They may not be particularly fast, but they’re very determined.  As a secondary line of defense, I tried sprinkling a ring of salt around the log on the paver it was resting on.  That seemed to solve the problem, but maybe there's a more humane way to deal with slugs?

Anyway, these shiitakes went into a nice mushroom barley soup over the weekend. I chopped shallots, carrots, and garlic from Waltham Fields (as well as some limp celery I found) and sautéed them in a few tablespoons of Cabot butter until soft.  Then I added a bit more butter and my sliced shiitake caps, and cooked for five more minutes.  In went 6 cups of beef stock made from bones from Chestnut Farms last winter along with a few extra cups of water (but you could easily substitute vegetable broth and/or the tea left over from soaking dried mushrooms).  When it all came to a boil, I added ½ cup barley from Moraine Farm and let it simmer for about an hour.  I finished it off with a couple of tablespoons of cognac and a tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme.  Not exactly summer food, but think about it for the fall!

Comments

[Yet Another Pam]

Wow! Those shiitake are beautiful!

Try putting out a pan of beer for the slugs. They die happy.

[Earle @ oregano essential oil blog]

You want to get rid of slugs or maybe just control them? Who you got to call the "slug busters". Just joking, seriously try feeding your slug with BEER they go crazy on the stuff. Use something deep enough to drown them but shallow enough for them to crawl into. Fill with your amber ale and leave overnight. In the morning discard contents, warning do not share with beer drinking buddies.

[cookiecrumb]

So COOL.

[Susan]

Very impressive. Barley Mushroom soup -- one of my favorites, with a bit of dill added, though I can't even think about such a thing until at least early October.
Slugs and humane - can't think of those things in the same breath - Sorry

[karen]

I thought I read once about putting copper around the bottom of your plant (log) Something about the copper that mildly zaps them or something (like putting 9 volt to your tongue) I'll have to see if I can find it and post it for you. ..or maybe it's all in my head.

[karen]

Copper! humane! yay!

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/neweng/msg0500473819106.html

product:
http://www.amazon.com/Slug-Snail-Copper-Tape-15/dp/B000QD3BPW

[andrea]

Umm...soaking after the kids were done using the pool? If we had a kiddie pool, I'm guessing it would have some extra nutrients in it! :)

[Becky]

Beer only attracts more slugs. Sluggo is an organic slug deterant that comes in pellet form, and isn't harmful to people or pets. I got mine for 6 bucks on Amazon, and I'm happy so far.

[Jeremy]

Is there a reason they need to rest on the ground where slugs and others can get to them? Why not screw a hook into the top and hang them from trees? No slugs, no ants, no creepy crawlies, etc. You could even put a line between two trees and have a series of logs hanging off that line, right? (I don't know - grew mushrooms in a closet years ago but haven't tried again since.)

[Tammy]

Jeremy: Interesting! I never thought of that, though I worry that dangling 30 lb. logs might pose a safety hazard, mostly to myself. So, what kind of mushrooms were you growing in a closet?!

Becky: Thanks for the tip! I did worry about word of a potential slug bender getting around!

Andrea: Ha! I wouldn't have risked it last year, but I can't even get these kids to pee in the ocean now.

Karen: I'm going to have to try this. Copper tape--I had no idea. Thanks for the links!

Susan: Don't blame you. We were only eating soup because of some stomach virus going around!

CC: Thanks, Cookie!

Earle: I don't know, maybe slugs are to beer as worms are to tequila. Only one way to find out.

Pam: That's certainly a better death than a salt-induced death. I felt really bad when I saw the aftermath.

[Jeremy]

Yeah, that was probably a poor way to phrase it. They were shitake and my wife reminds me that the block of sawdust, glue and spores lived in the closet only part-time. The rest of the time it lived either on the dining room table or fireplace mantle. I leave you to imagine some of the fun party conversations that came from it.

If you really wanted to optimize space you could have logs hanging at two or more levels. Hang them at different distances from the top rope. To keep yourself safe, you could also tie them to a bottom rope so they stay relatively stationary in the wind (rather than acting like 20 lb. swings) but can still be easily removed for impregnating, harvesting, etc.

[Jeena]

I can't believe you're 'making' your own damn mushrooms. It's like freaking magic!

[rahulseo]

Shroom spores
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