Gourmet mushrooms are very popular in cooking, especially shiitake mushrooms. 

This mushroom has been cultivated for more than 6000 years in Japan and China because of its taste and medicinal value.

Shiitake mushrooms have a rich texture and smoky flavor. According to reports, they can also fight tumors, cancer, inflammation, lower cholesterol, and add essential vitamins and minerals to our diet.

But instead of buying shiitake mushrooms for as much as $40 per pound, why not grow them yourself?

Shiitake mushrooms are traditionally grown on logs of deciduous trees. Finding mushroom growers in Connecticut to see if you can buy some logs that have been inoculated with fungus plugs or fungus seeds. This is the easiest way.

Maybe they even offer a seminar on how to do this?

Otherwise, now harvest logs three to six inches in diameter and cut them into approximately 40 inches in length. Oak, sugar maple and hornbeam are the best.

Check the source of the mushroom plugs you will put in the logs online and look for strains suitable for our cold climate.

Within three weeks of cutting the log, drill 5/16-inch diameter holes in the log, 1 inch deep, and approximately 6 inches apart. Tap the mushroom plug gently into the hole. Seal them with a thin layer of beeswax to keep the plugs moist and prevent insects from entering.

Stack the logs in a cool place off the ground to avoid soil fungus contamination. Then leave them.

Spring is here, water the logs several times a week, or soak them in the water for eight hours every two weeks to keep them moist. By next autumn, the shiitake mushrooms will sprout.

In the Connecticut Garden Magazine next week, I will talk about leeks. Before that, I will see you in the garden.