Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to work with a couple of our Grow Appalachia market growers.  Pasha and Loren have a beautiful garden tucked into a mountain property, and they’ve become mainstays at a couple of local farmers’ markets.  Their customers know them best for their unusual peppers, a variety of tomatoes and squash and eggs from their spoiled hens.  This winter, they became interested in shiitake production.

The odds seemed stacked against them, with the unusual weather.  I had planned an Extension shiitake workshop for early March, but then time became an issue.  Their own available time was sparse as well, but one afternoon, Pasha found himself with a couple of spare hours.  He dropped some white oak trees that needed thinning, and Loren ordered the plug spawn.

A few years ago, I ordered a “shiitake drill” (just a modified angle grinder).  When I learned how many logs Loren and Pasha were shooting for, I offered to come out and help, in order for the process to go a little faster.  A couple of hours and we were finished:  three tree species, two strains of spawn.  Now, they just wait.