Small scale commercial cultivation
( see information sections on indoor or
outdoor for actual cultivation requirements)
Outdoor
If you are a farmer with some bush on your land, or a bush lot
owner, you may want to consider getting into some small scale Shiitake
cultivation. Up to five thousand logs can be managed on a part time basis
and can provide a welcome addition to your income. Ideally you will have your
own logs, if not they can be contracted from local loggers. Your hardwood or
softwood bush will be a good environment for the inoculated logs. Access to water is necessary if you
want to "force" the logs otherwise you will get a natural
"flush" in the spring and fall, or if there is extended rainfall you
will get a "flush".
The latter method will put the least demands on your time but you will have to
be "on top" of these flushes or you will lose the mushrooms.
As a bush lot owner you can apply to have your lot changed
over to "farm classification" and therefore benefit from the farm tax
rebate program (Ontario). You will have to show a serious effort however not just a
few logs or the tax inspector will not grant you farm status.
Indoor (see indoor cultivation information)
Small scale indoor cultivation could be suitable for a farmer who can convert
an existing building to a "grow room". You could limit your
cultivation period to the winter when your other farm activities are less
demanding and the demand and price for shiitake as at its peak. Our long
incubation period shiitake blocks can produce mushrooms for up to six months,
the main production coming in the first 3-4 months. They also like a temperature
of around 15C which will be easy to maintain in the winter and at this
temperature they produce very high quality mushrooms.
If you decide to try your hand at cultivation you need to purchase blocks
either ready to fruit, or shortly after inoculation, about a month into the
spawn run. You should get a long incubation period mushroom strain for the
following schedule to work. Blocks can be contracted, ready to grow, from either
a large block supplier, or from a local grower who makes blocks, providing he
has the capacity to produce and incubate extra blocks beyond his own
needs. If the blocks are delivered to you say October, you will have
finished with them in March, just in time for the regular farm work to start
outdoors. A ready to fruit block will be more expensive than one that has just
been inoculated. If your block manufacturer does not have to incubate the block
he should be able to sell it for a cheaper price. Since you have a grow room for
fruiting, this area can become a spawn run (incubation) area without modifications. You can take delivery of the blocks say one month after they have
been sterilized and inoculated, in August. At this point the mycelium will have
taken over all or most of the block and any that are contaminated will be
obvious. They can be placed in the grow room and kept for 3 months at 23C and
will be ready in October for fruiting.
For More Information Contact:
Mycosource Inc.
R.R. 1, Goodwood ON, Canada L0C 1A0
Tel: 416-402-9755
FAX: 416-963-5520
Internet: office@mycosource.com
