OUTDOOR
MUSHROOM
CULTIVATION
Happy Bear specializes in outdoor mushroom cultivation.
That means growing mushrooms directly on "inoculated" logs in shady, wet places within the landscape. This is a very low-maintenance way to grow delicious, nutrient-dense mushrooms and diversify home-scale food production.
These mushrooms are growing on oak logs which were inoculated in Spring '22.
1. Log-grown mushrooms like shiitake are tastier and more nutrient-dense than conventionally grown mushrooms available in supermarkets.
Edible mushrooms like shiitake, oyster and lion's mane are saprophytic fungi, meaning they eat (decompose) wood. When we grow mushrooms directly on logs, the fungi is able to consume exactly what is has evolved to consume. These mushrooms are more nutritious than store-bought mushrooms which are generally grown on sterilized grain substrates.
2. Mushrooms grow in shady portions of the landscape which generally go unused.
Mushroom logs thrive underneath trees (especially conifer trees) where it is damp and too dark to grow other food-producing plants. The logs do a good job of bringing people in to those otherwise unused spaces.
3. Mushroom logs are incredibly low-input, low-maintenance and will produce mushrooms for years.
After inoculating the logs and siting them in a shady area, there isn't much else to do other than play the waiting game. One year after inoculation, the logs will begin to "fruit" mushrooms. From then on out--depending on diameter--logs will consistently fruit for 3-5 years.
There is zero need for plastics, electricity, or other materials.
Why should you grow mushrooms in your landscape?
