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From local reports
Joe Reynolds of Love is Love Farm at Gaia Gardens near Decatur has a fun holiday gift for those on your list with a penchant for eating seasonal and local.
Wouldn’t they enjoy growing their own shiitake mushrooms? No farming skills required, the process is almost foolproof.
Step one: Head over to Love is Love Farm’s booth at the East Atlanta Village Farmers Market tonight for the last market of the 2014 season. Purchase a log inoculated with shiitake mushroom spores. Cost? $35.
Step two: Suggest the recipient lean their log on its end in a place where it will be shaded about 60 percent of the day.
“It can go under a canopy of trees or on the side of your house, anywhere it will get more shade than sun throughout the year. But it’s important that it get a little direct sun. The mushroom caps are like blossoms. They grow like flowers towards the sun. But the mycelium themselves prefer as much darkness as they can get,” Reynolds said.
Step three: Tell the recipient to water if Mother Nature doesn’t provide. “Rain will typically keep the logs moist enough, but we may soak our logs two or three times in the hottest part of the summer to keep the mycelium alive during the driest days,” he said.
Step four: Visit the log and watch for mushrooms to appear. “The logs will begin to produce immediately as we only sell logs that were inoculated a year ago. We know they have already begun fruiting,” Reynolds said. Small brown buttons will appear on the log and mushrooms will follow in a few days.
Step five: Help harvest mushrooms. Gently break the mushroom stem off the log and enjoy right away. If you need to store them, put them in a paper bag and refrigerate for up to a week.
With this relatively simple care, the log could produce mushrooms for the next four years. And you’ll be remembered as a fabulous gift-giver for many meals to come.
It was about 10 years ago that Reynolds learned to grown shiitakes from farmer Daniel Parsons, his predecessor at Gaia Gardens. He now keeps about 400 logs at the farm, capable of producing mushrooms all year.
The farmers whose sole crop is mushrooms raise them in climate-controlled indoor environments primarily on sawdust bags. That way they’re not dependent on weather and can control the size of their mushroom harvest.
“We raise our shiitakes outdoors. They fruit based on moisture and temperatures. They like it when the temperature is relatively cool, but not too cold, around 60 degrees. But even in the summer, if we have a big rainstorm and there’s a 20-degree spread between the nighttime low temperature and the daytime high temperature, we can expect a mushroom flush to take place,” he said. The very hottest part of summer is when the logs slow down completely.
Love is Love Farm’s mushroom logs may be oak, sweet gum, maple, poplar or other hardwood species each inoculated with shiitake mycelium. The mycelium grow (or “colonize” in mushroom parlance) inside the log and the mushrooms will spring out of cracks or channels in the wood.
“The mycelium will continue to grow, and produce mushrooms, as long as the log has nutrients for the colony. At some point, the log will decompose, and then it’s time for a new one,” said Reynolds.
Whole Foods Market’s Egg Cups with Prosciutto and Shiitake Mushrooms
Shannon Marsh, Salud! Cooking School administrator at the Whole Foods Market at Avalon, created this recipe. She suggests accompanying the egg cups with toast made from buttered brioche or challah.
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 pound shiitake mushrooms
1/4 cup finely chopped shallot
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons creme fraiche or sour cream
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh tarragon
12 slices prosciutto (about 10 ounces)
12 large eggs
Fresh tarragon leaves, for garnish
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease the cups of a 12-cup muffin tin.
In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and shallot and cook until mushrooms are tender and all liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and season mushrooms with salt and pepper. Stir in creme fraiche and chopped tarragon. Set aside.
Line prepared muffin tin cups with slices of prosciutto. The prosciutto will be taller than the muffin cup. Divide the mushroom mixture between the cups. Crack one egg into each cup. Bake on middle rack until whites are set and yolks are still runny, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven, season eggs with salt and pepper and use two spoons or small spatulas to remove egg cups from muffin tin. Serve immediately. Makes: 12
Per serving: 231 calories (percent of calories from fat, 37), 16 grams protein, 23 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams fiber, 10 grams fat (4 grams saturated), 239 milligrams cholesterol, 794 milligrams sodium.
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