While we don't yet have mushrooms in Plangarden, here are some Shitake mushroom blocks that we picked up last weekend from the Santa Cruz Mushroom festival.

These are 10 day old mushrooms. The second photo shows the underside. When it is at the peak of perfection when the cottony viel underneath opens up. That should only be a day or two away.

Mushrooms 002.JPG
Description:	Shitake mushroom underside. Not yet open.
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Mushrooms 001.JPG
Description:	Shitake mushrooms grown from block.
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I guest you bought them at the festival as a starter block to grow at home? are they easy to grow and do they need any special care?

They came as blocks wrapped in the plastic that you see in the pictures. They were infused with the mycelium and ready to go.
I didn't take a picture when we got them, but they already were covered with the white and brown fungus around and little nubs that were about 1/2 inch to a 1 round. Those nubs are what are turning into mushrooms today.

They sit in my garage and only get filtered sun when the garage door is open. The temperature in the garage is around 45-55 degrees.
The only care they receive is a slight misting of water once or twice a day.

Since I am starting seedlings now, I have a water bottle for misting already set up.

Also I got the wooden dowel plugs. I soaked some wood in water for a few days, drilled a whole in the wood and set them in the shade. It is our rainy season and we have been getting rain all week and will for most of the next 10 days. I have no idea if they will take or not. The wood I started with was Birch that came from a tree that was shading part of my garden and sending roots up to rob nutrients. It is funny that now the tree could be part of the garden used to grow mushroooms.