REGISTER AND PAY EARLY SO YOU DON'T MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY!

Shiitake Mushroom Log Inoculation Workshops

Learn how to grow shiitake mushrooms by inoculating red oak logs with mushroom spawn.

You take the log home as part of this workshop. 

Cheese pizza slices for paid registrants is included in the registration fee.

Choose to attend 1 workshop.

Same workshop offered different days across three counties in the Finger Lakes Region - Schuyler, Seneca, or Cayuga

Any participant can attend any workshop, regardless of where you live.

Options include:

Wednesday, October 29 from 5pm-7pm at Apples and Moore Farm

2750 Apple Lane, Watkins Glen, NY 14891 (Schuyler County)

Thursday, October 30 from 5pm-7pm at Vince's Park

NY-318, Seneca Falls, NY 13148 (Seneca County)

Saturday, November 1 from 10am - 12pm at Sterling Nature Center

15730 Jensvold Road, Sterling, NY 13156 (Cayuga County)

About Workshop

Join Connor Youngerman, Agroforestry & Mushroom Specialist, Cornell Small Farms Program, to learn about specialty mushrooms and guide us through the process of inoculating red oak logs.

Participants will start the workshop indoors with a short presentation. Then, we will go outside to "do the work" required to inoculate red oak logs with mushroom spawn. Please come prepared to do the work- dress appropriately  for the weather; bring appropriate "work clothing," closed toe footwear strongly encouraged, for example.

Why Grow Shiitake?

Forest cultivation of shiitake mushrooms can generate income, diversify farm and forestry enterprises, add value to forestry by-products and create opportunities for timber stand improvement. Independent blind taste tests have found forest-grown shiitakes to be superior in flavor and freshness compared to the sawdust-grown shiitake mushrooms commonly found in supermarkets.

Basics of Shiitake Production

Production involves inoculating fresh cut hardwood logs by placing spawn (cultured fungus) into holes drilled in each log. Logs are then incubated in a “laying yard” under forest shade for about one year before fruiting (mushrooms) begins. The log will continue to fruit biannually for three to four years, generating upwards of 8 ounces of mushrooms at each flush.

$25 Registration fee includes all the ingredients to inoculate a log with mushroom spawn, and at the end of the program you take the log home. Cheese pizza slices are included, because we don't want anyone to be hungry during the event. Please bring a vehicle to transport the log at the end of the program to your home- we cannot temporarily "watch" or "hold" a log because the workshops are taking place at non-CCE locations. 

SPACE IS LIMITED TO 20 PARTICIPANTS PER LOCATION. If you do not see an option to choose the location you want, it is probably full.

***Additional logs may be reserved and paid for ahead of the event, and available for participants to inoculate and take home for additional fee of $20/log- that includes spawn and sealant. See below for contact information***

Use the PAYPAL process after clicking "SUBMIT REGISTRATION" at the end of the registration page, to pay with a card (you must utilize the paypal process to pay with a card). OR, you can send domestic check payment, or drop-off check or cash in person:

SENECA COUNTY CCE 369 East Main Street, Waterloo, NY 13165

***it does not matter where you live, payments are being collected at the Seneca County CCE office in Waterloo, NY***

Contact Ryan.Staychock@cornell.edu at 315-539-9251 ext. 1009 for any assistance or questions regarding this event.