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Growing shiitake on logs in New England

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Shiitake grow well on logs outdoors in New England, and a stack of logs keeps fruiting for years. Here is the method from UNH Extension and Cornell Small Farms research with Northeast growers.

1. Choose and cut the logs

Use fresh-cut hardwood. Oak is the standard; Cornell trials found red and white oak about equal, with American beech and sugar maple just as productive. Store the cut logs out of direct sun for 2–4 weeks before inoculating. Leave them too long and other fungi move in or the wood dries out.

2. Inoculate

Drill holes, fill them with shiitake spawn, and seal each hole with wax.

3. Incubate in shade

Stack the logs where they get 75–100% shade year-round and stay humid.

4. Wait

First fruiting usually takes about a year. Reported times range from 4 months to over 18 months, depending on the wood and the weather, so don't give up early.

5. Force a flush

Soak a log in the coldest water you have for 12–24 hours, then stand it in an A-frame. Pins appear in 3–5 days, and you harvest 7–10 days after the soak. Rest each log 6–8 weeks between soakings: once in the first year, twice in years two and three.

6. Harvest

Yields peak in years two and three at roughly a quarter to half a pound per log per flush, and logs keep fruiting for about 3–4 years.

Prefer to start indoors? Try a shiitake grow kit, and see our grow-kit guide.

Sources: UNH Extension, shiitake fact sheet; Cornell Small Farms, shiitake best practices; Northern Woodlands.