There's something quite addictive about the thought of growing things to me - edible things more particularly, and I'll try anything at least a couple of times if there's the promise of some kind of a harvest at the end of it. So on a cold crisp Sunday morning in late winter, I find myself travelling with my friend Kris out of Ballarat past the remnant volcanic cone formation of Mt Warrenheip - to a small farm in Dunnstown.
I'd heard much about this permaculture property (the domain of Angela Enbom) one of the region's most knowledgable permaculture practicioners - who among other things helps run and lectures for the year long All Seasons Permaculture Design Course (ASPDC) in Ballarat. So it's an honour to be invited to Angela's property to be part of a small group experimenting with the production of Shiitake Mushrooms.
Before long I'm donning the protective ear muffs and wrestling cold wet logs while Pat deftly wields the chainsaw and cuts the best lengths to size.
The blue gum is the hardest to cut, solid and dense - while the oak and elm is much more yielding to the chainsaw's blade. Angela, Kris and Simon have just finished an agroforestry course and have seen Shiitake production in action in the Otway Ranges and think it's worth experimenting with a variety of logs - including the native blue gum. In a year and a half or so - we'll know the results.
We've purchased two bags of Shiitake inoculated dowels and after only a night out of the fridge the mycelium is already visibly multiplying - it's virile potential quite clear. And now for the laborious but satisfying process of drilling rows of holes into each log - ready to be filled with their precious dowels.
While some of us drill, others begin the process of sealing the freshly sawn ends of each log with molten beeswax to minimise the chances the logs will be populated by other fungi or bacteria that may overwhelm the Shiitake mycelium.
Before long the shed is filled with the aroma of fresh sawdust and beeswax - an intoxicating mix, soon to be joined by hot coffee, fresh scones and pumpkin soup as morning tea then lunchtime rolls around.
By the end of the afternoon our inoculated logs with their distinctive waxen seals are divvied up amongst the group - and the hard work of waiting begins. In the year and a half or so before the Shiitake mycelium has fully inhabited their hosts, the logs must be kept moist - allowing them to dry out will be a disaster. I quickly develop quite a maternal concern for my 'log babies' which I keep in an old cast iron bath under my carport, tending every couple of days by dousing with water. Only time will tell if this experiment has been successful, but the opportunity to spend a few hours with enthusiastic and optimistic mushroom lovers has been worthwhile regardless. For now it's fingers crossed.
