Falls Brook Centre Shiitake Workshop Press Release
Carolyn Young
For immediate release –
Shiitake Mushrooms: Expanding Your Garden Horizons
Are you getting tired of the same old peas and carrots in the garden? Add a twist to your garden and your diet with the wonderful world of gourmet Shiitake mushrooms! They add a great flavor to all kinds of dishes, are chock full of minerals and nutrients, and are easy to grow.
“Shiitake” (pronounced: she-TA-kee) mushrooms, known as the Elixir of Life in Japanese tradition, offer an oak-ey flavour, four times the intensity of the button mushrooms commonly found in the grocery store. They can be used just like button mushrooms, raw or cooked. Their versatility in the kitchen makes them ideal for soups, stews, salads, stuffings, steak toppers and more. With white stems, flat brown tops (2-5” diameter) and white gills, these fungi are beauties.
Mushrooms are valuable health food - low in calories, high in vegetable proteins, chitin, iron, zinc, fiber, essential amino acids, vitamins & minerals. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, mushrooms have been revered for their effects in promoting good health and vitality. They are probiotic, meaning they help strengthen our bodies’ natural defense systems to maintain physiological homeostasis – restoring our natural resilience to combat disease and illness. Folks in Japan and China have recognized the probiotic qualities of mushrooms and use many to fight cancer, an application growing more common in North America. In Western medicine, Penicillin is a commonly used antibiotic derived from fungi. Cyclosporin is another fungal-derivative used in organ transplants to suppress the immune system of transplant patients hence lowering tissue rejection rates.
Growing mushrooms is easy and almost labor-free. At Falls Brook Centre, hardwood logs are inoculated with Shiitake spawn. The spawn grows on a clean sawdust medium and is inserted into 1 ½” drilled holes on logs of maple, birch, ironwood, beech and poplar. Once full, holes are sealed with a mix of beeswax, paraffin and mineral oil. The logs are then set aside in a moist, shady area (think of where mushrooms grow naturally in the woods) for one year. During that time, the mycelium grows throughout the log, digesting the wood. When a white film appears on the ends of the log, the mycelium has spread enough to grow mushrooms. Logs are then soaked in cold water from 1-3 days – this “shocks” the mycelium into fruiting. Once placed on stands in the growing area, the mushrooms start to appear anywhere from 4 to 14 days later. Harvesting is easy, using a knife and a bowl for collection. Slugs are the only pests and are easily hand picked.
If you are interested in growing your own mushrooms and getting yourself into the wide world of fungi, register for Falls Brook Centre’s (FBC) “Grow your own mushrooms” workshop coming up on Saturday, May 12th. Participants will learn about the basics of mushrooms and mushroom cultivation, tour through the FBC mushroom growing plot, and inoculate their own 18” mushroom log to take home, plus enjoy an organic home-cooked lunch! Cost $20 adults, 10 children, $ 30 for your own inoculated log you can take home. For more information visit www.fallsbrookcentre.ca or contact Michael Carr, Mushroom Project Coordinator at 506-375-4310 or m...@fallsbrookcentre.ca
-30-
Media contact:
Michael Carr
Mushroom Project Coordinator
Falls Brook Centre
Carolyn Young
Education Coordinator
Falls Brook Centre
125 South Knowlesville Rd.,
Knowlesville, NB,
E7L 1B1
Ph: (506) 375-4310
Fax: (506) 375-4221
Email: car...@fallsbrookcentre.ca
--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 269.4.0/759 - Release Date: 4/12/2007 7:58 PM