Everybody Loves Log!

(Bonus points to you if you watched Ren and Stimpy...even more bonus if you understood what it was all about!)

I had a birthday this month, and did a joint party with my friend Jessie, since her birthday is in August, too. Nothing quite like multi-tasking!

Linna gave me the most wonderful present...all my presents were wonderful, but this one ranks up there with the most unusual present ever! I got a log. Not just any log, though, but a log that will grow me some lovely shiitake mushrooms, provided I don't kill it. Which can be a distinct possibility, given my black thumb with indoor plant life. I managed to kill 3 herb dish gardens and a Chia pet this past year...and I have no idea how. I used to have plants and kept them alive for great stretches at a time, but now it seems all I can grow is basil outside. And, in this heat, I've even given that up!

Anyway, enough of the plant woes and back to the log. I've seen these logs before in catalogs, and I've always thought it would be very cool to have one and grow my own mushrooms. (I keep telling The Man that we need little goats, too, so I can start working on my artisanal cheese making project for my retirement to Vermont. So far, he's not conceded on the goats yet, but hope springs eternal.)

It really is a log. For an inert stick of wood, it requires some diligence and effort to make it "fruit" and grow mushrooms. First, you shock it in icy cold water for 24 hours, and after it fruits and you harvest the yummy mushrooms, you have to put it on a rest and recuperation schedule that involves soaking and shocking and resting at regular intervals. It's almost like having a newborn baby.

My log, which we shall call Harvey, is from the fine folks at Lost Creek Shiitake Mushroom Farm. Harvey came in a box with his instructions and a tray to soak and keep him in.

I shocked him yesterday, and he's now residing in my basement office, ready to fruit, I hope. Cross your fingers that I don't screw this up! And, that we get something that looks like the log in the picture in the very near future.