Shiitake spawn culture

[RushWayne]

You asked for information on growing Shiitake.
Get ahold of Paul Stamets book, Growing Gourmet 
and Medicinal Mushrooms (10 Speed Press) or John 
Donoghue's book on Shiitake growing.  Mushroompeople 
can set you up with plenty of info, too (e-mail
mushroom at gaia.org, or go to www.gaia.org/farm/
mushroom).

Flour and vermiculite wouldn't be the most commonly 
used medium for growing spawn.   More common is 
soaked grain (rye or wheat, for example) or sawdust-
bran (4 to 1), either one sterilized in a pressure cooker 
for at least an hour.  If you are going to make your own 
spawn, however, you will need to think about how you 
are going to keep it free of contaminants.  I have 
developed a method adding hydrogen peroxide to the 
cooled, sterilized spawn medium; this allows the 
mushroom mycelium to grow while killing airborne
contaminants that find there way in.  (plug) I sell
an instruction manual for Growing Mushrooms with 
Hydrogen Peroxide which you may want to invest in 
($20) after you get some basic instruction in mush-
room growing from the other sources I mentioned.
--Rush Wayne