From: gunilla.fagerholm@_NO_JUNK_telia.com   
      
   On 19 Jul 2006 09:20:21 -0700, dwheeler@ipns.com wrote:   
      
   >   
   >Gunilla Fagerholm wrote:   
   >[snip]   
   >> >I think Shitakes take longer to produce but are supposed to do well with   
   >> >outdoor log culture, and they are good for the immune system. Are you   
   >> >considering growing those as well?   
   >> No, not for the moment. The trees in the rainforest are protected and   
   >> there is not enough firewood around so people would not want to use   
   >> that for log growing. They need it for cooking.   
   >>   
   >Shiitake grows quite well on some grass straw as well as wood. Check   
   >out the back of The Mushroom Cultivator and Growing Gourmet and   
   >Medicinal Mushrooms. A combination of wood chips and pasteurized straw   
   >would work also. Some cultivate shiitake on waste corn cobs after the   
   >kernels have been shucked. Big surprise: after the mushroom is done   
   >eating and producing another crop, the residue from either straw or   
   >corn cob mushroom production can be fed to cattle, chickens, pigs, etc.   
   >Acts like a natural antibacterial plus concentrates food values, since   
   >the mushroom "eats" mostly the cellulose, but leaves the interior of   
   >the cells alone. Only problem: must be combined with roughage, or   
   >cattle, sheep, pigs, horses, goats, etc. can founder from too rich a   
   >food source.   
   >   
   >Daniel B. Wheeler   
   >   
      
   Thanks for your reply.   
   Unfortunately we do not think that shiitake could be grown on this   
   small scale farming that we are thinking of. One reason is that corn   
   cobs are also used as firewood, for cooking meals, the same as the   
   little wood the people can find. Straw is not easily found, except   
   maybe for maize straw, in this location.   
   The shiitake spawn would also be difficult to find. Oyster is more   
   well-known and a lot easier to grow, even though the income would be   
   much higher growing shiitake.   
   We are talking of a neighbourhood with hills and valleys with   
   maize-fields and banana plants and some eucalyptus here and there as   
   well as some avocado trees. The trees in the rainforest are protected   
   and can not be touched, except for some illegal logging.   
      
   Another problem, though i hate to say it, is that in this particular   
   village people are not hardworking, they are rather lazy not having   
   more than one maize crop per year - a couple of miles away the rurals   
   have at least two crops a year. The plots are very small and every   
   family seems to have at least 10 children so the plots get smaller and   
   smaller.   
      
   So i think that the best idea is to cultivate oyster mushrooms,   
   something we have already taught the rurals. They know it is easy and   
   there is as much free sugar bagasse anyone would want, with all the   
   sugar factories in that area. The bagasse is actually a problem for   
   the factories, they do not know where to dump it.   
      
   Gunilla   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)