The fragrance of wild mushrooms drifts through the air as we step into Yingying's farm garden
â–˛Caption: Log-cultivated shiitake mushrooms grown in the open air. A moment of inattention to temperature and humidity can allow contaminant molds to invade, such as the coffee-colored furry fungus shown here, and sometimes an entire log must be discarded. One year, humidity problems caused the loss of half the logs.
Rotten Wood Raises Beetles
After 4 to 5 rounds of harvesting shiitake mushrooms, the nutrients in the wood of the logs are exhausted by the mycelium, and the logs have become rotten wood that can no longer be used. Rotten wood is very suitable for beetles to lay eggs, so Wu Ru-ying stacks the used logs in the tea garden to restore a beetle ecological circle. As the rotten wood decomposes, it also nourishes the tea garden soil, forming zero-waste circular agriculture. Therefore, the packaging of Ying-ying Farm's log-cultivated shiitake mushrooms is illustrated with beetles and shiitake mushrooms.
During shiitake season, Wu Ru-ying's family often has abundant shiitake dishes for all three meals. Original-flavor cooking is the farmhouse dish most often brought to the table: slice some ginger, add fresh log-cultivated shiitake mushrooms and a little soy sauce, and add half a cup of water to the outer pot of the electric cooker; or place whole shiitake mushrooms in an oven and bake for 15 minutes, then sprinkle with pepper powder or sea salt after taking them out, and that is fresh, tender, and wonderfully original flavor.
Originally published in Green Advocate monthly, August 2016, issue 155.
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