The young farmer in Pjauliai nurtures a Japanese mushroom farm

Cultivation of exotic shiitake mushrooms is becoming popular in the country. The young farmer Renata Rimikeė was one of the first to breed them in the Klaipėda region. She chose this non-traditional business because it does not require a large area of land, large and sudden investments. “I imagined that I would make money quickly, simply and easily,” she admitted.

Thoughtful decision
In the village of Pjauliu, Priekule ward, on her small farm, on a 30-acre plot, the first unusual mushrooms began to grow on the logs of one and a half thousand deciduous trees in the spring. The farmer chose two types – earlier and later. “The neighbors couldn’t understand that they grow on trees and not on the surface of the earth,” smiled Renata. – Shiitake is also grown on a substrate – not only on logs, but those are cheaper.”
The farmer, who takes care of her property very carefully, had to fence it off, because the smell of the mushrooms attracted the deer, and they flocked to the logs stacked in the shape of a well, which showed signs of life. This cold and dry spring delayed the shiitake harvest, even though it was watered, the logs were soaked in water. He cut the first boletus-flavored mushrooms in May – for himself and his friends, and expects the big harvest in autumn. Summer varieties are starting to ripen now, and there should be plenty of winter varieties before frost.
Renata became interested in Japanese mushrooms after visiting a farm in Aukštaitija. R. Rimiekė went to their breeders, paid money to let them in and show them. Farmers did not want to share their experience – it was necessary to look for literature, which is almost non-existent in Lithuanian. “Growing Japanese mushrooms was not a spontaneous decision – I was interested for a year and a half. However, later it turned out that it is not as simple as it seemed”, admitted R. Rimiekė. She is a store manager in a supermarket chain: growing Japanese mushrooms for a nature-loving woman is a sideline. “In Japan, shiitake mushrooms are grown for their anti-cancer properties – many preparations are made from them. They are popular among those interested in healthy eating. Vegans like them because they have protein and iron,” R. Rimiekė taught.

Restaurants await the harvest
Having accumulated knowledge and calculated how much this innovative business will cost, R. Rimikėkee ordered alder, white alder and birch logs last fall. “According to Japanese tradition, an oak tree is most suitable for shiitake mushrooms, but the Americans who consulted us explained that any leafy tree is suitable, but not a fruit tree. Birch is the most suitable in our area, said the farmer. – We cut the logs into lengths of 1-1.20 m, so that it would be more convenient to soak in the pond and take them out.
They bought shiitake mushrooms in Austria, a bag of which cost 24 euros, and they needed 40. I had to buy special tools to graft it into the wood. One log contains about 50 grafts. “The whole team worked: some drilled, others grafted, others waxed the graft so that the birds wouldn’t fly or fall. It lasted a month,” revealed Renata. It took 8,000 people to establish a shiitake mushroom farm. euros, but it is one of the largest in the country.
After planting the mushrooms, they piled neat “wells” from the logs and watched – in the fall, the first signs of mycelium appeared. Shiitake mushrooms grow in 18-24 months. “We tasted the first ones in the spring, and now we are picking more. One log can grow up to a kilogram of mushrooms, 3 harvests per year. We calculated that we should get about one and a half kilos of quality mushrooms per year on average from one log, – revealed the farmer. “They’ll grow on the log for years until it rots.”
R. Rimikiekė has no doubt that the investments will pay off. “We are in contact with several restaurants that are waiting for our mushrooms. Now they use dried ones, but their taste is different from fresh ones, the farmer said. – We will not grow tons – only for a small market. In Aukštaitia, they ask 20-25 euros for a kilo of shiitake. Last year, a kg of boletus cost about 30 euros, and we plan to sell our grown mushrooms at 15 euros per kg.”
The young farmer Edvinas Bagdonas, who is developing a berry farm in the village of Jucaičiai, Veivirženiai district, is also interested in innovations. His attention was drawn to shiitake mushrooms, which he planted last spring, and he set aside an acre of land for it. Signs of life are already spreading on the neatly arranged birch logs. A cold and dry spring delayed them. “Maybe it will sprout in the fall,” Edwin speculated. “These mushrooms are very valuable – they are suitable for both food and medicine.” They plan to sell them in the market and online.

More than 2,000 shiitake mushrooms are known in the Far East. years. They were used for health purposes in ancient China, but became popular in Japan, where they are called Japanese mushrooms, the largest producer of them in the world.
Shiitake is translated as oak mushroom. It is rich in protein, potassium, niacin, B vitamins, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus. It is a very tasty mushroom with a taste reminiscent of boletus. There is knowledge that shiitake is similar to ginseng in its healing properties.