How we operate
'Pins' bursting through the bark of a black oak log
Sustainable Forestry Partners
All locally sourced: logs purchased from foresters managing hardwood stands within a one county radius
No ‘incentivized’ cutting: we work with licensed operators to utilize treetops otherwise unsuitable for lumber that would be chipped or burned- and grow food on it!
Back to the soil: spent logs are essentially compost! Our waste is quickly converted back to topsoil, with the help of the fungus itself
Jack and Truman stacking newly inoculated logs in our incubation area- we rely on the natural climate and forest canopy to provide optimal conditions for log colonization
Hand inoculated, forest incubated
We manually seed customized strains of mycelium in unprocessed logs- NOT pasteurized growth medium
Logs lie under natural forest canopy for full year until colonized- NO energy intensive climate control
Relying on our beautiful valley climate to provide the ideal conditions for growth and the log’s bark to deter competitors means we require no other inputs than wood and water
Tucker shows off two gorgeous, fresh cut caps
The most protein: Gallon for Gallon
For our local community, Wild harvest shiitakes provide an imminently sensible source of protein without any costs externalized in fuel, fertilizer or feed.
We must view land and water as finite resources in our rapidly changing world, and we feel that agriculture and our own habits as consumers can make an enormous impact on our footprint.
The Vineyard’s unique ecology makes our mushrooms the most efficient form of local protein production, both in land and water use. We utilize only five outdoor acres to produce thousands of pounds of protein per season.