For as long as I can remember I have always loved a good field trip. In grade school those were the days we didn't have to wear our uniform and could pack a lunch. In high school field trips were few and far between but still fun days. In college I managed to sign up for a real estate law class where we took a field trip every single Friday!
When Chef mentioned in our morning meeting that there was an optional "kitchen field trip" to the farm where we get some of our herbs, mushrooms, squash, and (when we use them) micro greens. I think I might have let out a giggle of delight when he mentioned this. The reason we were going was to pay them a friendly visit as well as check out how they grew the shiitake mushrooms that we use in our pasta dish.
I don't have all the technical details down but you start with these logs...
They have holes drilled in them, the holes get mushroom spawn put in them and then the holes and ends are coated in cheese wax. After this process the logs are stacked up for 6-8 months before this starts to happen...
If you look really closely you can see the itty bitty mushroom that is just starting to grow!
At this point the logs get moved from the pile to standing up...
And when the time comes the mushrooms look about like this...
They are harvested! To harvest them you just grab them by the stem and twist. In addition to the grove of mushrooms in the woods the farm also has beehives, a ton of fresh herbs, beautiful plants and an adorable store.
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