Grow Your Own Mushrooms

John Hoogland and his daughter Becca at the Oshkosh farmers market June 25.

John Hoogland sells mushrooms, but not the way you might expect.

Hoogland’s product is logs inoculated with shiitake mushroom spores. The logs sell anywhere from $5 to $40, depending on the size of the log and the number of spores. Hoogland says that the logs will produce mushrooms for at least two to three years.

"I got the idea to sell logs inoculated with mushroom spores one beautiful January day," Hoogland said with a smile. "I was wandering in my yard and saw a cedar grove with mushrooms growing. After that, I went to seminars to learn more about growing mushrooms, and the product really took off."

Hoogland uses the shiitake mushroom because of its reputation as "the most prized mushroom in all of Asia," he said. The shiitake mushroom is used in much of Chinese and Japanese cuisine, especially in soup and steamed and simmered dishes.

Hoogland’s sign at any farmers markets he attends reads "Grow/Pick Your Own Mushrooms." Once someone buys a log, Hoogland instructs the person to submerge the logs in cold water for one to two days. After that, logs are to be placed in a shaded area, and fruiting begins about four weeks later, according to Hoogland. After six weeks of fruiting, the logs go dormant for about eight to 12 weeks, and then the cycle continues.

Hoogland, who lives in Cecil, close to Shawano Lake, hasn’t always been a mushroom farmer. Until three years ago, he worked as an electrician on jet engines. Although he said that being an electrician paid better than farming mushrooms, he gave up his job as an electrician because it took him away from home and family for long periods of a time.

"I had been living in motel rooms, and I came home three years ago, and it really hit me," Hoogland said. "I had a chance to catch my breath, and I didn’t want to go back."

To attend the Oshkosh farmers market, Hoogland wakes up at 6 a.m. and drives two hours. But he said the drive is worthwhile, and by the end of the morning, many people who first wander over to Hoogland’s stand out of curiosity, end up going home with a log that will produce mushrooms for years.