Shiitake Donko (flower) then EcoEcho Memorial Day 2025 Winecap Woodchips Harvest along with Dandelion Tincture!

 First we got an early Spring very beautiful Shiitake big Oak tree harvest of "Donko" or "flower" Shiitake with more intense flavor from the cold air condensing the dew - hence the "flower" or Donko type that is the most expensive Shiitake to buy (when they are grown on logs). Log-grown Shiitake is by far the most medicinal since it gets more nutrients and competes more in Nature - so stronger medicine.

OK the images are not loading - probably too much data for the blog format! I want to thank my CSA members for helping me - we got our first small Winecap small mushroom harvest from a neighbor's woodchip bed on a hill facing the sun. So people enjoyed - a handful of Winecap shrooms for the neighbors - to four other houses along with our house. We added ours to a pasta sauce. Winecap has a mild taste - more about texture or maybe timbre? hahaha.

Then I harvested Dandelions to mix in the Vitamix Blender. Five gallons of organic Dandelions spray washed outside to clean up - blended into a Vodka Tincture. I just fill up enough Vodka to keep the blender going well - and I got two big masonry jars full of Dandelion extract to keep in the frig. I just delivered one jar to one neighbor. 

Dandelion Root Extract is proven to selectively target tumor cells - it's the terpenes and that's why they're bitter tasting. The leaves and stems are more about the polyphenol antioxidants. It's all good for you and tasty - just mix in a couple spoonfuls into another drink or whatever. Eat with other food - it's a food but you can taste the Vodka so if you can't have alcohol then it's a no-no. 

Also overtime the Vodka extracts more of the essence of nutrients and medicine (terpenes and polyphenols) - the antioxidants into the alcohol. So as an Extract you strain it after a month but I mixed it down with the Vitamix - so the increased surface area will extract into the alcohol faster. So might as well just eat the whole food. hahaha.

We now have four new beds of Winecap Mycelium Woodchips in the top of the hill in the woods - so I'll be watering those when I bring back my 35 gallon water tank in the back of the TrailBlazer. I'll gravity feed the water into those beds and also the 23 Shiitake logs are in the ravine in the woods on the hill. So we have Ironwood logs (technically Hopbeam) - and some Oak logs and Basswood logs. Not sure if the Basswood is too soft and so will dry out too fast - but if I water it soon then hopefully the mycelium will keep eating the sapwood. You need to harvest the logs when the sap is not in the leaves and stems already - after the budding kicks in then the sap nutrients are too far gone into the branch extremities. So that's why Shiitake mushroom trees need to be cut down in the winter or very late Fall and very early Spring. hahaha.

thanks!

EcoEcho CSA Farmer, Drew, Memorial Day weekend, 2025