Biological Warfare - Soil: Reflections on the Basis of our Existence - page 105

Shiitake secrets . Cultivation of the saprotrophic shiitake fungus dates back more than a thousand
years in East Asia. Shiitake mushrooms can be grown on logs of deciduous trees, preferably oak
or beech. The logs must be freshly cut or other fungi may get there first, making it hard for the
shiitake mycelium to establish a foothold. Cultivation entails hammering wooden plugs contain-
ing fungal mycelium into pre-drilled holes
good for conditioning the soil. In the end, I decided to get the wheels moving
by buying a blend of oyster and shiitake mushroom mycelia imported from the
United States from an encouragingly named company called Fungi Perfecti. The
mycelia arrived by post as grafts on wooden plugs that must be hammered into
pre-drilled oak or beech trunks. I followed the instructions carefully and the fol-
lowing year was delighted to see shiitake and oyster mushrooms growing out of
the trunks. That was a few years ago and the trunks seem to have lost the magic
touch because mushrooms no longer grow on them. Nowadays I improve my gar-
den soil with button mushroom compost from a local mushroom grower.
Biological Control
A continual battle for space is being played out in the soil beneath our feet, a
battle in which many organisms secrete substances to impede competitors from
encroaching on their territory. Some of these substances, such as penicillin and
streptomycin, can be used as medicines. It is also possible to find aggressor