Mushroom grower

The shiitake is a delicately flavoured mushroom of firm consistency originally from Asia.

Since 2003, we have been cultivating this cousin of the cèpe on 10,000 oak logs in the heart of the Cévennes National Park .

Lentinus Edodus is a lignicolous species which in Japan usually grows on wood of the shii tree, a species that is not found in Europe. Today, most cultivated shiitakes are grown on sawdust or a mixture of different barks, often packed into cylinders, a technique which yields mushrooms within 40-60 days.
In the Far East, shiitake were traditionally grown on logs which, although more demanding and less cost-effective, is closer to nature and yields mushrooms of firm consistency with a clearly superior taste. That is why we chose to use the traditional Japanese method at Mas La Deveze. The same method is used at a few farms in Europe (in Italy and Holland) and it is a veritable industry in Japan, Korea and North America with farms with 20,000 producing logs.

Good to eat ......... 

and good for you



At Mas La Deveze, we currently had 10,000 logs in production. They were inoculated with the mycelium in the spring and are ready to produce after 12-18 months outside, by which time the mycelium has entirely colonised the wood. 

When the logs have been soaked in cold water for 24 hours and placed upright, the mushrooms (i.e. the mycelium's fruiting bodies) start to come out through the bark. 
Depending on the temperature, the mushrooms are ready for harvesting within one to two weeks. At  Mas La Deveze, this fruiting is carried out in a special room (our 'Salle de Culture') where conditions are controlled to ensure maximum yield and quality.In 2016 we started cultivating the shiitake on sawdust in bags which makes our work much easier

In Asia, the shiitake has been the mushroom of longevity for thousands of years, a little packet of virtues that used to be called the Elixir of Life. Known for its tiredness-fighting and revitalising properties, a number of scientific studies have shown that consuming shiitakes lowers blood cholesterol levels, reduces blood pressure, and stimulates lipid accumulation in the liver, thereby sequestering fat from the circulation.
Extensive studies of the shiitake's polysaccharides have shown them to have remarkable activities:
- Ac2P has antiviral activity;
- KS-2 has antiviral activity and is also active against tumours;
- lentinana, a glycan which accounts for 0.0015% of the weight of the fresh mushroom, is active against tumours and stimulates the immune system.