FRESH FROM THE FIELD, CONTINUED
around your fields to filter out soil from runoff. To add another function and benefit to the strip, consider planting some wildflowers or native flowering shrubs to increase pollinator habitat on the farm. Try to keep soil covered at all times, either with mulches or cover crops, which dramatically reduce soil loss. Finally, if a field has any slope to it, make sure you are working and planting across the slope, not up and down it.
tion and marketing knowledge. There are over 100 growers on the list. They are commercial producers as well as hobbyists, but all share a common love and curiosity for the art and trade of log-based mushrooming. To join the “Mushrooms” list, follow the instructions found at http://www.uvm.edu/it/mailinglists/ . Logs should be waking up soon! For more information about woods-based shiitake, contact Ben Waterman at (802) 656-9142 or ben.waterman@uvm.edu.
Log-Grown Shiitake Guide is Published After three years of workshops, research and hands-on collaboration with regional mushroom growers, we finally published the comprehensive production and marketing guide, “Best Management Practices to Log-Based Shiitake Cultivation in the Northeastern United States.” Throughout the guide, experienced growers share their numerous tips and tricks of the trade, and researchers summarize their results on production methods. For example, one study found that yields are higher the sooner inoculation occurs after log felling. Researchers believe the reason is that logs have optimum moisture levels for shiitake mycelium close to the time the log was cut. The more time one waits, the more the log loses moisture or the greater chance for the log’s bark to loosen. To obtain a copy of the guide, download it for free on our website at http://www.uvm.edu/~susagctr/resources/ShiitakeGuide .pdf . If you do not have access to an internet connection to download the guide, please call Cheryl Herrick at (802) 656-5459 to request a complimentary hard copy in the mail while supplies last.
Youth Ag. IDA: 17 New Vermont Farm Businesses Started As we approach the end of our first round of the Youth Ag IDA program, it is exciting to report that 17 new farm businesses were or will be started, as a result of the program. Varying in size, type and mission, we have a diverse list of new agricultural business that will be contributing to Vermont’s economy, landscape and farming tradition. With so many opportunities to reach out to our next generation of Vermont farmers, we thought we would give a list of some of our farms, so you can keep an eye out for their products and services. Pickering’s Greenhouse CSA, Honey Uncappings, Promised Acres Apiary, Cammack Faverolles, Mad Teamster Custom Farming, Moore Maple, Dancing Moon Farm, Champlain Valley Farm, Spring Haven Farm Beef and Livestock, Frye Farm and Forest, Little Hill Farm, and Country Hill Maple.
Relative to other agricultural or forestry production systems, shiitake mushroom growing as an agroforestry practice is relatively new, and research is still needed in many areas. Three years ago we created an online forum, the UVM “mushrooms” list serve, to allow growers to identify research needs and share anecdotal producP.4 CULTIVATING CONNECTIONS /VOLUME XX / NUMBER 1 / SPRING 2014