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Organic Shiitake Mushroom Outdoor Log Kit














Skill level | Beginner |
Grow location | Outdoors |
Spawn shelf life | 6 months (refrigerated) |
Incubation | 6-12 months |
Fruiting temps | 55-70°F |
Shiitake (Lentinula edodes) is a nutritious mushroom that produces medium-to-large, brown, umbrella-shaped caps that tend to fruit throughout the summer to fall growing season. They are a delicious edible fungus from East Asia and their flavor is often described as rich, savory, buttery, and umami. Shiitake tends to produce generous flushes and they are a great mushroom for beginners. They colonize quickly and are the most reliable producers of any species.
Aside from being kiln dried, our wooden dowels are not treated in any other way.
Each outdoor kit contains:
- A drill bit
- Log sealing wax
- A wax applicator
- 100ct plug spawn or voucher
- Instruction guide
"5 of the Best Shiitake Mushroom Recipes"
That's not mold, it's mycelium!
Your kit includes plug spawn colonized with mushroom mycelium. It may appear covered with a soft, white, mold-like substance - that's the mushroom mycelium! It is completely normal. The mycelium of some species is more prominent than others.
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Ordering a log kit with a voucher allows you to redeem your plug spawn at a later date. Vouchers make a great gift and are good for projects beyond a 3 month start date.
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Ordering a kit with live spawn is best for projects that will be done within 3 months of ordering.
Plug spawn is living and perishable. It can live unrefrigerated for up to three months or refrigerated for up to 6 months.
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Shiitake works best with the log method. It will take at least 9-12 months of colonization before producing mushrooms and tends to fruit throughout the summer to fall growing season and after rainfalls. Preferred wood species are oak, maple, or beech.
For our complete plug spawn pamphlet, click here.
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If you don't plan to use immediately, you can refrigerate your spawn for up to 6 months.
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"5 of the Best Shiitake Mushroom Recipes"
Shiitake has a meaty texture when cooked and is good for drying and reconstituting in winter soups. It pairs beautifully with tamari, ginger, and garlic and can bring needed umami to many different dishes. These mushrooms are delicious sauteed and can be used in stir-fries, risottos, ramens, on pizzas, or simply eaten by themselves.
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If you’re going to consume home-grown mushrooms, make sure to cook your fresh mushrooms thoroughly with heat. If it is your first time eating this species, it is best to start with a small amount to check for allergies, even if cooked.
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- Reviews
- Questions
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Log Kit
Love it. The only thing that sucks is waiting for them to fruit!
North Spore
Thanks, Mike! If you need help with anything, please reach out.

Spore kit
Very fun to do, we shall see if any yield! Exciting though
North Spore
Thanks for sharing, Leslie! If you need help with anything, please reach out.

Everything you need
This kit has everything needed for growing plug spawn. I love how easy it is to get your feet wet. We enjoyed it so much last year they we just ordered another 500 shitake plugs. I'm going to start some other varieties on logs soon, too.

Great Fun Product
Great gift and experience! Purchased for a Christmas gift and it was a hit. Every easy and user friendly. Highly recommend for anyone getting started.

Won't know for months if I did it right!
I drilled and pounded and sealed them all into logs. Now I watch and water and watch for months...hoping! It will be a long wait. The experience was as expected. Ask me again in 12-18 months!

Shiitake mushroom kit
An awesome experience! Not at all hard to do and the small pamphlet was very informative. Very excited to see the outcome!

The perfect gift!
I haven’t used these yet as I have them as holiday gifts. But I am psyched about all the shiitakes I have grown over the years and am looking forward to sharing that. These kits are beautifully presented and have just about everything you need to get started. Such a great and unique gift for anyone with a green thumb or a passion for cooking!
Get a great start
This kit is awesome for getting started, and makes a great gift.

Great Kit for Growing On Logs
This kit was very easy to use with great instructions and came with everything you would need to inoculate some logs for a shiitake grow. I inoculated May 2021 and by fall had a lot of mycelium showing on both ends of all my logs with zero signs of contamination. Northspore customer service was also great in quickly answering any questions I had along the way. Can't wait for the spring to come for these to finish and start producing my favorite mushrooms to eat.

Great product and easy to configure!
The product came within a reasonable timeframe and arrived in perfect condition without contamination to damage. The instructions were easy to follow and everything needed (minus a log medium, of course) were included. The shiitake plug spawn kit was fairly intuitive to use and the mushrooms ended up growing! Would recommend.