Wood Ear mushrooms are unusual culinary mushrooms that are cool weather jewels of the forest. Grown on wood logs, their twists of small, folded, rubbery black and frosty gray caps are easily overlooked.
Wood ear are slow growers but have the remarkable ability to stall and resume growth throughout the fall, waiting for a long, rainy period. Extended rain or very humid periods produce the biggest mushrooms. Logs can be brought indoors and housed in 95% RH grow spaces if weather is dry. Mushrooms can also be left on the log and may continue to expand in the spring; will tolerate freezing winter weather.
AT A GLANCE
Difficulty: With the proper substrate, easy.
Best time to plant: Spring or Fall when you are able to harvest dormant logs.
Time to fruiting: Sawdust spawn: 9-18 months (larger diameter logs take longer than smaller diameter logs).
When they fruit: Fall & spring season or when temperatures are 45-60°F.
Logs grown on: Strongly prefers sugar maple. Grows on many hardwoods in the wild, but most are untested with this strain. Avoid Oak.
Appearance: Black to grey, folded cup or ear shape, approx. 2 inches in diameter.
Flavor and texture: Mild, truffle-like flavor with crunchy texture, absorbs local flavors.