F and V Farm’s Floyd and Vera Blethen specialize in log-grown shiitake mushrooms. In the East, shiitake mushrooms are considered a long-standing delicacy as well as a medicinal mushroom. Shittakes are purported to have immune system boosting properties, and are high in vitamin D as well as a compound called Lentinan, which is used as an anti-cancer and anti-tumor agent in some countries. Shiitakes are also thought to have antiviral and antibacterial properties. Mushroom farming is a truly fascinating process. Instead of rows in soil, the shittakes are grown on logs. The logs are inoculated with mushroom spore, and shocked in water to activate the spores into bearing fruit. Floyd and Vera tend to their logs and harvest bountiful and healthy shiitakes that they sell only at local farmer’s markets. We are lucky that Floyd and Vera allow us to have our proverbial cake and eat it too; we enjoy a delicacy from a distant land but still get to support our local community and earth by buying local.
Contact: Vera Blethen
Phone: 540-822-4102
Email: fandvfarm@yahoo.com
