A Mushroom Log - Who Knew?

I've been gardening for over 20 years and I've tried growing many different plants. Some have been amazingly successful, others partially successful, and some have failed miserably. Growing mushrooms had never occurred to me. (My teenage son just pointed out that mushrooms are not plants, they are fungi.)

One day, about 2 weeks ago, our wonderful neighbors gifted us with a beautiful shiitake mushroom log. My reaction:  Mushroom log? What is a mushroom log?  Well, guess what?  A mushroom log is a log that is inoculated with mushroom spores and if all goes well, will produce gourmet mushrooms for several years.

I placed the log in a shady spot between our shed and the neighbor's fence. I've been watering it every day to keep it moist since we haven't had rain for about 5 or 6 days. Hopefully, we'll be enjoying some shiitake mushrooms in the near future!