2021-01-31 Prepping to Grow Mushrooms on Logs

Decided to begin the planning and prepping to grow 5 different species (Lion's Mane, Comb Tooth, Oliver Oysterling, Oyster, Shitake) of edible mushrooms to share with guests at Aefintyr. My interest in this developed after having Shitakes available every spring from some oak logs that my husband had inoculated several years back. Those logs, after several years of good production, began to rot and produced very little mushroom so became firewood for the neighbor last summer. When I was dating my husband he would bring me these Shitakes in a brown paper bag as a treat, usually accompanied by some fish or venison that he also harvested himself... good memories : ) 

So, how do you grow mushrooms? The types of mushrooms and methods of growth I am interested involve using mushroom spawn to inoculate fresh wood. In a nutshell the process looks like this:

• Make a plan:

• Which mushrooms do you wish to grow?

• What type(s) of spawn / innoculation method(s) (grain, peg, plug, sawdust, thimble, etc) work for mushroom? We chose sawdust spawn and plan to use the drill and fill and totem innoculation methods 

• What are your options for type of woods to use?

• What time of year should the wood be cut? usually fall or early winter 

• Where can you get the wood? 

• Where will you keep your mushroom logs? Usually like shaded places with moisture available

• How will you keep creatures from eating them? 

• Cut your logs and let them "rest" for the recommended amount of time - 2 weeks for the mushrooms we are using

• Innoculate the logs with spawn, prepare for any additional care after innoculation

• Set the logs in their final resting place, protect from creatures if desired

Today we set out to get some Box Elder for the Oyster mushrooms. We also need some Oak for the Oliver Oysterling and Shitake, and some Sugar Maple for the Lion's Mane and Comb Tooth but saving for another day. Was a warm (30 F) overcast day with little wind. There are several Box Elders down in the "Thuja" White Cedar and Pine woods that I intended to remove anyway so this was the perfect opportunity. Tree identification can be a challenge in the winter so be sure you know what you are looking for or plan way in advance and mark the trees when they have their leaves and are easier to identify. The Box Elder is a familiar tree to me and I know the "Thuja" woods well. They are usually covered in moss, have what I would call a medium coarseness to their bark (not smooth like a Birch but not heavily furrowed like an old Oak) and grow every which way. These characteristics are very contrasting and unlike the disciplined pines and white cedars nearby that grow straight and orderly. 

After you find the correct species of tree you also need to be sure that the tree is alive and "healthy." We inspected the trees for intact bark and signs of rot. There were a few smaller branches that appeared dead but the rest of the tree looked good from the outside. We also found buds on the small branches as confirmation of life and health. When the tree was finally cut I found the usual dark color in the center with a band of pink which I often see. We prepared some smaller logs for the drill and fill method ( around 4" diameter by 4' long) and larger logs for the totem method (around 10" diameter by 10' long). In 2 weeks we can inoculate! 

Before we left I took a hike to top to check on the trail cameras. I got some great footage of the deer family that lives up there. I've also been really interested in vines and wreath making lately. Something to write about later... 

Reaching Box Elders in contrast to the straight Pines and Cedars

Buds indicating life 

Red ring of the Box Elder