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Post by fernwood on Jun 20, 2018 18:39:14 GMT -5
Here are some photos and the process for the mushroom project. Plug spawn is used to inoculate freshly cut logs from fresh cut, healthy trees. The type of tree determines what types of mushrooms can be grown. My neighbor purchased a variety of 1000 plugs. Wide Range Shitake, Cold Weather Shitake, Brown Dragon Shitake, Hen of the Woods and several varieties of Oyster Mushrooms. The first step was to find suitable tree to cut down. Not too hard, since she has many trees that are considered “widow makers” right now. Some are leaning on smaller trees. All logs used for growing the mushrooms should be between 3” and 7” in diameter. We selected a leaning Maple for today. Time to cut down the tree. Ideally the tree would be cut down in the spring or fall, when the sap content is highest.  cut 1  cut 2 After cutting down, the trunk was cut into 40” to 45” pieces. Neighbor is smart. Drove her small tractor with a bucket to where we cut the tree. All logs were put in the bucket and hauled back. First, we had to drill 5/16” by 1 1/4 “ holes in the log. Sort of evenly spaced. We later learned that the bit must be sharp and all the wood removed from the holes.  holes Next up was to pound the plugs into the holes. They were to be fully submerged in the log. A package of the plugs is shown here.  plug 1  plug 2 Sometimes a plug would split while being pounded in.  plug 3 After the plugs were pounded in the logs, it was time to seal them with wax. The best type is cheese wax, due to it not freezing, but any unscented wax will work except for beeswax.  wax 2  wax 1 Any open areas on the log also needed to be sealed. Sealing the ends was optional. I was really wishing we had a dop pot or a small crock pot for melting wax. The breeze kept blowing out the candles. We only did 5 logs this time. The time from removing the plug spawn to sealing it with wax is crucial, to prevent contamination. After sealing, the logs were placed “log cabin style” on a base of cement blocks in the corners. The underside of the ends of the logs can be notched. Will be doing that for the next layer. The log cabins of mushroom logs are set up in a shady area with good air flow. The entire process took about 4 hours. 5 logs and 150 plugs. At that rate, we only have another 23 hours to finish up. The reward is that in between 12 and 16 months, there will be mushrooms to harvest. The logs should last about 5 years. Will post more photos next time, showing the log cabins. |
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Post by Pat on Jun 20, 2018 19:05:43 GMT -5
Thanks! Never heard of this process. Are the plugs parts of mushrooms ?
Interesting.
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Post by mohs on Jun 20, 2018 19:28:58 GMT -5
I'm with Pat
never heard or seen it
very cool
wonder if it will work with a cactus?
make some loaded mushrooms
wonder what that would take?
little sprinkle of magic dust
moslty
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Post by vegasjames on Jun 20, 2018 19:59:12 GMT -5
Thanks! Never heard of this process. Are the plugs parts of mushrooms ? Interesting. The plugs are inoculated with the mushroom spores. You can find these on sites like Fungi Perfecti.
There are also mushroom kits that have bags of sawdust inoculated with spores that you can grow inside your house.
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Post by Pat on Jun 20, 2018 20:06:42 GMT -5
What are the plugs made of!
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Post by drocknut on Jun 20, 2018 20:48:04 GMT -5
Very cool, didn't know the process was so involved. Can't wait to see the results of all your hard work.
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agatemaggot
Cave Dweller 
Member since August 2006
Posts: 2,195
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Post by agatemaggot on Jun 20, 2018 22:44:39 GMT -5
We grew some Shitake in the basement of the Blacksmith shop here. After drilling and plugging logs we soaked them 24 hours and placed them against racks sitting vertically on a layer of Sand about 6 in. deep. After a couple days the Micylan had taken over the logs from end to end and several days later (4 or 5 ) we had Mushrooms growing. We regulated the temperature and humidity by using a gas heater and spraying the sand covered floor with water.
Grew some Oyster Shell variety in old coffee grounds last winter by chopping up some old ones I found in the woods, Wife did NOT care for THAT project sitting on the Kitchen counter so after one grow cycle I was back to road hunting in the local State park !You guy's are gonna have a bunch of fun but you may want to get your hands on a drying set up because when they start to fruit, there is no way you can eat em fast enough to keep up with it !
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Post by fernwood on Jun 20, 2018 22:49:54 GMT -5
The plugs we used were made from wood containing mushroom spores. We saw a video of how they are made. Mushroom spores are applied to splinters of wet wood and another natural, secret ingredient that are in a mold. A machine places the top portion of the mold on and presses it down.
The plugs remind me of small dowels. If there is resistance when pounding them in (such as sawdust in the drilled hole or rung edges) they sandwich out on top.
This is the first time I have tried growing mushrooms. This company also had the sawdust bags referenced above and some logs with the plugs already in them. The plugs were $10.00/100. The logs each had 36 plugs and were $18.00.
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Post by fernwood on Jun 20, 2018 22:54:52 GMT -5
We grew some Shitake in the basement of the Blacksmith shop here. After drilling and plugging logs we soaked them 24 hours and placed them against racks sitting vertically on a layer of Sand about 6 in. deep. After a couple days the Micylan had taken over the logs from end to end and several days later (4 or 5 ) we had Mushrooms growing. We regulated the temperature and humidity by using a gas heater and spraying the sand covered floor with water. Grew some Oyster Shell variety in old coffee grounds last winter by chopping up some old ones I found in the woods, Wife did NOT care for THAT project sitting on the Kitchen counter so after one grow cycle I was back to road hunting in the local State park !You guy's are gonna have a bunch of fun but you may want to get your hands on a drying set up because when they start to fruit, there is no way you can eat em fast enough to keep up with it ! Very cool. I know Oysters are very prolific. I propagated some I found on one tree, by spreading one on another tree. These can be forced to produce in winter by bringing them inside. My neighbor has 2 large dehydrators. I have my herb drying wall of windows on my porch. Neighbor also has lots of relatives who would gladly take them off her hands. |
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agatemaggot
Cave Dweller
Member since August 2006
Posts: 2,195
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Post by agatemaggot on Jun 21, 2018 5:15:48 GMT -5
I suspect the secret ingredient is Gypsum , I bought a 2 lb. bag to mix a bit with the used Coffee grounds , supposed to have a steroid type effect or something like that on the spores ?
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agatemaggot
Cave Dweller
Member since August 2006
Posts: 2,195
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Post by agatemaggot on Jun 21, 2018 5:49:45 GMT -5
Buddy of mine has a Garage type business here making and selling archery equipment. Behind his building there is a steep, heavily wooded bank. He had to try growing Oysters and bought some grow kits. Some did alright but, some of his containers , not so good. He gave up on several 5 gal. pails and tossed the contents over the edge of the bank. There just happened to be an old dead Elm laying there that had tipped over in a bad wind storm several years back. We had a week of light rain and humid weather a couple weeks later and his shop Mouser was sitting in the window intently watching something at the edge of the steep bank and making little Cat noises like it wanted him to look at something. Gene walked out of the shop and peeked over the edge of the steep bank and called me to come over ----- with bags. The entire tree was covered from the broken off base to the tip of the branches. He grew more by accident than he did on purpose, go figure !
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Post by fernwood on Jun 21, 2018 6:04:13 GMT -5
Oysters are like that. Latch on to almost any dead medium to hardwood tree.
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Post by rmf on Jun 21, 2018 8:04:59 GMT -5
I wish I could get my wife to run the chainsaw. I even offered to hold the light while she split wood but she still seems reluctant. Not sure why.
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Post by fernwood on Jun 21, 2018 9:36:04 GMT -5
My neighbor is very talented and resourceful.
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Post by drocknut on Jun 21, 2018 10:22:11 GMT -5
I wish I could get my wife to run the chainsaw. I even offered to hold the light while she split wood but she still seems reluctant. Not sure why. LOL, I ran a chainsaw for a lot of years but splitting wood, now that's hard work unless you have a wood splitter. |
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Post by fantastic5 on Jun 21, 2018 10:59:42 GMT -5
I wish I could get my wife to run the chainsaw. I even offered to hold the light while she split wood but she still seems reluctant. Not sure why. LOL, I ran a chainsaw for a lot of years but splitting wood, now that's hard work unless you have a wood splitter. I used to run my own chain saw AND split my own wood (for enjoyment fires, not necessity heating). But now I have boys who do those things for me  . Plus my husband sold my small chain saw and bought some ginormous Stihl saw that is just too big for me to confidently use. |
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Post by fantastic5 on Jun 21, 2018 11:22:35 GMT -5
fernwood I had several logs each of shiitake and oyster years ago. The first flush was wonderful, then some sort of little black beetle found the logs and I could just never get the little buggers out of the gills of the 'shrooms. So I finally gave up and tossed them into the woods. I don't remember how long I let them 'grow' initially before I submerged them in a clean 55 gal trash can of water for several days to create the flush of mushroom (flowering stage). But once I got to that point I would soak one shiitake and one oyster every few weeks and had a constant supply of fresh mushrooms. It was wonderful until the beetles found them. I bought my spawn from The Mushroom People.
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Post by rockjunquie on Jun 22, 2018 8:39:56 GMT -5
LOL, I ran a chainsaw for a lot of years but splitting wood, now that's hard work unless you have a wood splitter. I used to run my own chain saw AND split my own wood (for enjoyment fires, not necessity heating). But now I have boys who do those things for me  . Plus my husband sold my small chain saw and bought some ginormous Stihl saw that is just too big for me to confidently use. If you take it to a local Stihl store, they'll go over it with you and supervise you with it. One of the reasons that they sell in such small stores is so they can provide that kind of service to its customers. |
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Post by stonemon on Jun 22, 2018 9:59:31 GMT -5
My wife and I grow shiitake mushrooms on Oregon white oak logs. We use sawdust spawn and seal the bores with paraffin wax melted on a small camp stove and delivered to the log with a turkey baster...
Love to see your project. Thanks for posting
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Post by fernwood on Jun 22, 2018 12:37:27 GMT -5
Neighbor and I have a plan for the next batch. Drill bits will be sharpened by her brother. He will also be cutting down more small Maple and Oak. Some Aspen for the Oysters. Sections will be notched for further stacking. The notches will allow placing the logs on saw horses for cutting in her garage.
Use only the heavy duty, corded drills. Wax will be melted in sterno cans. We will use brushes to apply.
All of the trees cut will be next to those marked for logging in a couple months. They would be destroyed anyway.
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. Plus my husband sold my small chain saw and bought some ginormous Stihl saw that is just too big for me to confidently use. 
. Plus my husband sold my small chain saw and bought some ginormous Stihl saw that is just too big for me to confidently use. 
