Oyster Mushrooms
Well, while I was in the flatlands my oyster mushroom spores arrived from Wisconsin. So today I inoculated some logs with them.
Poplar logs work well with oysters and I remembered that a poplar tree had blown down alongside Waterfall Road this spring. Accordingly, operating with chainsaw in hand directly below a "No Trespassing" sign I harvested 12 logs of 6- to 10-inch diameter and 16-inch length this morning. Hmmmm. Wonder if you can hear the hammer on a shotgun being cocked over the hum of a chainsaw.
The spores come mixed with sawdust. After placing some of the spore-sawdust mixture in the bottom of a black plastic trash bag, the log is set on the mixture. More is added to the top of the log.
An aluminum-foil cap is then placed over the top before the plastic bag is partially sealed.
Here are the 12 logs in plastic bags in the wine cellar where they will stay for at least 4 months until the logs become inoculated with oyster mushroom spores.
Next spring (most likely), I'll remove the plastic bags and aluminum foil and take the inoculated logs into the woods where the mushrooms will fruit on them in deep shade. When that happens I'll then have three very different kinds of edible mushrooms — shiitake, winecap and oyster — with each fruiting hopefully at different times throughout the year.
Mushroom farming has two major problems as far as I'm concerned. First, it is labor-intensive, mostly up front. Secondly, it requires patience because mushroom have a mind of their own when it comes to fruiting and make take a year, or more, before they do anything!
But when they do ....
Poplar logs work well with oysters and I remembered that a poplar tree had blown down alongside Waterfall Road this spring. Accordingly, operating with chainsaw in hand directly below a "No Trespassing" sign I harvested 12 logs of 6- to 10-inch diameter and 16-inch length this morning. Hmmmm. Wonder if you can hear the hammer on a shotgun being cocked over the hum of a chainsaw.
The spores come mixed with sawdust. After placing some of the spore-sawdust mixture in the bottom of a black plastic trash bag, the log is set on the mixture. More is added to the top of the log.
An aluminum-foil cap is then placed over the top before the plastic bag is partially sealed.
Here are the 12 logs in plastic bags in the wine cellar where they will stay for at least 4 months until the logs become inoculated with oyster mushroom spores.
Next spring (most likely), I'll remove the plastic bags and aluminum foil and take the inoculated logs into the woods where the mushrooms will fruit on them in deep shade. When that happens I'll then have three very different kinds of edible mushrooms — shiitake, winecap and oyster — with each fruiting hopefully at different times throughout the year.
Mushroom farming has two major problems as far as I'm concerned. First, it is labor-intensive, mostly up front. Secondly, it requires patience because mushroom have a mind of their own when it comes to fruiting and make take a year, or more, before they do anything!
But when they do ....
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