Project Mushroom

For the record, I am not a huge fan of mushrooms. I'll eat them if I have to or if it would be too hard or too messy to pick them out, but they're not something I choose to eat. Because I don't like mushrooms, I'm not really sure why I started this project. It just seemed like a cool process that I would like to try. I guess I will have to learn to eat them soon. I spent Sunday afternoon working to inoculate several oak logs with shiitake spore plugs. The process was fairly easy and if it works, we will probably be swimming in the things sometime in 2014.

1000 (more or less) shiitake plugs

To start, I ordered 1000 shiitake spore plugs from Fungi Perfecti. This was way more than I needed but I never do things small and knew I would need more than the next smaller bag of 100. The plugs arrived in a box very shortly after I ordered them. Included in the order was a bag of soy wax chips for sealing the plugs in the log once they are inserted into the logs.

For the growing medium, we had a small oak tree that, for some reason, had been bent over and looked like an arch over the pasture fence. I cut the tree down and into 4' lengths and let it age for about three weeks. This allows time for the tree's natural defense mechanisms to break down. Then, on Saturday, I began soaking the logs in water for about 24 hours. On Sunday afternoon, I "planted" the plugs using a 5/16th" drill bit. According to the instructions that came with the kit, the holes should be 1.25" deep and 4" apart.

Plugs before they are tapped into the holes

Sealing with wax

After drilling the logs, I placed the plugs in the holes, tapped them until they were flush with the log, then used a bolt to tap them the rest of the way down into the holes.  After the plugs were all the way in, I sealed the holes with soy wax injected with an old syringe.

The process was not very hard but it was a little time consuming and took the better part of the afternoon. Now all we do is place the logs in a shady area, water occasionally and wait for the right time to harvest. We will update the blog once things start happening with them. Until then, here is a link to The Urban Farming Guys discussion on growing mushrooms; pretty cool stuff.