Mushroom log garden (Six on Saturday #38, November 24, 2018)
After the remnants of Hurricane Michael knocked down a couple of our neighbors’ trees (see picture #6), they generously offered us some of the wood. It’s not every day that I have access to such big, beautiful oak logs, so I decided to use them for something more fun than firewood.
1. The wood
2. The mushrooms
Wooden plugs colonized by lion’s mane or shiitake mycelium. The ‘Wide Range” shiitake fruits at 55-75 F (13-24 C) , while “N.C. Wild” fruits at 85-105 F (30-41 C). The combination should offer the possibility of mushrooms during much of spring, summer, and autumn.
3. The guide book
This book is focused mainly on indoor growing, but it has a useful section on log cultivation.
4. The location
The kids don’t use their old sandbox any more. It is well shaded, and I thought the walls and sandy bottom would help to create a sheltered, humid microclimate. I covered the ground with corrugated cardboard, so that heavy rain wouldn’t kick up sand and make the mushrooms gritty.
5. The procedure
Drill holes.Insert plugs and pound them in with a rubber mallet.Seal the holes with melted cheese wax.
6. The log garden
The finished log garden under a good soaking rain. Now I wait.
For more Six on Saturday, head on over to The Propagator. After viewing his Six, check out the comments for links from other participants.
14 thoughts on “Mushroom log garden (Six on Saturday #38, November 24, 2018)”
Something I won’t be doing as I’m allergic to mushrooms! But a six with a difference. You could have just started a new trend as we all beat our brains to come up with sixes through the winter months – six (well eight) photos of stages in a project. I’m looking forward to progress reports. Fungi are interesting to grow and my allergy only relates (thus far) to consumption, not touch. Maybe I will be doing something! Who knows?
I was inspired by the photos of your edifice projects, actually. If this garden works, I may try some more varieties. They are certainly interesting to grow and photograph.
Since you can’t consume them, I will eat some mushrooms and bacon for you.
Fantastic! I would like to find these plugs here .. Last winter, I grew shiitake in my kitchen on a growing medium that was sold with. Your technique is very interesting and I can’t wait to see the results …
I grew some oyster mushrooms in one of those kitchen kits. It was fun. I think I’ll have to wait about a year for these logs to produce mushrooms—if the inoculation is successful.
What are those unfamiliar oaks? How compelling? I do not recognize them. I know that you have many different specie that we lack, but I still sort of expect to be able to recognize them.
I knew someone was going to ask that! Oak identification isn’t my strong suit, but I think the smooth bark is Quercus rubra, and the peeling bark plates is Quercus alba. Both species have furrowed bark on the lower trunk, but the upper trunk and branches are different.
Oh, of course. I should have recognized the Quercus rubra. There is one at the farm. It is likely a garden variety, but it looks similar. The bark stays smooth longer than for the native oaks. Quercus alba would have been my guess for the other, but I am not at all familiar with it. It has a big range, but is not endemic here.
When I still lived at home, my boss grew shitake mushrooms &’d bring them in for his minions. Such heaven . . . & my intro to shitake so man, was I ever disappointed when I got some from the store! No taste at all. You & family’ll be eating high of the hog in the distant future! Mushroom & bacon . . . o my.
Something I won’t be doing as I’m allergic to mushrooms! But a six with a difference. You could have just started a new trend as we all beat our brains to come up with sixes through the winter months – six (well eight) photos of stages in a project. I’m looking forward to progress reports. Fungi are interesting to grow and my allergy only relates (thus far) to consumption, not touch. Maybe I will be doing something! Who knows?
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I was inspired by the photos of your edifice projects, actually. If this garden works, I may try some more varieties. They are certainly interesting to grow and photograph.
Since you can’t consume them, I will eat some mushrooms and bacon for you.
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Fascinating! There is always so much to learn and do. Mushrooms are not yet on my ‘to-do’ list … but I am definitely intrigued. Thanks for sharing.
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Fantastic! I would like to find these plugs here .. Last winter, I grew shiitake in my kitchen on a growing medium that was sold with. Your technique is very interesting and I can’t wait to see the results …
LikeLiked by 1 person
I grew some oyster mushrooms in one of those kitchen kits. It was fun. I think I’ll have to wait about a year for these logs to produce mushrooms—if the inoculation is successful.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love the idea of a log garden. Creative and natural
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What are those unfamiliar oaks? How compelling? I do not recognize them. I know that you have many different specie that we lack, but I still sort of expect to be able to recognize them.
LikeLike
I knew someone was going to ask that! Oak identification isn’t my strong suit, but I think the smooth bark is Quercus rubra, and the peeling bark plates is Quercus alba. Both species have furrowed bark on the lower trunk, but the upper trunk and branches are different.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, of course. I should have recognized the Quercus rubra. There is one at the farm. It is likely a garden variety, but it looks similar. The bark stays smooth longer than for the native oaks. Quercus alba would have been my guess for the other, but I am not at all familiar with it. It has a big range, but is not endemic here.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is a completely new method of growing mushrooms for me so I found your post fascinating. It will be very interesting to see what happens next.
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Fantastic, let us know how that goes. When do you expect to see mushrooms?
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Perhaps next autumn for the smaller logs. The larger logs will probably take longer to produce mushroom, but they’ll also last longer.
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When I still lived at home, my boss grew shitake mushrooms &’d bring them in for his minions. Such heaven . . . & my intro to shitake so man, was I ever disappointed when I got some from the store! No taste at all. You & family’ll be eating high of the hog in the distant future! Mushroom & bacon . . . o my.
LikeLiked by 1 person