Freemotion's mushroom growing experiment....success! Pics p 1 & 3 & 4

[freemotion]

My mushroom spawn arrived today!

Last January, while lying in bed with the winds howling and the snow blowing and all the animals on me for warmth (now I understand "three dog night!") and reading seed catalogs....one had mushroom spawn for sale. This spawned much research online and led to ordering a few freshly-cut four foot oak logs along with my cut and split firewood in March.

Through a series of misplacing the catalog, changing my mind on what spawn to order, finally deciding and trying to order online only to discover that the online items were different from the print catalog, calling without keeping time zone differences in mind, misplacing the catalog, forgetting, kidding season, pig preparations, and on and on and on......I finally made the order and got the package today.

When I spoke to the guy at Field and Forest last week, I asked if it was too late in my area to start this project. I also wanted to know if my logs sat unattended for too many weeks. He said it was still ok, but since it had been so dry, I needed to thoroughly soak the butt ends of the logs for several hours or overnight. Then we got three days of rain, including today....so drilling will begin tomorrow! Perfect!

I chose peg spawn, since it is supposed to be the easiest for beginners. Advice by the F&F man was to get three types of shiitake spawn for a longer fruiting season. He sent me 250 each of Miss Happiness, Native Harvest and Night Velvet.

I also ordered 2.5 lbs of clear cheese wax, which needs to be melted and brushed onto the plugs. First you drill holes in the logs with a 5/16" bit (new one purchased today, corded drill borrowed from dad since I only have a cordless which won't handle 750 holes!) then tap the plugs in, then seal with the wax. Then stack the logs in a shady spot on pallets. We have a spot chosen in the woods within sight of the fence behind the barn.

I also ordered a ten pound block of cheese wax for my cheesemaking this season. I am determined to get cheddars better and move into romano and other aged cheeses. This company has the best prices for cheese wax I've seen anywhere. My ten pound block was $27.50, and the shipping for the total order was $14.95, so even if I call all the shipping as part of the cost of the wax, it still comes out to only $4.25 per pound! F&F told me that the price was going up, so when what is in the warehouse is gone, the price will go up by at least 10% or more. Still FAR cheaper than from the cheesemaking supply houses. However, it came in one gigantic block, and the wax I get from the cheese places comes in smaller pieces or even in slices....kinda like....cheese! At those savings, though, I will gladly struggle to hack it into manageable bits.

My understanding with this project is that it will be a year before we have our first harvest.....but I will be watching those logs, hoping for some little taste in 2010!

Oh, and a "plug" for www.fieldforest.com

 

[Blackbird]

Congratz!!

My ****take mushroom log has sat unattended and dry for... hmmm.. a YEAR probably. I got some really nice mushrooms from it while it was still going though.

 

[FarmerDenise]

I've always wanted to grow my own mushrooms. I just never could get myself to spend the money on the spawn. I usually end up spending it on seeds or baby goats
I'll see how your growing project goes, maybe next year for me

 

[Henrietta23]

My mushroom spawn arrived today!

Sounds like a horror movie to me! LOL

 

[freemotion]

This isn't really a purist ss project, since mushrooms are a treat more than a nutritional need....although, they do provide nutrients drawn from the oaks, whose roots go DEEEEEP into the soil to draw up minerals, nutrients that are now readily available to us. Mostly, this project is a treat for me!

BB, I wonder if a good soaking would revive your log. I hope I remember to soak mine during dry spells. My plan is to run the sprinkler on them overnight if we get drought periods. The fact that I not only bought the kit but also the logs will drive me to pay more attention to them, I hope. I didn't know when I bought the logs that I could use the maple trees growing in my swamp. They are the perfect size, and cutting only two of them would have yeilded all the logs I needed. When these oak logs decay, if the project is worth repeating, I will cut a couple of the maples in March and innoculate them right away. Do it right next time, learn from each attempt at any new project.

Maybe I will just make a small order next year and start a few maple logs either way. Might as well keep the experiment going without waiting years before I learn all the lessons.....

 

[valmom]

My mushroom spawn arrived today!

Sounds like a horror movie to me! LOL

To me, too! (I'm allergic to mushrooms- I can always tell when they were in a recipe even if I can't see or taste them )

 

[Henrietta23]

My mushroom spawn arrived today!

Sounds like a horror movie to me! LOL

To me, too! (I'm allergic to mushrooms- I can always tell when they were in a recipe even if I can't see or taste them )

Probably a good defense then! For me it's just a texture issue.
My dad had a ****take kit once and got lots of them from it.

 

[freemotion]

Lots? I like that word! I love mushrooms, and shiitakes have intense flavor and really darken a gravy nicely.

 

[freemotion]

DH and I moved the logs out to the woods yesterday, one by one, with dad's hand truck. Sixteen logs! We got logs that are way too big, but we didn't know any better. I'm sure it will work out great, but we can't really move these if they are in the wrong spot, so I hope we picked wisely!

Dad and I drilled, plugged, and waxed today. I had to go to work at noon, so he stayed and finished up. It took about three hours for us to innoculate 15 logs with 750 plugs.

We took a camp stove out to the logs and set it up on some blocks for melting the wax and keeping it hot. I used a saucepan with water in it, and set a small stainless steel bowl on top and put the wax in it. I pre-melted it on my kitchen stove, then carried it out to the woods. I used the bowl, pan, and natural bristle brush that I use to wax my cheeses. When I'm done, I cool the bowl with the wax and leave the brush in it, and put plastic over that to store it until the next use. I'll have to clean it this time, though, because it is full of sawdust and bits of bark and lichens.

Dad picked up a super-duper extra sharp 5/16" drill bit and a collar that can set the depth of each hole so we could go FAST. Both were worth every penny! Boy, did that drilling go fast. I had to warn Dad that he was drilling more holes than we had plug for them at the rate he was going in the beginning!

Dad drilled and I tapped plugs into the holes, then brushed the hot wax onto each plug to protect it. He would get ahead of me, then do some plugging for a while until I caught up with the waxing.

The goats supervised through the fence. They strongly approved when I pulled up some goldenrod and Canadian lettuce and poked it through the fence for them.

I located the logs where I could check on them regularly and put a sprinkler on them if we get some drought conditions over the next few years. Now we wait. And wait. And wait........

 

[freemotion]

I ran into the grocery store with dh on the way home from the office yesterday. It was far to hot for me to wait in the car, even with the ac on, as the car hadn't cooled enough yet. I rarely go into the "regular" grocery stores, as they frustrate me too much with the garbage they sell as food and the prices. This store is called Stop 'n' Shop, and it is where I used to do almost all my grocery shopping. DH stops in for me when I need something I like to buy there, like the wonderful Alvarado Street Bakery sprouted grain breads. He is so good to me!

While he was picking up something to put on the grill, I checked out the produce department. People actually pay those prices! And those were the sale prices!!!

But....and here is my moment....they had fresh shiitakes in little 3.5 ounce boxes for.....$2.99 each! That is $13.35 per pound!!!!

I hope my logs grow lots of mushrooms!