Having fun with funghi

What an exciting day today! Drills, hammers, blow torches, and hot wax, the first thing that comes to mind is probably not mushrooms. But that is what we spent the better part of our morning working on, inoculating oak logs with two types of mushrooms, Shiitake and Oyster.

I'll give you the inside scoop on growing mushrooms. First, we soaked the logs in water for 24hrs, then we drilled holes in the log using a drill with a 5/16 inch drill bit. The pattern followed was like the five on a dice with the holes 6 inches apart from each other. Do this pattern on all sides of the log.

Next take the fungus plugs (dowels) and hammer them into the holes. Next, melt some cheese wax (don't know the real term for it off hand) in a pot using a propane torch and spoon the melted wax over the plugs, completely covering the holes. This helps seal off the wound and prevent other fungus or microbial life from getting in there and competing with your spores.

Lise putting wax over the plugs

The logs are then stacked in tepee form in the woods and can be harvested the following year. Your patience will be rewarded with some awesome locally foraged fresh mushrooms!