Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Mushroom update

Mushroom innoculation season is finally over! Jeremy was delayed by a month or so with having to move his whole operation and build the new shade structure and all that. He decided to call it quits at the end of June, no matter where he was at. He got through almost all the logs and there wasn't too much leftover spawn. (Posts on that if he can get those bags to fruit...)

Somehow it's more enjoyable to innoculate while wearing down coats and gloves, than to be in our really hot garage in the summer. So hopefully innoculations don't go this long next year!

One big change Jeremy had to make was with his stacking method. You saw a little of his method in the last mushroom post. Turns out having your mushroom farm in a wetlands area is...wet! And too much moisture causes mold, which is bad. So he had to restack everything, getting the logs up higher and with more air circulation.





Amazingly, some of these logs - which were cut down 5 months ago and have been drilled with hundreds of holes - are sprouting leaves! I guess that means they're fresh.



These are the majority of the oyster logs. They're in bags now but will be removed from bags soon.


And here are the shiitake in the fruiting structure.


Aren't they beautiful?



(mirror image mushrooms - there isn't a mirror, one goes up, one goes down!)



Jeremy did some oyster mushrooms in drilled logs, and they are starting to come up.






He's put a lot of work into keeping the environment just right, and it must be working because he's picked a ton of mushrooms so far!

4 comments:

Jane @ Hard Work Homestead said...

Now the ones that are fruiting, the oyster and shitake, those were innoculated when? Not this year, right? And what do the bags do? You really have quite the farm there.

Aimee said...

The shiitake that he's force-fruiting were innoculated last year. Some of the ones he innoculated this year may fruit as early as September - depends on a lot of things.
I think the Oyster mushrooms were done this year, within the last few months. I'll have to confirm that with him - but I think they do tend to fruit a lot earlier.
How are your logs doing?! I haven't been keeping up with things for a month or so - I'll have to see if you've done any 'shroom posts. =)

Jane @ Hard Work Homestead said...

Well, they are not doing anything. That was why I wondered when they were innoculated. I am just wondering when I should see something.

nini2033a said...

I just took a class in mushroom growing on logs, I am very excited to try it. This is what led me to your blog. I am curious about the structure you are growing in? It looks like white plastic? Could you share what type of enclosure you are using? I see you are a transplant from the PNW? I am from the wetside of WA.
Thanks,
Karen
Nini2033a@yahoo.com