Plugging Spores

As is evident from the blog we enjoy growing much of our food. Mushrooms are our newest adventure.   They take about a year to harvest and we are anxiously awaiting our first crop from last year’s planting.  In the meantime more spores were ordered and another plugging was on the spring to-do list. 

We have used White Oak logs for both plantings. It is best to make sure they are nice and wet. There have been a few rainy days this week so that part was taken care of naturally. 

Holes are drilled into the logs.

Next the spores are hammered into the holes. They look like small dowel rods wrapped in a thin cloth. I assume the spores are inside this cloth and spiraled around the wooden plugs.

After the plugs are inserted we countersink them further into the logs so that wax can be poured into the hole, sealing the spores inside and preventing any unwanted foreign spore from contaminating the log. 

Finally we find a shady spot to keep the logs. Nature does the rest. Although if the weather is extremely hot and dry we do water the logs.

Below are the mushrooms just beginning to show from last year's planting.                                  




There's nothing like men hard a work!

While this was going on outside, I had my project well underway inside. Cleaning, organizing, and purging our bedroom and closet. I had intended to do this is February but I could never bring myself to start. I knew what a mess it would be. Almost all the closet contents have been drug out into the room and sorted for keep, trash, or Salvation Army. I am NOT a nice person when my room looks like this. I've already had to apologize to all 3 members of my immediate family for losing my temper. We will all be thankful when this project is complete.