Yes, they are FUN. We've been to MI twice and PA this year. A few pictures from PA GTG in June '23 Pictures from MI GTG '22 and '19. Backwoods Savage, on the right, hosts this GTG... Folks come long distances for this much fun. Us from GA, Stephiedoll on the left, came from Nebraska Chvymn99 drives from Kansas, brings a couple of his smokers We get a lot done...even the ladies help cut and split... walt had fun bringing wood to the splitter area... And door prizes are given away. Barcroftb got this bottle of Copperhead Shine that is made down here Even saws are given away.
Yes, we have also been using the mushrooms in a ton of stuff. I like them in scrambled eggs the most. That’s what we have left until next year. I can’t really tell that they were dehydrated once they are in a prepared dish.
Hey Ohio You are my hero for your shiitake harvest. I just had a Norway Beech taken down and the gal that I was going to give the wood to can't take it. So now I have all these extra small logs and Beech is an excellent wood to grow Shiitake. I ordered up a plug kit and in the next few weeks will inoculate a bunch of logs for next late summer/early fall. Pretty excited. Maybe will get to post some Shiitake mushroom shots like you. Wish me luck and I hope yours keep producing!
Heck yeah! If I can do it anybody can. How many plugs did you order? Think through your set up to make it as comfortable as possible, we did 500. It took the wife and I 2-3 hours to inoculate. Keep us posted with pics.
For the amount of small logs I have I am between the large and small kits so I got the 1000 plug kit and will figure on @ 4-500 plugs. My basic setup will be a log cabin of maybe 12 logs. I can also totem pole several sets of three rounds and put one in the center of the log cabin. I have friends who will take a set. A buddy who I mushroom hunt with will help through the whole operation for a totem set. Kinda excited about this!
Finally got my Beech logs all inoculated for Shiitake mushrooms. 16 0r 18 in all, 40" long on most of them. I used all 1000 plugs and put the logs in a damp corner of 2 fences under the holly trees. In the summer it will be quite shady. The kit literature says plan on one years of mushrooms for every inch of log diameter. So a 4" diameter log should flush for 4 years. I have logs of about 9" to 3.5" diameters. The small logs will flush earlier and the larger, later, if all goes to plan. I just hope the mushrooms got the E-mail! I am keeping the logs wet and covered with plastic during dry and very cold periods and pull the plastic off during rain. Hope all this works out. I am also thinking about putting in a Wine Cap (Stropharia Rugosoannulata) mushroom bed in another area. We'll see about that.
Had a single mushroom emerge. Not the best haul but still going at it. Will be inoculating some logs on Saturday, I ordered 500 dowels. Having a rolling stock of logs to keep it going will be good.
Did most of this alone and I would not recommend doing 500 dowels solo. Worked under the porch on the tailgate of my pickup this time. Inoculating silver maple logs this time. I did one willow log but it was so much worse than the SM. Spongey and when I drilled it the holes and it looked like they self healed. Had good results from north spore last time so I ordered them again. There are drill bits that have a depth gauge but I’m not spending the money on that. I put a piece of tape to set my depth and it works good enough. Tappy tap tap. 500 times. After the dowels are set flush they have to be driven just under the surface. I use a punch. This took me like 6 hours, due to not having everything set up the best it could be but also took a lunch break. Setting a good amount is best if working alone. All gone. There probably a few on the ground but at this point I’m not too worried about it. 9 or so months, just a waiting game now. Next time I might just do 100 on 3 logs just to keep thing easier. Smaller more frequently would be better.
Looks very much like my operation except I did have a drill stop. I laid my logs in a sawbuck for the drilling work. My kit from Field and Forest said nothing about counter sinking the plugs so I didn't. It came with a tub of soft wax that you just daub on with a finger (which was sore by the end of the operation). I suspect the hot wax may be a better way to go. A little more of a pain to work with but probably more durable once applied. Just curious, what strain of Shiitake are you using? Is it WR46? Looks like we both have something to look forward to next late summer and fall. You may even have some this late spring from your previous set up!
I looked all over the website and I could not find anything on what strain they use for the dowels. The hot wax is alright, my double boiler set up was not that great. If you use the hot wax get plenty of the wool applicators or wax daubers. They get really gummed up quickly. I might like the soft wax better, I went through quite a bit of propane keeping the wax liquid. I could have used a hot plate I suppose. I’m hoping that these will fruit by the fall with silver maple being on the softer side.
Find a crock pot at a yard sale. Works great provided you can run an extension cord to your processing spot.
I saw one at a thrift store a while back and should have bought it. It would be cheaper than running the gas that’s for sure.
I use one for my Firestarters. Warm the wax up and use what I want then let the rest cool when I’m done. Works well.
