RE: My Firewood, Epiphany, Smooth Cutting Actifit Report Card: October 3 2019
Very impressive! I've been following your logging adventure for the last few posts, and it always gets me excited... so much awesome power everywhere: in the wood, in the machine, not to mention the work itself.
About the stump: now would be the perfect time to inoculate it with mushrooms, before another fungus takes over. You can probably get dowels that have been pre-inoculated with spores in any DIY mushroom supply place. They can probably tell you what type of fun-guy grows best on your fir tree, but I would guess oyster mushrooms would be a good choice. All you do is drill holes into the stump, break off a piece of dowel, and hammer it in. Then you wait and let nature take its course. Once the fungus is established, you should have flushes after flushes of delicious mushrooms growing on it... Not forever, but until all the rootage is used up. Which should take a good while, judging from the size of your tree. BTW, this is bound to happen anyway, just not necessarily with the kind of mushrooms you like to eat. So why not go for the best?
HOLY BALLS is that a damned good idea!!!! There are a bunch of places that sell plugs so i will totally look into that. I will probably have to do it in spring since I am not sure the plugs would make it through our winter. Not sure there would be enough time for them to get established now before winter hits.
Damn, that is a seriously good use for the stump. I have been scratching my head trying to figure out what to do with it.
Thank you!
I'd still give it a try now, just to get a head start before other spores. Once established, you'll never get rid of them, which is great news if we're talking about the delicious kind! And if winter interrupts the process, you can still try again in the spring.
At Stamet's site these look to be the primary conifer fruiting fungus. At least the ones he has plugs for.
https://fungi.com/products/phoenix-oyster-plug-spawn-100-plugs
https://fungi.com/products/turkey-tail-plug-spawn-100-plugs
And then Chicken of the woods should grow but he doesn't have plugs. Not bad prices for the above.
Ha, I knew it! I did remember something about oyster mushrooms. Very cool. And the turkey tails, great medicinal fungi, with a decent taste. Oh, and yes, the Chicken of the Woods, so delicious! Maybe you can try out a couple of types, and let them fight it out, see which one becomes established the quickest before winter sets in. I've never done this before, by the way, but always wanted to. So I'm excited to follow you on this mushroom adventure.
Okay, I just ordered a 100pk of the Phoenix Oyster Plug Spawn from Fungi Perfecti. Should be enough for me to inoculate both of the fir tree stumps on the corners of the house. They are coming from the west side of the state so I will have them probably monday. I think I will have just enough time for them to get established before winter. If not then it is only $15 for a pack and I will get more and retry in spring.
Awesome! Amazing! I'm so psyched about it... Hahaha, I can't believe how happy I am for you (and indirectly for your stump, your soil, and also your oyster fungus, which will love eating up the stump for you)! Looking forward to your post about it next week! :-)