October 6, 2023
Every spring we inoculate a couple hundred logs with various types of mushroom spawn. Shiitake, Maitake, Oyster, Lion’s Mane and Comb Tooth are a given but this year we branched out a bit and added a few new ones: Chestnut, Turkey Tail, Wine Caps and Almond Agaricus. We also made a fundamental change in how we handle the logs, and I’m extremely pleased with the results. In fact, Anne says I’m bordering on gloating.
Inoculating logs involves cutting them into 3-foot lengths, drilling several dozen holes into each log, filling the holes with the spawn (mushroom spores), and sealing all the holes with wax. After the logs have been inoculated, they are set aside so the fungi’s mycelium can spread throughout the log, which usually takes about a year. After that year (called the spawn run), the fungi infused logs begin to fruit. Lion’s Mane mushrooms are even slower to fruit, often taking 2 years or more.
While the logs are incubating, we do our best to keep them from drying out and to keep other, more aggressive mushrooms from invading and taking over the logs. This spring it occurred to me that cutting the logs into 3-foot lengths exposes all those cut ends to moisture loss and invading fungi. Certain types of shiitakes produce best if the logs are soaked in cool water for 24 hours, so we will continue to use 3-foot logs for that. However, for the logs that don’t need to fit into our soaking troughs, we left them in 20-foot lengths instead. That alone reduced the surface area exposed to evaporation and infection from 14 cut ends to just 2 cut ends.
The results so far have been fantastic – our 20-foot Lion’s Mane logs have started fruiting in 7 months as opposed to the 28 months of previous years. It was such an extraordinary difference that I contacted the mushroom spawn producer, and they were as impressed as I was (minus the gloating). We are talking about collaborating on additional research with them next spring. They can provide us with free spawn and technical guidance so we can repeat the process and see if we get the same results.
Anne and I both love the idea of collaborating and being a part of a study much bigger than ourselves. The longer logs won’t work for everyone, but it could revolutionize how some growers proceed. I’m looking forward to getting advice, perfecting our technique, and expanding our mushroom yard. In fact, I have visions of growing enough Lion’s Mane mushrooms next year to start my own safari. (Please insert a deep sigh and long-suffering eye roll from Anne here).