Holy Shiitake! Inoculating some Shiitake logs!

We have had such a wonderful 2014 so far, getting to learn new things! This was a fun sunday with friends and we learned how to inoculate shiitake logs! A good friend taught how to drill the holes into the logs and then you take the spawn/spores that you purchase online ( here is the kind he used.... he said it is excellent for your immune system ) :
   

 

You take the spawn and you use a neat tool called an inoculator.... and you just squirt it into the holes!

 

 

And here is what it looks like with the spawn in it....

 

 

Just keep it nice and neat, and then you take hot wax ( we used cheese wax! ) and you just dab it over the holes. That keeps impurities, etc out of the spawn. :)

 

 

We made a fun assembly line, ate some pizza and had a great time working and chatting. We finished about 200 logs in 4 hours! As payment for working so hard, we got to learn the process and we got to take home 6 logs for our little urban farm!!!

 

Here they are! We keep them covered with a couple 99 cent burlap bags from the farm store. They just need to stay in the shade.... soon there will be shiitake mushrooms growing all over the logs and they will continue to produce once or twice a year for about 8 years!!! Such a great thing for your little farm! :)

 

 

Hope you are having a wonderful week!!! What kind of neat things are you up to at your farms ??

Love, JL~

ps- follow me on instagram at fruittreehill  !!!! I love instagram and love making new friends on it! I just started! :)