Part 3 - EcoEcho Forest Cultivation week 2: The Flycatcher Steals the mosquitoes (and the show)

So this is a second Flycatcher nest - as you can see it is very well constructed. The first one took about a week to finish I think - so there is a third nest also that I discovered.  The Flycatcher was nervous about me taking this photo. So I backed off in the distance to wait for the phone to turn on and make its microwave connection. Then I took the photo quick.

This third nest was very close to my walking trail and it was camouflaged in with the tree. As you can see it's mainly birch bark. So it provides a nice little environment.

As of now I soak the logs for four to six hours but I need to do more research on this. You can't soak the logs after they have grow the mycelium for four months - otherwise it might induce early "fruiting" of the shrooms.

Well, there is always soaking logs in fresh water for several hours for them to rehydrate. We are not big fans of this as it adds more labor to an already very labor intensive crop, but if the log population is small and your back is strong here are a few suggestions:

Small diameter logs will dry out faster than large diameter logs, so soak those first. If the logs float, (We hope not!) weigh them down with concrete blocks, tractor wheel weights or some other hefty item. Several hours should be adequate to get water into the log. Do not be tempted to soak the logs longer than 24 hours as this could lead to anaerobic conditions within the log.

Do not attempt to soak logs for re hydration purposes after 4 months of spawn run have occurred. Sometimes a soak can bring on a premature effort to fruit which can weaken the running mycelium and thus overall log health. Sprinkling is a far better alternative at later stages of spawn growth.

Logs that are placed directly or nearly so on the ground can suffer from green mold competitors, even here in the Midwest. If you see fresh post inoculation green molds in quantity on the bark during the first year of incubation, elevate and separate the logs to encourage more air flow. This should take care of the occasional mold problems found in shiitake logs during wet spells.

put logs on pallets

So those are the new "stock tanks" - the 2 foot high by 5 foot long is actually a "sheep stock tank." I got very lucky as it was the last one at the local farm supply store - and it works perfectly for soaking the mushroom logs. I use "weighted" pails and pots to keep the logs submerged. But you don't want to soak too long as they get too waterlogged - the logs have to air out again as the mushrooms need to breath, just as animals breath - oxygen in and CO2 out. I've literally had four people at different times ask me if I had "planted" the mushrooms! I had to explain that the mushrooms EAT plants.

So the biggest trees are Tamarck trees - in the mini-forest. So it is considered Tamarck-willow wetland forest.

I have the logs on the forest floor yet near by the soak tanks - as instead of "watering" the logs with a sprinkler - it is more labor intensive to carry the logs.

Another tall Tamarck tree. The trees are coniferous and yet drop the leaves in the winter. I will see - I need to check how much Vitamin C they have. I was eating the soft needles.

Tamarack is full of vitamin C and has a earthy flavor.

Good deal! Just as I suspected.

it’s best to use bits of bark and twig for your tea, as they’re also packed with vitamin C and have a lovely green, earthy flavor. Tamarack bark has anti-inflammatory properties and has been used as a decongestant and expectorant for chest complaints, but keep in mind that it also has strong laxative properties as well—use it sparingly, unless that’s the effect that you’re aiming for.

OK moving along.

 This is my new Tipi set up for heat and cooking - using the Silverfire Hunter stove into my custom designed chimney pipe. I don't know if it will work but I hope so. Also I need to get a small battery-operated rechargeable vacuum - so I can clean out the stove after each use. That will be much easier than trying to detach the chimney and hauling it out of the tipi crawl space entry to empty it each day.

So the chimney pipe goes up first for draw. I had to dig down to put the stove in. This broke my main rule on this land - do NOT dig as I always got flooding. But I had first installed drainage pipes in the ground outside the tipi - to keep the water out. And so this chimney then goes horizontal ACROSS the tipi - to then give off even more heat.

Here is one Alder thicket - with a couple logs that were drying out and now are inoculated. So those are future mushroom logs in the mini-forest. There is another Alder thicket also.

So here are more logs - the birch - and I added more to this area. So it has about 15 Birch logs inoculated.

A different area of birch logs. So I have about 50 logs inoculated now. I cut more logs from the trees I took down - so those logs are smaller size and drying out. Plus I have another 14 logs left from my last cutting to do. So each 5 pound bag of mycelium sawdust spore will inoculate about 25 logs. So far I've done about 2 bags worth - so it has measured out about true - despite variations in length and diameter of the logs.