Using the wood stove to melt the wax (and keep the work environment warm - especially the shiitake sawdust spawn - thus enabling me to get an early start on the Spawn Run!)
Drilled hole in an Alder log.
Alder, despite being a bush, is a hardwood and so considered a good growing medium food for Shiitake. But it needs to be at least 3 inches. I harvested almost all my 3 inch diameter Alder (at the base). So hopefully next year more will grow in.
Last years Spawn Run was declared well established by the professional mycologists helping me out with advice. I cleaned off the Trichoderma competing mold - but it's that same mold that causes the Shiitake mycelium to develop its antibacterial properties - a byproduct of the lentinan - more on that below.
So in the plastic bag is the "dauber" ball for the wax to cover the drill holes. That is the drill bit - made in Japan where Shiitake is a multi-billion dollar annual industry - and then the Japan-style brass inoculation hand tool.
Drill bit in the drill.
So it's a specially made drill bit just the right length for the Shiitake inoculation tool depth. So then I drill a hole every 6 inches length wise since the mycelium spawn grows faster in line with the grain of the wood - or vertically along the tree.
So in the EcoEcho Forest Hermit Hut - I can inoculate by sitting on the meditation bed and using the chair to hold the logs.
This year I chose Westwind - I think this is the same strain I chose for my first inoculation harvest - the image shown on my blog background photo - from my previous 10 acre contiguous forest harvest. Why Westwind? Studies have shown it has the highest level of Lentinan - again see below for details on Lentinan. Also Westwind is part of their wide season variety - as with the first strain I used. So that means they can adapt to a wide range of growing conditions and better for first time growers getting to know their cultivation situation.
The bottom right red light proves I am getting a charge on the portable lithium generator battery that goes up to 31 amp-hours... So what is charging it in the winter?
Actually we have abrupt global warming weather that day.
So my wood stove chimney was pulling apart from the ground warming up - and the wood stove legs sinking into the ground - and also the pressure up from the hot smoke. So for the first time I drilled into the duct chimney. I drilled before but they were pre-set holes. This time I pre-drilled a hole and then put in these machine screws - luckily I had some left over that I saved from some other project.
So then I discovered - as was recommended online - if you close down the air intake on the stove halfway - then the air is not so cold coming in - and the bottom intake does not have a screen - so that it gets more secondary air in the bottom of the stove. So then the fire is forced forward more under the baffle and the secondary fumes are burned off better - and so a smokeless chimney!
So then I am using the north side of the EcoEcho Forest Cultivation Hermit Hut for shading the inoculated logs - and then I covered the logs in more snow so the ends don't dry out.
So I spent three nights in the EcoEcho Forest Cultivation Hermit Hut! I filled in more holes in the wall - with the borax blue jean insulation (Thermafill) and so I was not using my big 4 gallon pot of water - since at first the wood stove was sinking into the ground. But with the bricks - it got very hot - and I heard a very loud "ping" - like a gun shot - from the pressure - and probably some tinder spark shooting up into the chimney duct, as it turns off at 30 degrees. But the machine screws held up and so I considered the wood stove repair a success.
Here's some more inoculated logs buried in the snow - I put more snow on top. Then those trees in the background got covered in snow also - as I brought up a shovel. Thanks to the local neighbors for letting me park on their easement - on the part of the road that I technically own - but they plow it for their use. So maybe I can provide them with some Shiitake shrooms. I talked to a new local neighbor and he asked if I was starting up the mushroom season. So he had been told what I was doing. So glad to hear people are being encouraging.
Oh and also I saw in the distance what appeared to be a large mammal waddling away from my storage tarp - and I couldn't figure out what it could have been. Then two days later when I left the hut - there was a strong distinct skunk smell and I realized that the waddling mammal had the same black color as a skunk. I've seen skunk road kill in the area. So the skunk are definitely around.
So then I saw a chipmunk on my first shelter - the teepee. So I went inside - crawling in. My wood stove pipe is now disconnected inside. So then I checked my storage bin and sure enough - it sits on top of a barrel - and the storage bin is completely filled with the movie chair stuffing I had put in the walls. The chipmunk is in heaven - as it is living inside the tipi - with amazing insulation and protection from wind and rain and cold. So as I was inside I heard the chipmunk squeaking but when I got out - it was waiting for me on the tree branch. We stared at each other in silence. Its parents last year were living in the tipi and were super pissed when I also was sleeping in the tipi in the winter. So they went on a tirade after me and then the Lynx ate those chipmunks - as I blogged on before. So this chipmunk is an orphan and in a true sense raised in my tipi, conditioned to me somewhat. Hopefully it will survive and thrive - finding a mate.
And now what makes Shiitake mushroom so special?
The most promising data are those indicating an inverse relationship between mushroom consumption and breast cancer risk.
These benefits are primarily due to their polysaccharide content, either in the form of beta-glucans or polysaccharide-protein complexes, which appear to exert their anti-tumorigenic effects by enhancement of cellular immunity via effects on the balance of T helper cell populations and induction of certain interleukins and interferon (IFN)-γ.
Antibiotic properties of the extracts from the fermentation broth and mycelium of 15 strains of the edible and medicinal basidiomycete L. edodes were studied and it was shown that the extracts were active against grampositive and gramnegative bacteria, yeasts and mycelial fungi, including dermatophytes and phytopathogens.
lentinamycin, lentin, and lentinan (a β-glucan) demonstrate antimicrobial and antiviral activities, lentinan suppresses the prolifera- tion of leukemic cells
J Am Coll Nutr. 2015;34(6):478-87. doi: 10.1080/07315724.2014.950391. Epub 2015 Apr 11.Consuming Lentinula edodes (xiang-gu, xiānggū Chinese Black Mushrooms 香菇 or Shiitake) Mushrooms Daily Improves Human Immunity: A Randomized Dietary Intervention in Healthy Young Adults.
Shiitake mushrooms contain lentinan, a polysaccharide that has numerous medicinal benefits. The polysaccharide lentinan has demonstrated high immunopotentiating and antimetastasic activities [6,7], antitumor activity [8,9], antibacterial, antifungal and antidiabetic activities [10,11], among others. However, few works have examined the antiviral activity of this basidiomycete [12-14]. ...The extracts and the polysaccharide could be considered as a source of potential antiviral substances. Apart from these benefits, it has tremendous potential to be used as an antioxidant, anticancer, antigingivitis, antifungal, and antiviral agent.Results also indicate that log-grown shiitake contained more HMWP [High-molecular-weight polysaccharides (HMWP)] than did substrate-grown shiitake [log-grown shiitake mushrooms have up to 2.5 times more lentinan as per below chart]. Analyses for total starch and glycogen, to a lesser extent, indicate these polysaccharides are less than 10% of the total carbohydrates in HMWP. These results suggest that the HMWP fraction had a high level of lentinan.Effects of Management on the Yield and High-Molecular-Weight Polysaccharide Content of Shiitake (Lentinulaedodes) Mushrooms
Cite this: J. Agric. Food Chem. 2002, 50, 19, 5333-5337Publication Date:August 3, 2002Copyright © 2002 American Chemical Society
Only 5% of all mushroom are grown the way mother nature intended….in hardwood logs, stumps or bolts.
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