**Make sure to keep your plugs refrigerated and do not open the bag until you are ready to inoculate your logs!**
Selecting the right wood: 🍄 _Walnut, Elm, Black Locust, Ash and Larch/Tamarac should not be used!_
**Hardwood mushroom species – Shiitake, Maitake, Reishi, Turkey Tail, Chicken of the Woods, Lions Mane**
🌲 Recommended hardwood tree species; All Oaks, all Maple, Box Elder, Ironwood, Sweetgum, American Beech, Eucalyptus species, Hornbeam/Blue Beech, Alder, Black Gum or Tupelo, Cherry, Butternut, Sulphur Bud Hickory (Bitternut Hickory), Buckthorn.
**Less dense hardwood mushroom species – All Oyster varieties, Chicken of the woods**
🌳 Recommended tree species; Aspen, Poplar, Cottonwood, Balsam Poplar, Hackberry, Mulberry, Willows, Birch, Tallow, Buckeye, Tree of Heaven, True softwoods/pines & fir.
Harvest logs only from trees which are alive and healthy is vital to your success. Rotting, diseased, or trees that have any mushroom already growing should be avoided, as well as trees already with a fungus growing on them. Logs should be 4-7” in diameter for all Shiitake and Oyster varieties. Larger diameter logs generally take longer to colonize, but are well suited for larger mushroom species like Maitake, Lions Mane, and Chicken of the woods.
They should be 40-48” in length, but only cut them in lengths you are comfortable handling. The best time to cut down the logs is from the late fall (after the leaves have fallen) until spring (right before the buds appear). This is because the sugar content is the highest. You can cut logs during anytime of the year, but you won’t have a great of a yield as you would when the sugar content is at its highest. Some recommend waxing the ends of the logs immediately after cutting, but it isn’t necessary.
Stack your logs in a “log cabin” pile formation until you are ready to inoculate. Very early spring is the best time to inoculate because that will leave the summer for the culture to colonize the logs. If you inoculate in the early spring your logs may give your first batch of mushrooms in the late fall. You can inoculate anytime during the year, as long as you keep in mind that you will not get any mushrooms until at least six warm months have passed. Inoculate at least one month before the first snow. This will allow the culture ample time to colonize the wood over winter.
**PLUGGING THE LOG:**
When handling the dowels your hands should be clean. Try to work as quickly and efficiently as much as possible. To inoculate your logs follow the following steps.
1: Drill holes in rows with a 5/16” drill bit at four-inch intervals in the log. The holes should be 1 ¼ “deep.
2: Insert the tip of a dowel into each hole.
3: Whack the dowel with a hammer till the end of the dowel is flush with the surface of the log.
4: Seal each hole as well as any nicks in the log with melted wax. Cheese wax is the best as it will not flake or shrink with age or cold.
5: Allow the log to incubate in a warm, shady location for at least six months before fruiting. The log should not be permitted to dry out during the incubation period. We suggest stacking the logs in log cabin formation. Do not allow the logs to lay flat on the ground for the 1st season, bricks, or lumber work well as a base.
**SHOCKING YOUR LOGS**:
Once the incubation period is complete, soak your logs for 48 hours in ice water, adding ice if needed. After soaking stack them in the log cabin formation or stand them up on end. Water the logs daily with a sprinkler for a couple of hours. You should have mushrooms in 7-10 days. If mushrooms don’t appear, either let the logs incubate for another 2 months or give the logs another ice water bath for 24 hours. We recommend only shocking your logs every two months. Stop watering your logs when you see mushroom caps emerge. Each log should last 4-6 years.
**STUMP REMOVAL:** The stump removal directions are the same as the directions for plugging logs.
*DISCLAIMERS: 1- Some people have allergies to mushrooms. Before you try a new type of mushroom make sure you cook it thoroughly to make sure you don’t have an allergic reaction. 2- No matter how careful one is to get the best log possible or to keep other fungus out of a plugged log, sometimes another fungus still get into a log. NEVER eat a mushroom that you cannot identify.*