Our Mandala team has been working towards getting our Mushroom Pilot Project started. About two weeks ago they put all the pieces together and our wonderful Shitake mushroom spores were applied.
There are just a few steps to get the mushrooms started:
- Order your mushroom spore plugs
We purchased Shiitake Mushroom Plug Spawn. - Choose your wood
The wood should still be full of moisture and should not have been down so long that other mushroom varieties have had a chance to colonize. - Drill the holes
Using a 5/16 inch drill bit, drill holes all along the logs, approximately four inches apart and two inches in between rows. - Hammer in the plugs
Place one mushroom plug into each hole in the log. Use a hammer or mallet to gently tap it snugly into the hole until it’s flush with the surface of the log. - Stack the logs
Stack the logs as you would a log cabin, in a square or rectangle, crisscrossing each log as you stack them. - Maintenance
We are watering our mushroom project regularly at this time. Once we are in the rainy season it should be self-sustaining.
It will be several months until we will see our mushrooms spouting.
