millertime

The end of the beginning...when we left our mushroom project, I'd run short of plugs...so I went out the next day to Field and Forest to buy more, without an exact number to work with (I figured 100 more would do it.) Got home "finish" my project, only to discover that 100 plugs would not be enough. Oh well, I was ready to be done...and I know I'd spaced many holes too closely. So I staggered the plugs to be spaced appropriately, and now it's time to cover them all with wax. Not looking forward to such time-consuming tedium, I got the bright idea to heat the wax and "paint" it on. As good as this sounded in theory....reality was a dripping, undirectable, inefficient mess. *Sigh*...so I commenced to glop wax over each and every plug individually...and again with the truck headlights assisting visibility, my project went on into the evening. I got wax coverage of all but the very bottom holes...again figuring that moisture loss will be mitigated by the tree remaining rooted. I mean, much as I like visiting the folks at Field and Forest...I am absolutely ready to be done launching this project already!! The other pictures in this post are of the small shiitake log I did at the seminar 4/05....it's just lying behind this old wheelbarrow in the shade, popping out mushrooms. When I'd first placed it out there, I observed that something had gouged out most all the spawn-filled holes (turkeys and pine squirrels are said to love this stuff)....so I thought nothing would happen. But that's the beauty of mycelium....they get into a spot and run like crazy...here's hoping they do the same in my big, rooted stump!