Inoculating Mushroom Logs

Robert and I spent last Sunday inoculating mushroom logs.  The process actually started over a month ago when he spent several weeks taking down sweetgum trees around our place and cutting up a few other hardwoods off of Bruce's place.  When he had a decent stack going I ordered spawn from Fungi Perfecti.  This year instead of ordering shiitake plug spawn we decided to go with shiitake sawdust spawn because it is much less expensive to do a large amount of logs and we read that more spawn actually makes it in the hole than when using dowels.  It took a little while for us to get in a groove and not be tripping over each other but eventually we worked the process out. 

Robert used his high speed drill with his "super fast drill bit" to drill holes every four inches or so around the log.

Then we each took a palm inoculator and jammed it down in the bucket of spawn, put it the opening of a hole and filled each hole with sawdust spawn. 

Then we brushed paraffin wax over both ends of the logs and over each hole to keep the sawdust spawn and as much moisture as possible in the log.  

Now we keep the logs watered and covered throughout the summer, sit and wait.  Till next April.