How to grow mushrooms on logs. Mushrooms need only 3 things to grow successfully: shade, moisture, and uncontaminated, appropriate wood. If you have spruce, you can buy mushroom that grow on spruce, but do not try shiitake on conifers. Before I hit my stride I had numerous less unsuccessful experiences, so all this is from experience. Wood: usually the seller will tell you which wood goes with which mushrooms. Most mushrooms will do well with hardwoods. A few will do well with softwoods, and a few specialize in breaking down the resinous conifer wood and only that wood. Three simple steps will virtually insure successful wood inoculation: use freshly cut, live wood appropriate for the fungus you are interested in, wait 3-4 weeks for fungicide substances to dissipate, and protect it from contamination at all times. I have had mixed results with wood brought in for free by tree companies. After all, when they cut a tree, it is already sick and often contaminated. I had best results with wood that I knew in person (from my yard or my neighbor's yards). I have successfully injected contaminated logs with shiitake and oyster, two tough mycelia, but many other times I failed. To protect from contamination, keep the wood in the garage until ready to inoculate, but the best solution is to simply cover all open wounds with liquid beeswax applied with a paintbrush. Logs are best cut to about 3 ft in length for ease of handling, with a diameter between 5 and 10 inches. As soon as they are cut, paint the ends and put them aside. Moisture: robust, fast growth requires a steady moisture supply. Let me also mention that all mushrooms appreciate a bit of nitrogen, whereas P and K in the wood are sufficient for optimal growth. Normal tap water is poisonous to the organism, due to chlorine. On a log, usually the water percolates slowly through the bark, in the process neutralizing its chlorine, but in a wood chip bed, with the mycelium enveloping the outside of the chips, one could really damage it. I use a variety of techniques. One could leave a bucket out overnight, or I mix a teaspoon of urea or of wood ash in the water. I also use a lot of coffee grounds (outdoors only, or they develop nasty, fungicidal molds), either to buffer the chlorine, or when I stack the logs, I fill the intra-log volumes with coffee on cardboard sheets to both provide N and keep the moisture in the stack high. I believe that lots of coffee in wood chips beds is also beneficial as the high surface area will quickly buffer tap water. It is best to water them weekly. I have a few cider gallon containers. They have a pinhole at the bottom, and placed on a stack, they will drip for several hours. But if I were a man, I would run a drip line there and be done with it. Shade: mushrooms can not stand full sun. Full shade is best, with minimal wind. Inoculation: initially you will be buying 5/16'' wooden dowels inoculated with the mycelium, though inoculating with sawdust is more efficient and substantially cheaper. When you receive the dowels place them in a cool dark place for a month or so. When ready to inoculate, soak the logs overnight. I use a trash can filled with water. Then use the 5/16'' drill bit and drill holes in the log. In the holes, whack the dowels. Close the holes with liquid beeswax and place where the log can mature, possibly not in contact with the soil. Here it is best not to start them after Sept. 15, but in CA one could start them year round. A majority of dowels will not take. Often a log is completely colonized by a single successul plug. Place at least 12 per log, 25 being best. You then wait, 9 months to 2 years depending on species. The logs will fruit for about 4 years optimally, and then they will decline.

Would like (but do not have to have) Hardy geraniums Hellebores Dianthus Hardy persimmon seedling Asters Hardy cyclamen Brunera Primulas Daphne Mountain laurel Very hardy camelia Trillium Real quince (not flowering) Hazelnut Turk-cap lilies Paw-Paw Blueberries I have sent people e-mails as to what might fit their need. Also, I have several types of bamboo, needs to be dug, including edible. I tried to send an e-mail, but there wasn't one. If you have what I want, we can dig what you like, good dirt, not a hard job. Look at my list as well.

want list: trees/shrubs: Black gum - Nyssa sylvatica Spicebush - Lindera benzoin Bamboo - Large enough for crafts and light construction (fences, trellises, etc), Fargesia or other clumping type only. Or I'll take harvested culms in lieu of live plants. fruit: Blueberries - any kind that will tolerate some drought. herbs/vegetables: any kind of mint, sage, rosemary, lavender, and thyme. any kind of perennial edible Alliums: leeks, shallots, chives, garlic chives, garlic, multiplier onions globe artichokes seeds: anything listed above annual or biennial herbs: parsley, dill, caraway any kind of heirloom tomatoes, esp. Cherokee purple & black chery heirloom/o.p. summer squash: yellow crookneck or patty pan any heirloom/o.p. vegetables: eggplant, peppers, beans, peas, lettuce, spinach, beets, carrots, etc., etc. annual flowers: marigolds, impatiens, petunias, allysums, cosmos, etc. Worms! If anyone has some red wrigglers to spare I'd love some for my compost pile!

Thought I'd repost this as a reminder so you won't forget to bring a lunch and something to drink, mark the plants you are bringing with their names, have some boxes to take your plants home in, a note pad for taking notes on culture, as well as good plant swapping etiquette. Hints, Etiquette, and Other Stuff Posted by castro_gardener 8b (My Page) on Thu, Feb 19, 09 at 10:14 Hello All ! Just a few reminders that will help us all have a nicer swap experience. After 10 years of hostessing and attending these swaps I've learned a lot from others. When you arrive, please seek out the hostess if we don't greet you first. Especially if you haven't been before. Any of us will help you with any questions you might have. Get a name tag, sign up for door prizes, and if we have one, sign the list for future notifications of swaps. Don't forget to bring a sack lunch. We'll need sustenance for continued swapping ! We will have door prizes. If you'd like to donate to our stash, please bring a new or gently used gardening item. We usually include things like fertilizer, gloves, tools, outdoor decorations, books, etc. Garden Junk and Garden Art is also welcome for trading. Hoses, trellises, rusty buckets, signs, you name it ! We've had people bring homemade soap, mosaic pots, and other great items. We welcome donations to help pay for the rental of the pavilion. Although it is voluntary, please consider that you're leaving the swap with plants that would have cost so much more at a nursery. A few dollars in the jar will go far to help us rent this nice pavilion in the fall. You may consider bringing cardboard boxes to haul home your booty. You may end up taking home more than you bring, and it's not always easy to get it all back in your car. Packing in boxes will allow you to stack them and keep your plants safe. Bring something to use for labeling the plants you receive. Old window blinds are excellent for this purpose ! They last forever and they're kept out of landfills. On that note, please label your plants for others. It saves a lot of time at the swap. You don't have to tell everyone what each plant is, since they already have names on them. Another helpful hint, which takes more time, but is great to have: consider putting a notebook together of your plants. Add pictures and descriptions of each plant you bring. Over time, you can add to it as you accumulate different types of plants. This also saves time at the swap. Others can view your notebook to see what a certain plant will look like. While swapping, please don't take plants off other's tables without asking. They may be across the room promising that same plant to someone else. Please find the owner and ask permission. Everyone's different, of course, and may bid you take whatever you like. But it's good to err on the side of caution, and ask anyway. Plants under the tables are not for swapping. This is where we place the plants we're taking home. Some plants are special and rare and the swapper may want something special in return. This is understandable. On the other hand, some of us don't always need something in return. Please consider everyone's feelings while swapping. Last but not least, have a good time. Make new friends ! I've met really great folks at the swaps and we're still swapping 10 years later !! If you can't make the San Antonio swap, consider the swap just up the road in Buda in April. I'll be there, too. patty