Monday, November 10, 2014

Multiple Use Forest

"Multiple Use Forest" how many times have we heard that phrase used?

Last February we cut these short sticks of sweetgum from an area that was in need of some selective removal of trees.  These small trees were growing in an area that was being managed for loblolly pines so the sweetgums needed to be taken out.  My son and grandchildren cut and loaded these sticks and hauled them to our shop.  We decided to use these trees for something of value instead of just letting them lie on the ground and rot.  We inoculated the sticks with Shiitake mushroom spores.  There is a process for doing this but I will not go into how to do it.  You can Google "Growing Shiitake Mushrooms" and find a world of information on growing these mushrooms for yourself.
This is a close-up picture of one of the logs nine months later.  We inoculated two dozen logs and now they are producing vitamin rich, fresh mushrooms.  We have given away several pounds of mushrooms to friends and family.
Just another way of one of the many ways we use the forest!

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