Monday was an office day. A day to rest the weary muscles after lifting 1.5 tons of logs in and out of the soaking basin yesterday. A time to think, take stock of the situation and to compare possibilities. Time for an evacuation plan. Central to the plan was to keep a maximum number of logs at the Edible Wood Farm that could benefit from the available water (about 1200 liters in the soaking basin). The rest had to find a place off-site, preferably at locations where they could be cared for properly and with a constant water supply. I approached a number of colleagues with water in the surrounding area with the request if they could adopt 2-4 stacks of logs for a few weeks. Most of them agreed especially when they realised that the logs could be stacked in an area that was already being sprayed with water and that no extra exertion would be necessary except for picking an odd shii-take mushroom or two (hundred). The next step was to figure out how to get the logs to the water. Again it was too much to do it all alone especially with expected extreme hot temperatures every afternoon the whole week. Heavy work had to be carried out in the morning and a number of logs had to be soaked every day at the Edible Wood Farm. A couple of friends and volunteers were kind enough to help out and the rest of the week was spent transporting the logs to diverse locations in the area. Young logs were brought to colleagues further away and logs that could be sold this season were given shelter by colleagues closest to the Edible Wood Farm. And yes… they will have to brought back at one stage but fortunately not as quickly as they have had to leave the Edible Wood Farm.
Photo: oyster mushroom logs in reused water in the dompel basin
Evacuation plan – week 31
