The season has begun. The hunt for 1200 suitable Edible Wood logs, a whole truckload full. The thing is, the logs are still growing. They are still trees. But not for long. Around this time discussions are probably taking place in the offices of forest and park managers. Forest management plans will be visible and the complex balance of economy and ecology will be under scrutiny. In many forests thinnings will be planned for the coming winter so that by removing poor quality trees other (selected) trees will hopefully lead to a stronger and healthier forest. In some places coppice is a preferred woodland practice and these stumps with multiple stems can provide wonderful logs when they have been cut during the winter period. Turning these poor quality logs into Edible Wood is a great way of upgrading the value of wood.
Last season was almost a disaster. Felling could not take place in the appointed forest because of continuous wet weather conditions and I was forced to find suitable logs elsewhere at short notice. The many smaller batches resulted in extra time needed for organizing, getting the logs out of the forest, loading, transport and distribution. Ideally the log hunting phase is separate from the following phase of innoculation but last season these phases merged out of necessity. There were literally not enough hours in the day but no inoculated logs meant no basis for the following year. A challenging period. This year I hope to organize everything differently by having more and larger back-up suppliers. Contact has been made. The hunt has begun!
