No logs to sell. Definitely not an ideal situation because the current major source of income of Groene Takken is based on selling Edible Wood.
Every year there is a finite number of shii-take logs good enough to be sold as Edible Wood. These logs have been inoculated a couple of years earlier and need about 18 months to be fully colonized by the fungus. After this growth period, the (almost) shii-take logs can be “shocked” into producing mushrooms by a good soak in cold water and can be sold only after passing a “mushroom test” – production of a minimum number of mushrooms. But…, there is a big but, the log has to be dry to start with. There is no point in making a wet log even wetter – it just doesn’t work.
A rainy period began in late autumn 2023 but this was not much of a problem because the production season was already at an end. However, the rain persisted into the new active season of May and suitable logs were just too wet for the soaking bath. All of the suitable logs from the previous season had been sold during the winter period and it was necessary to wait upon the new batch.
Once back from a months holiday at the end of May, the weather situation had not improved. The increasing number of orders had to be put on hold and a decision was eventually made to prepare a roofed area so that the logs could dry out before being activated. Not an easy path to take because it meant a lot more physical labour and planning.
During the month of June the rain turned into showers and there were increasingly more dry sunny days and warmer temperatures. And at last halfway through July the weather was good enough to begin the soaking process. On a Tuesday morning about 30 logs made an artificial dive into a large soaking container. On Thursday morning they were removed and placed upright against racks in the forest. The next load went in the same day and were taken out 2 days later. This was repeated a number of times until all of the suitable logs had been soaked. What a wonderful feeling!
Under normal circumstances, shii-take mushrooms will appear after their cold bath within two weeks. Much to my delight, a couple of days after the first soaking the first shii-take mushrooms could be seen peeking through the bark, looking like baby cork stoppers. After another couple of days the first mushrooms were accompanied by many more – a mushroom convention! Unfortunately the mushrooms had little time to develop into a nice big fleshy harvest because the local slug population had discovered this forest delicacy and were munching away en masse. Luckily for me I am not a mushroom producer but I do prefer to harvest mushrooms without too much slug damage before selling the logs. Unluckily for the slugs, measures were quickly taken to reduce their numbers and they will have to find another restaurant somewhere else.
Wet and Slimy
