Yes, you can! While inoculating trees downed in the summer is not usually recommended it can, in fact, yield a respectable amount of mushrooms. While we still would not suggest going out of your way to cut and use trees during the summer, if a tree comes down in a storm, why not make the most of it? The following guidelines will help you turn the tables towards pounds of mushrooms rather than bundles of firewood and help you get the most out of your inoculation efforts this summer.
Using Wood from Summer-downed Trees
Wood that comes down as a result of summer storms is often from very healthy branches or whole trees, which are great candidates for mushroom cultivation. If you can organize your growing supplies in advance, you can take advantage of this sometimes plentiful (and free) source of wood.How soon do I need to inoculate wood in summer?
Guidelines for how quickly you need to inoculate summer-sourced wood are different than what is recommended for dormant-cut wood. For summer-sourced wood, gone is the usual recommendation to rest the logs for 2 weeks. It's ideal to inoculate logs right after the leaves on the branch begin to wilt, which only takes a matter of days, so have your supplies ready.
During the summer, growth and cell division within the tree's physiology is very active. Nutrition manufactured by the leaves moves into the branches, trunk and roots, which supports tree growth as sap courses through the tree. This causes the moisture content of the wood, especially in the inner bark, to be very high. When wood is cut in the summer, it loses this abundance of moisture rapidly, leaving the bark loose and easy to peel away. Handle your logs carefully, because once the bark peels off, the logs are more prone to drying out and suffering from contamination.
Adjust your expectations
Summer downed and inoculated mushroom wood looks great up through the first fruiting, but depending on how strict you are with following the above guidelines, it can look a little, well, ratty after the first fruiting or two. The logs will last longer and bear more mushrooms if you avoid excessive handling, such as forced fruiting.In summary:
If you act quickly, you can use an unexpected supply of good-quality summer wood to make a quality mushroom log. Spawn purchased for this purpose, especially plug spawn, can be stored in the refrigerator for months and can be used for a fall inoculation if you don't use it this summer. While summer inoculated logs tend to last only 2-3 years, the best yields are often harvested in the first few flushes, so you will still see good value in the conversion of wood to mushrooms. You'll be glad you made the effort to turn the disappointment of downed wood to a gift. Have a great summer!