There are many mushroom varieties that grow on logs - Shiitake, Oyster, Lion's Mane, Comb Tooth, Reishi, Olive Oysterling, Nameko, Chestnut, and Turkey Tail. Cultivating mushrooms on natural logs is a wonderful long-term method for mushroom production. A prime Shiitake log can fruit for 8 years or longer!
Important: Not all trees make good mushroom logs. As a general rule, hardwoods are ideal. Different tree species are better for certain mushrooms than others and there are a few recommendations for selecting ideal logs.
The timing of tree cutting is important. Healthy, living trees without signs of disease should be cut during the dormant season (after the leaves change color in the fall up until the buds swell in the spring) and rested a minimum of 2 weeks prior to inoculating. This allows time for the tree's defense system to dieback. Protect the logs from drying out by storing them low to the ground (but out of the soil and leaf layer), out of the sun and wind, and where they can receive natural rainfall. Logs can be rested until inoculation for longer than 2 weeks, however there is increased risk of contamination and losing vital log moisture beyond 6 weeks.
Fall cut is best: Wood cells are not hardened and are easily invaded by mushroom spawn, allowing for a fast spawn run. You will need at least 6 weeks (including the two week resting period) of day-time temperatures in the 50°Fs for the mycelium to establish itself within the logs before the winter sets in. Because of this, inoculation is not practical in the North at this time unless logs can be placed in a climate-controlled incubation environment.
Winter - early spring cut logs: The stored nutrient levels in logs are still good, but will decline the closer you get to the trees reaching bud swell/break/leaf out stages.
The answer, as will most things nature, is "it depends". But for starters check out our PLANTING AND HARVESTING tab to learn more about the best planting times and when you can roughly expect your first harvest!
To inoculate logs you will want to use either plug spawn or sawdust spawn. Logs can be cut to size for either the Drill-and-Fill Inoculation Method using standard sized logs (3-8" diameter x 36-40" length) or the Totem Inoculation Method using larger diameter logs (6-12" diameter x 6-12" length). Please see the instruction sheets for recommendations for planting specific strains.