Wood Ear Mushrooms on Logs

Wood Ear mushrooms are unusual culinary mushrooms that are cool weather jewels of the forest. Grown on wood logs, their twists of small, folded, rubbery black and frosty gray caps are easily overlooked. Once you become familiar with Wood Ear, you will never dismiss them as inedible again!

Follow the six steps below for inoculating and managing your Wood Ear logs.

1. Cut the logs (3-8˝ diameter x 36-40˝ length)
Healthy, living trees should be cut during the dormant season and rested a minimum of 2 weeks prior to inoculating. This allows time for the tree's defense system to die back. 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 8 weeks.

Drill-and-Fill Method

2. Drill the holes
Drill the holes to a 1˝ depth following the diamond pattern (figure on right) for roughly 50 holes per log. If your logs are larger than 6" in diameter you will need more than 50 holes per log. Plug spawn requires 8.5mm (5/16˝) drill bit, and sawdust spawn typically requires 12.5mm (7/16˝) drill bit.

3. Inoculate and seal with wax

Sawdust spawn: Break apart the spawn and inject it into each of the holes, typically with the use of an inoculation tool.

Pack spawn into the hole so it fills level to or just below the bark. Wax over the filled holes as the logs are inoculated to protect the spawn from drying out and reduce the risk of contamination. Be sure the hole is completely sealed. Waxing the ends of the logs is not necessary. Consider using wax daubers or the Okuda wax applicator. The flash point of cheese wax is 450°F. Do not overheat the wax! Turn down the heat if the wax begins to smoke.

4. Label the logs

Labeling logs with strain and date inoculated can be very helpful - especially as you continue to build up log inventory. We use aluminum tags or other labels stapled into the ends of the logs.

5. Incubate logs and manage for moisture
Once inoculated, place your logs in a shaded area, protected from the sun and wind, low to the ground (we lay them on pallets or poles), and where they can receive natural rainfall. (Note: we recommend covering your logs with some permeable fabric, pine boughs, or netting if wood peckers are active in your area as they have been known to take spawn out of drill holes). Maintaining moisture during this phase is the most critical step to production success. We recommend your logs receive 1˝ of rain per week. If the weather is not cooperating, you may need to sprinkle your logs with a hose. Logs will begin producing mushrooms when spawn run is close to complete and the conditions for fruiting are ideal. This timing varies, so keep an eye on your logs. Once fruiting commences, they can be re-stacked into a different configuration to make harvest easier.

6. Harvest mushrooms
Wood ear are slow growers but have the remarkable ability to stall and resume growth throughout the fall, waiting for a long, rainy period. Extended rain or very humid periods produce the biggest mushrooms. Logs can be brought indoors and housed in 95% RH grow spaces if weather is dry.
To harvest, twist the cluster at the base and trim any wood debris. The mushrooms can be dried for future use sliced into ribbons and lightly sautéed with a flavorful oil and combined with whatever colorful vegetables are on hand. Mushrooms can also be left on the log and may continue to expand in the spring; will tolerate freezing winter weather.