Hey Joshua. I sat down and read the entire SARE page. A draw knife was used to trim the bark off 18-24 inches above the ground. They specified not to take the cadmium layer, only the bark. 5/16 holes were drilled two inches deep in a diamond pattern above the 24 inch bark removal area. They tried white oyster, brown oyster and
Chicken of the woods
mushroom plugs.
Chicken of the woods didn’t produce, while white oyster produced only a few small flushes. The brown produced well
enough for the farmer to
sell. It took two seasons for the
trees to die and for nearly all of the
root sprouts to stop. He did mention that his goal was to only grow mushrooms
native to his home in northern Ohio. I’m now wondering what other kinds could be successfully used. If anyone decides to read it for themselves notice the cost savings vs the traditional approach to killing these trees. Since the mushroom plugs were homemade he had nearly nothing in it. At the same time producing income for the farm while not degrading the earth. Pretty darn cool. 😎
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