Huck Lewis

Hey Nancy,

Thanks for the valuable insights! I've been looking into it since you posted your advice and I think all of your ideas will work here. You've given me some great ideas to experiment with and to share with others. I think my site here is going to have a lot in common with your part of the world so I suspect I'll be looking in your direction a lot more frequently from here on out.

Just curious, what's your soil like there? I haven't done any testing here but ours is pretty devoid of organic matter and I think it's going to take some work getting it up to snuff.

Cheers and have a great day!

~ Huck

Hey permies,

I recently took on a mushroom stump (Blue Oyster) for a landscaping client up the road and I've got a question. The stump I'm working with is a vine maple that I cut down about 2 months ago. I've heard that new stumps have anti-fungal properties but I've also heard that old stumps have a higher risk of cross contamination from other spores and fungi so I figured I'd try to meet it in the middle. That's not why I'm here though. Through a miscommunication, I ended up with liquid culture instead of plugs. I think this stuff is intended for a more sterile environment but what the hell, let's give it a go and see what happens, right? I boiled straw onsite to pasteurize and while it sat, I drilled several 1 inch holes about 6 inches apart. I squeezed of the excess moisture from the straw and packed it into the holes, not too tight but enough to give a fair amount of medium to grow in. I injected about a cc of liquid culture in each straw-hole and then covered the entire stump in 4mil plastic sheeting, duct taped the edges and nailed it down. Covered the whole shebang with wood chips to insulate and further protect. Its been about a week and I opened it up to check it out today but I didn't see any signs of mycelial growth.

My question is this: How likely is it that cross contamination occurred and nothing is going to happen or do I need to just give it more time? Like, maybe check back in the fall? I don't know, but you folks do so I hope one of you sweethearts wouldn't mind giving me a heads up. Thanks in advance!

~ Huck

I live within 1000' feet of the coast in the windy pnw. A lot of vegetation around here is negatively affected by the salty air and it shows in our greenhouse as well. For example, tomatoes on the western side, near the window fare much worse than the crops further in. They appear stunted and burned brown

Do you have any ideas about crops that fare better in salty conditions? How about mitigation suggestions?

Thanks!

Thanks, Leigh. I'm looking forward to applying this in our greenhouse

Sonja Draven wrote:Welcome to permies from a fellow Oregonian. The course sounds great. Do you have space to experiment with in Waldport?

Hey Sonja, it's nice to meet you! Yeah, I think there'll be plenty of space. I live in a community with like minded folks and a little land to play with along with a 4500 sq ft greenhouse. I've also been approached to serve as a pc consultant for a landscaping company in my area that I think will really catch on with the locals. I'm pretty excited about the opportunity here. Are you in the area?

Leigh Tate wrote:Hi Huck, welcome to Permies! We're always here to support you! I hope you keep us posted on what you're learning.

Thanks, Leigh. I knew I could count on this crowd. Permies are good folk.

Cheers!

Faren Leader wrote:Hi Huck! My son and I were just down your way last weekend-- we live in the valley and took a quick 48hr jaunt out to the coast and stayed a night in Bandon, then drove back up the coast to Newport before heading back to the valley.

OSU's permaculture program is legit. Andrew Millison is a really great person, and if Marisha Auerbach is still involved, even better. We're so lucky to have a vibrant permaculture community in Oregon!!

Nettles should be prime in your forests right around now! They've been good here in the valley for the past week or two.

Hey Faren, nice to meet you and thanks for the heads up on the nettles! I've heard a lot of great things about Andrew and Marisha so I'm really looking forward to this class. You'll probably be seeing a lot of me here. Maybe we'll get a chance to chat somewhere along the way.

Cheers!

Hey everyone. New to the forum. Starting my design cert through OSU on Monday. Hoping I can lean on you kind folks a little bit here and there. Nice to meet you all, be seeing you around!

- Huck