John Suavecito

I agree with the above. Most areas have places where you can get wood to burn for free, like Chip drop, Facebook marketplace or craig's list.

It doesn't make sense to buy something contaminated when the real stuff is free.

John S
PDX OR

I transferred the lupines to the deeper salad box fairly quickly, because in the article I read, it warned about their deep roots.

Sadly, I neglected the checkermallows.  I have to say I love this plant because it is a PNW native plant, pretty flower, and edible vegetable, all wrapped up into one.  While focusing on the lupines, I failed to notice that I had put insufficient amounts of soil in the take out container for the checkermallows.  Some got burned up. Some failed to grow because I hadn't put enough soil in there, nor transferred it quickly enough to the double salad box.  Maybe they'll survive. Maybe I'll try again next year.  Live and learn.
John S
PDX OR

I planted biochar in a ring around the dripline of all my trees and bushes.  When I had finished, I brought biochar to the trees at a school orchard I started and I volunteer at.  I just finished adding biochar to all those trees at the school.

Then I thought, where else am I going to put biochar?

I just started adding it to a pie cherry tree.  Pie cherry trees seem to really appreciate the biochar.  Another pie cherry tree was at a plateau after 8 years and then literally doubled in size after receiving biochar.  The cherries also doubled in quality.  This pie cherry hasn't had quite as big of a boost. It is in a more partially shaded place.  Some of the branches died and I cut them out.  I'm trying to figure if the tree is killing them off because they bring more humidity and vulnerability to disease and pests.  Biochar did help this tree get bigger, but not to the same extent as the other tree.  I figured my trees that aren't doing as well is a good place to start.

John S
PDX OR

I love lupines and I wanted to grow some for my yard, but also for some school gardens that I volunteer at.  I had read that growing them in a take out food container was a good way to let them grow up enough to more likely survive and stop animals from eating them while tiny.  I started in a regular take out food container, but it was small and they outgrew it quickly.  Then I moved them to these large plastic salad boxes that we get from eating so many green salads.  I drilled 3 holes in one side of each box, so I could use the second container as a flip up top. I wove a string through and tied it. The plants are protected but they can grow up to be pretty big before I plant them out.  Of course I stabbed a slit in the bottom for drainage and in the top so a bit of rain can come in.  They maintain moderate moisture this way.   I have been planting some out and so far about half have survived.  I'll keep gradually planting more out to see if they'll make it.  It seems so much cheaper than buying a full plant.

John S
PDX OR

I do use some old tarps to cover the stacks of logs for the one or two month period in the summer when the sun will peek around and shine on the logs on the north side of the house.
John S
PDX OR

I had some mushroom logs that I drilled.  They never fruited.  I decided that they probably got dried out by the sun.  

I made a new strategy.  I put them under some stairs, which I thought would keep them out of the sun.  What I didn't realize is that since the Earth rotates around the Sun, there could be a window where they bake in the sun. I checked it and they were getting an hour and a half of bright sun just before noon.  Not good.

I found this old shower curtain and decided to hang it on the side of the doorway, so that even during that period, the sun won't shine on the mushrooms.  At any time, I can lift it up to access the mushrooms.

Check it out:
John S
PDX OR

Good question.  I briefly soaked them. I do that about once a month during our dry summers.  I had seen the technique where people pour water on them during the summer.  That seemed very water inefficient to me, especially because you have to make sure that that water isn't full of chlorine and chloramine.  So I get a 5 gallon bucket full of good water and dunk each one about once a month. It seems to help on the other logs.  

I don't soak them for a long time because a 24 hr. soak is what people use to force them to fruit and I don't want to make them fruit before they are ready.

John S
PDX OR

I had a beech tree. I read that it was good for cultivating shiitake, so I cut it down, and made it into logs. Then I drilled in the dowels and waited. And waited. And waited.  Nothing. For 8 years.
This year, I chopped them up and burned them for biochar.  I came to the conclusion that even though they were on the North side of a fence, they were actually in too much sun and they dried out.  I rechecked to make sure that beech is a good substrate for shiitake and it is.  

I would suggest that if you are leaving logs somewhere to fill with mycelium and give you mushrooms, check how sunny it is at different times of day and year.  I am not cultivating mushroom logs in that spot anymore.

I also checked another new location and it gets nailed by sun about 10 am to 11 am, so I put a cover over them.  

Luckily, my other mushroom logs are doing well.  

John S
PDX OR

Phil,
I have a lot of clay soil where I live. Would it be helpful to add some clay soil to the wood stock before I start the biochar burn?  The functionality sounds like a good way to improve soil fertility.
John S
PDX OR