Why Is Winter The Best Time To Gather Logs
For Growing Mushrooms In Canada?

While the forest slows down for winter, Canadian mushroom growers get busy like beavers gathering wood. That’s because dormant trees make the very best logs for mushrooms to grow on.

The wood from winter trees is highly nutritious, providing excellent food for your shiitake and other mushroom spawn. So winter is the perfect time of year to thin a stand of trees, or remove one that’s casting too much shade on the garden, and grow mushrooms on it!

While you’re out there, keep an eye out for healthy hardwood that has been brought down by heavy winds, deep snow, or ice storms. As long as the trees were alive and only recently fallen, it’s an excellent opportunity to salvage the wood for mushroom growing.

High Sugar Content Feeds Mushroom Mycelium

Why is winter wood better for mushroom production?

During dormancy, a tree keeps its energy stored in the trunk and roots instead of sending it up to make leaves. Those stored sugars are prime food for fungal mycelium, helping it grow and establish itself inside the log.

Harvesting at this time means your wood contains excellent nutrition, which usually leads to a faster spawn run, stronger colonization, and earlier first crop of mushrooms.

Winter Storm Brings Down Mushroom Logs

A blizzard at our mushroom farm on Vancouver Island brought down many fresh trees. Join Jessica, founder of Grow Mushrooms Canada, and Sparky on a walk down the logging road in search of perfect logs to grow mushrooms on.

Tight Bark Protects Mushroom Logs

Another major advantage of winter harvesting is bark quality. Logs cut before the spring sap starts to rise hold their bark much better, and that bark plays a big role in how long a log will produce.

It works like natural armour, keeping moisture inside, reducing pressure from competing fungi, and creating a stable environment while the mycelium spreads. The better the bark, the longer the log can remain productive, giving you years of seasonal harvests.

You can absolutely use trees that become available at other times of year, but when you have the choice, winter-cut logs perform better and last longer.

Choose Wood From Healthy Trees

Whether you cut the tree yourself or it came down in a winter storm, it needs to be healthy. Dead trees, even ones that are still standing, are often already filled with wild fungi growing unseen inside the wood.

Start by looking at the branches. Leaf buds are a good sign the tree was alive and preparing for another growing season. You might also notice last year’s leaves scattered around the ground. That’s another clue the tree was healthy right up until it fell.

Next, check the cut end. You want wood that looks bright, solid, and even in colour. If it appears grey, patchy, soft, or shows signs of rot, leave it behind.

Choose Best Mushrooms To Grow

Success improves dramatically when you match the mushroom to the right host tree.

We highly recommend growing shiitake. It can thrive on many hardwood trees, like oak, maple, alder and birch, and produces seasonally for 8-10 years.

Most types of cultivated mushrooms grow on hardwood trees that drop their leaves in the winter. However the conifer coral (a relative of the popular Lion’s mane) grows on evergreen (coniferous) trees.

Checking this chart to match which mushrooms are suitable to grow on the wood you have access to.

Get Ready To Plant Mushroom Logs

After harvesting, stack your logs off the ground in a shady area where they can catch snow and rain. This keeps them hydrated and in good condition while you wait for planting weather.

Across most of Canada, inoculation begins in early spring when daytime temperatures approach about 10°C, often early April. Growers on the milder west coast can plant earlier during warm winter breaks.

Before the planting season arrives, line up your supplies. Choose which mushrooms you want, order your mushroom plug spawn or mushroom sawdust spawn, and make sure you have your drill, inoculation tools, and wax ready to go.

For the complete process from tree selection to your first mushroom harvest, read our complete Guide to Growing Mushrooms on Logs and you’ll be prepared to plant as soon as temperatures cooperate.

Mushroom Plug Spawn

Grow Mushrooms Outdoors on Logs – It’s Easy!

Simply drill holes in the log, tap in plug spawn, and cover with melted wax. Make it super fast with a specialized drill bit. Read our full guide here…