Last year Ron not only decided he wanted to be a farmer, he wanted to be mushroom farmer. Shiitakes no less. This was not going to be your normal American family farm with all hands on deck working 24/7. Oh no, this was going to be a low effort farm. Drill some holes, fill them with mushroom spawn, cover with wax and haul out to the woods. Then just wait for nature to take its course. That is how he described his plan to me anyway. There was no mention of the hard work involved in just getting our hands on the 200 logs, known as bolts that he needed to get started. And boy, does he owe me. Not only did I agree not to have him committed when he thought up this plan, but because I went to work everyday looking for sympathy from my friends, they heard all about Farmer MacRonald. Josi, bless her heart, volunteered Ryan to supply the bolts. But that was just the beginning. Ron had himself a list of things that he either needed to buy or do before “the work” part was done. He advised me to go out to the backyard and dig up some of the jars I had buried there. Blast, I didn’t think he knew about them.
In order to get the bolts to Augusta, Ron needed to have a trailer hitch installed on his Transit. Then he had to find the right trailer. He spotted a great one on the Home Depot website, only problem is that they did not have one in stock. For Ron, that was no obstacle, just another chance to share the whole grand plan. Not only did they special order the trailer for him, he got the sale price and his military discount.

There’s our trailer, right on top. Took two different fork lifts and some serious skill on the part of the Home Depot guys, but they got it down and hooked up and off we went. That was March 20.
By that time his order from Field & Forest Products had arrived. 30 pounds of cheese wax, two inoculators (we call them plungers) a bag of 100 wax daubers, special drill bits and 12 bags of mushroom spawn. 6 each spring and winter. Organic of course. Too bad it didn’t come with a couple people to help with the process.

They had to be stored in the frig until used. In the meantime we had to put together the wagon he ordered. That was needed that in order to move all sorts of stuff from the road, down the path and across the creek. Not only the bolts themselves, but tools, water bottles, bug spray, and assorted things that are needed for every work event. Not to mention the camera I use to document it all. He found one described as a contractor grade wagon that could also be used with 4 wheeler and haul 500 pounds. Made in the USA sealed the deal. It arrived at our house in huge box. I thought it was the cat tree I ordered so Jo and I proceeded to get it inside. That was more great fun as it weighed about 70 pounds and the box was about 5 feet long. Lots of sweating, laughter and some minor swearing later we had it in the family room. Then I realized it was the wagon. Guess I should have read the name on the box. Had to be inside anyway. Too cold outside for any detail work. Ron and I put it together, whoever wrote the directions had a good sense of humor which helped as was a bit complicated.
Now it was time to get the bolts from Ryan.

Ron and I drove out to Ryan’s place where he had the bolts waiting for us. Josi and little Ryan were also there and helped us load up. We were limited on the number we could take in each load. Which made for a long day, but while it was bitter cold, sky was clear and so were the roads. Public Service Announcement – don’t ever take an unknown road called something Hill. Our GPS sent us down Potato Hill road. So not a good idea. Unloaded at home and headed back up for next run.
A couple of weeks later with much warmer temps we headed back up to get the second 100 logs. Let me tell you, it is hard to get an accurate count of logs.

To be continued.