Some of my logs are a foot and a half in diameter and four foot long and around the 200 lb. mark, so it is wise to make your large totems where they can stay forever! Mine are located in some woods where they can get shade during the summer. I cover them with shade cloth during the winter months.
I have been inoculating my inventory of large aspen logs off and on for several months this spring. I probably have several more blog posts about this topic, but here is the basic technique that I used this year:
Start by cutting your logs into sections. I wouldn’t do this until you are ready to inoculate, since it will dry out the log unnecessarily. This year my new logs are only 3 foot long, so I cut a two or three inch “cap” for both bottom and top and divided the rest into three sections, so each is about 10 inches high. I make a cap for the top to protect the spawn from drying out there, and I use one at the bottom instead of putting spawn directly on the ground.
