Back in May I was in the middle of tackling the huge stem of the fallen turkey oak that was blown over by Storm Doris. In an earlier blog I noted that there was a section of the trunk that was rotten in addition to the fungal roots (myceleum) that ran in a seam up the tree. After spending the last month processing the pile of logs that I had created in the summer I was now ready to get onto clearing up the last section of the trunk. Yesterday afternoon I chainsawed off a further 10″ hoop and was very pleased to note that the rotten section disappeared from the uncut portion. Further exploration showed up a ball like cavity in a part of the log that I had cut off. It looked as if it was where a branch had previously sprouted but had broken off at some stage leaving an opening for water and the decay process to start. Picture below captures the ball like cavity.
The wood from here on upwards should be free from rot which is a great news from a creating firewood perspective. One downside is that the natural weakness created by the rotten bit was where I found it easy to start of a running split to ease off the logs out of the cut hoop. Now that is no longer there I think I will invest in a couple splitting wedges to enable me to create splits and so more easily break the cut sections off the main trunk.
Lovey frosty start to the morning yesterday which was very beautiful but usually meant I had to scrape the ice off the van windscreen and because there must be some moisture in the cab also had to scrape it off from the inside. The day developed into a classic sunny autumn day, a great time to be outside working and getting warm as you go. Time for a mid morning brew which I don’t usually bother with but for some reason fancied doing yesterday.
Stumbled on a mushroom shown below as I cleared the last of the logs away.
I have had a look in the “All you wanted to know about fungi but never dare ask” book at home and unfortunately it looks like three possible options. The one that I would like it to be is one called Wood Woolly Foot but I am not sure it qualifies as it doesn’t appear to have woolly feet. I have sent off the picture to the UK wild food people and asked for an identification.
More next time……
PS I got a very prompt response to my mushroom enquiry and they have narrowed it down to be a Coprinellus Nivea or Lagopus. These have common names of Snowy Ink Cap and Hare’s Foot Ink Cap respectively. I will see how they mature but apparently the species is deliquescent which means that the solid matter becomes liquid as it absorbs moisture from the air and ends up as a pool black ink. I will keep an eye on it over the next week.
Tim Burr 