FOR-80: Shiitake Production: Spawn Selection

Deborah Hill | Feb. 3, 2011 (Minor Revision)

Shiitake mushrooms are like any other plant crop--they must be started from "seed." For mushrooms, this process begins when the mushroom's spores (normally located in the cap on the underside between the gills) are mixed with nutrients and a cellulose source, usually hardwood sawdust.

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FOR-82: Shiitake Production: Monitoring Moisture Content of Logs

Deborah Hill | Feb. 3, 2011 (Minor Revision)

Shiitake spawn cannot survive in logs that have a moisture content of less than 23%. Ideal moisture conditions for shiitake growth are log moisture content of 35% or more. If logs are left in the open air and are not monitored for moisture content, and climatic conditions are dry, the moisture content of the logs can fall to 20% to 25%.

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FOR-77: Shiitake Production on Logs: Step by Step in Pictures

Deborah Hill | Jun. 17, 2010 (Minor Revision)

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FOR-118: Have Maples Will Sugar

Deborah Hill | May. 20, 2010 (New)

Woodland owners may find that they have many maple trees in their woodlots. If these trees are larger than 10 inches in diameter, and if there are 25 to 40 maple trees per acre, woodland owners might want to think about making maple syrup as a possibility for increased income from their woodlots.

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FOR-111: Agroforestry: Alley Cropping

Deborah Hill | Aug. 11, 2009 (New)

Alley cropping is probably the most commonly used technique of agroforestry. It simply involves planting single or double lines of trees and/or shrubs intercropped with a wide "alley" of either row crops or pasture grasses. The width of the alley is determined by the size of the harvesting equipment needed for the crop grown in the alley.

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FOR-114: Agroforestry: Windbreaks

Deborah Hill | Aug. 11, 2009 (New)

Windbreaks were first used extensively in the United States in the 1930s, after the Dust Bowl days made it clear that certain agricultural practices tended to facilitate the loss of topsoil by wind erosion. They are also a practical agroforestry technique in any location where there are significant prevailing winds. Windbreaks are used to manage snow, improve irrigation efficiency, screen views and reduce noise, protect farm crops and farm buildings, protect free-ranging livestock, provide wildlife habitat, and provide non-timber forest products (e.g., berries, woody florals).

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FOR-117: Medicinal Plants

Deborah Hill | Aug. 11, 2009 (New)

People have harvested and processed forest plants for medicinal purposes since the beginning of recorded history. Ginseng is perhaps the one best known in Kentucky because it is easily the most commercially valuable. However, if you read health supplement labels in all the "big box" stores or other similar locations, you will find goldenseal, blue cohosh, black cohosh, bloodroot, wild ginger, slippery elm, witch-hazel, mayapple, and many other forest plant-derived substances. There are established markets for these plants, although not as obvious as corn, soybean, or cattle markets.

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FOR-112: Agroforestry: Riparian Buffer Strips

Deborah Hill | Aug. 11, 2009 (New)

Riparian buffer strips are zones of native trees, shrubs, and grasses designed to protect the temperature and clarity of moving water and to prevent agricultural chemicals and soil from eroding directly into stream water. The Kentucky Water Quality Act of 1994 encouraged farmers to protect their streams from soil erosion and compaction from livestock. Best management practices (BMPs) for people who are harvesting timber require streamside management zones (SMZs).

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FOR-115: Agroforestry: Forest Farming

Deborah Hill | Aug. 11, 2009 (New)

Of all the techniques of agroforestry, forest farming is probably the one most useful to landowners in Kentucky. Most have some forestland, and many of those owners don't really "do" anything with that land, keeping it for wildlife habitat, recreation, or a possible timber sale if there is a sudden need for cash. However, with some professional help from a consultant forester or from the Kentucky Division of Forestry, forest landowners can implement something called timber stand improvement (TSI). Forest farming can be a part of that decision, if the landowner considers the options before starting the TSI operation.

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FOR-110: Non-Timber Forest Products and Agroforestry

Deborah Hill | Aug. 11, 2009 (New)

Agroforestry is the practice of integrating long-term tree crops with annual agronomic crops and/or livestock. This type of integrated agriculture has been successfully practiced for thousands of years in many parts of the world, especially in the tropics. Temperate regions have been a bit slower to adopt agroforestry practices, but in the past decade or so, there has been increasing interest in using agroforestry techniques in temperate countries around the world.