THE FOREST FUNGI PROTOCOL

STEP 1

Site prep work,

earthworks and
covercropping

➡ Determine and map on the site where your future tree rows are going to be with survey
flags or pegs.
➡ Till the sod of the prospective tree row with a tool of your choice or use the plow to create a
ditch and berm (swale) system.
➡ Stir in a mix of oats, red clover, and tillage radish into the exposed soil and cover it with a
light straw mulch.

STEP 2


Investigate your
local forest and
find sources of
fungi

➡ Look for a decomposing woody plant litter on the ground, try to find bigger piles of woody
branches and logs that have been lying on the ground for a while. Check if there is
mycelium growing underneath.
➡ For fruit trees’ inoculant - locate a wild fruit tree growing in the forest or on the forest edge,
grab a shovel and a bucket and dig some 4in (10cm) deep. As you’re digging, look for
hyphae fragments and spores. The closer to the roots of a fruit tree you dig, the better.
➡ For nut trees’ inoculant - find a healthy stand of big old hardwood or conifer trees, try to
spot any mushrooms or puffballs and harvest them into your bag. Dig with your shovel
10cm or 4in deep to find hyphae fragments.
➡ Scoop up half a shovel of the healthy forest soil for using in a compost tea later on.

STEP 3

Introduce the
saprophytic
fungi

➡ Use wheelbarrows or some other vehicle and start bringing mycelium-infused logs
and branches from nearby forest to your site.
➡ Spread the logs and branches within the future tree rows.
➡ Create an endless supply of decomposing wood in the nearby forest by deliberately
piling up woody material and leaving it to decompose for a while.
 STEP 4

Introduce the
mycorrhizal
fungi

➡ Use the wild spawn you dug up to inoculate tree roots. Take one scoop from a bucket and
put it into the tree hole during planting (AM and EM fungi).
➡ Use fruiting mushrooms to create a spore-mass slurry (water + spores + clay) and
inoculate tree roots by dipping them into the solution or simply cut the fruiting bodies into
small pieces and mix them into the soil when you’re planting your trees (EM fungi).
➡ Cultivate the wild spawn for a season in a pot by growing grasses. When the growing
season comes to a close, harvest and store the colonized root fragments that you can use
as an inoculant (AM fungi).

STEP 5

Make a
compost tea
from a healthy
forest soil

➡ Get a 5-gallon (20l) bucket, an air pump, a mash bag and some source of food for
microbes (humid acid, seaweed, fish hydrolysate, molasses).
➡ Fill the bucket with water, place the mesh bag with the forest soil into the water and turn
on the pump.
➡ Allow 24h for the compost tea brewing and apply your tea once it’s ready.
➡ Use a nozzle sprayer to spread the compost tea over the exposed soil, cover crops,
decomposing wood and tree surfaces.

STEP 6

Keep adding
woody debris;
mulch, logs and
hugelbeds

➡ Keep putting down ramial wood chips (twigs of wood that are less than 7cm in diameter
coming from deciduous trees and woodsy shrubs).
➡ Keep bringing logs, branches and woody debris from a nearby forest, or use the leftovers
from maintaining your food forest and gathering the firewood.
➡ Bury logs and wood debris to create hugelbeds.

For detailed instructions visit:  https://permacultureapprentice.com/food-forest-fungi/