With forest gardening, I love the balance between the planned and the unplanned.
As for unplanned, I think of the first time that I ever even knew about hog plums was when a bush spontaneously grew up close to the driveway and every time I passed it, I was captivated by the wonderful aroma of its blossoms. I never planted that bush there. It took some investigating to even figure out what it was. Now, I have several hog plum bushes, each of which grew up spontaneously, probably from seed spread by the gopher tortoises which love my property.
As for planned, I really feel the need for that when it comes to mushrooms. My former mother-in-law was a mycologist. After she passed, the local mushroom forayers even named an annual walk after her, in her honor. She knew what was edible and what was deadly poisonous. I do not feel that confident. Therefore, I am purposely planting mushroom varieties that I know are safe.
Even while I am waiting for the delivery of the mushroom spawn I have ordered, I am planning ahead for what to do with it when it all arrives. Seven hundred plugs and five pounds of spawn mixture will be a lot to plant, so being organized beforehand is essential. Logs should be new-cut (within the past six weeks or so). That means I need to do a little clearing and pruning to have new logs on hand. That is my work for the next week or so. Thankfully, the summer rains have eased up enough that I should be able to get that work done, or at least done enough.Â