Feature me - an inspiring story of a mushroom cultivator
Name
Patrick Bauman
Mushroom company name
FatCap
Suburb & Province
Somerset East
Have you attended a MG workshop or course?
No - not yet
Do you buy your supplies & spawn from Mushroom Guru?
Yes
What products and services to you offer?
Fresh mushrooms and I make other mushroom products
How much fresh do you grow?
5kg - 10kg
Which mushrooms are you growing?
Shiitake, Oyster and Lions Mane
What would you like to share to inspire hobbyists or mushroom enthusiasts?
My interest in growing mushrooms started after reading an online article back in 2014, it was about growing mushrooms in your own home. I had this vision of filling an outside room with columns and rows of buckets.
Fast forward to 2016, after spending the year project managing the construction of an asphalt plant in Saldanha Bay, I found myself resigned, back home in the Eastern Cape. I signed up for a permaculture course in Hogsback where I was once again teased with mushroom cultivation, but this time in the form of log cultivation. A few weeks later, I had my very own oak logs plugged with Shiitake dowel spawn.
During this time away from construction I started doing carpentry, more specifically guitar building and repairs. I soon came to the realization that this would be more of a long term goal and plan, so I started doing more menial woodwork projects and repairs. Approximately a year later, my first Shiitake mushrooms started popping! A very rewarding feeling after months of being filled with doubt and wonder, did I do it right?
2018 was the year when I started doing some in depth reading about home mushroom cultivation, more specifically, indoor cultivation. I learnt about sterile techniques, still air boxes, grow blocks, various growing environments and how do deal with failure, or maybe "how not" to. I managed to grow a few species of tasty mushrooms in that year, as well as a lot of the dreaded green mold, and a few other exciting colours of respiratory nightmares!
Let's fast forward to 2020, I've just spent a year working in Europe and in process of applying for the upcoming work season and things are looking prosperous for 2020, and just like that, everything is canceled, no more work overseas, nothing. So I made a snap decision to fast track my mushroom growing plans and I started researching and teaching myself, in theory, how to build a mushroom grow room and grow mushrooms.
During lockdown 2020, I built myself a mushroom lab, with flow hood, petri dish and spawn jar incubator cupboard, spawn bag racks, and a fridge for long term storage. I designed and built a small temperature and humidity controlled grow room, for a plan to cultivate 40 kg/week. During the rest of 2020, I did a lot of trials, some with success, a lot without success. I threw out a lot of jars and bags, some not sterilised properly, some under spawned, some with old spawn, some with inadequate air filters, some with lazy sterile technique. There were some days and weeks where I wanted to throw in the towel. I thought I was way out of my league. Through constant perseverance and holding the view of the end goal in sight (and loads of motivation from my girlfriend) I feel like I have taken something out of every failure. I have learnt a valuable lesson in every defeat, and even though I still throw out the occasional bag or jar, I am now supplying Oyster and Shiitake Mushrooms to a restaurant in town and currently selling my surplus as private sales.
My goal for the next few months is to have a consistent supply of around 10 kg/week until I am happy with all processes on the farm, from culture work to fruiting, to the consumer. I am also working on a biodegradable and compostable packaging so our local supermarkets can be an outlet for mushrooms that are not only healthy for people, but also for our earth. I aim to supply all restaurants and supermarkets in the district by the end of 2021.
Patrick Bauman
Mushroom company name
FatCap
Suburb & Province
Somerset East
Have you attended a MG workshop or course?
No - not yet
Do you buy your supplies & spawn from Mushroom Guru?
Yes
What products and services to you offer?
Fresh mushrooms and I make other mushroom products
How much fresh do you grow?
5kg - 10kg
Which mushrooms are you growing?
Shiitake, Oyster and Lions Mane
What would you like to share to inspire hobbyists or mushroom enthusiasts?
My interest in growing mushrooms started after reading an online article back in 2014, it was about growing mushrooms in your own home. I had this vision of filling an outside room with columns and rows of buckets.
Fast forward to 2016, after spending the year project managing the construction of an asphalt plant in Saldanha Bay, I found myself resigned, back home in the Eastern Cape. I signed up for a permaculture course in Hogsback where I was once again teased with mushroom cultivation, but this time in the form of log cultivation. A few weeks later, I had my very own oak logs plugged with Shiitake dowel spawn.
During this time away from construction I started doing carpentry, more specifically guitar building and repairs. I soon came to the realization that this would be more of a long term goal and plan, so I started doing more menial woodwork projects and repairs. Approximately a year later, my first Shiitake mushrooms started popping! A very rewarding feeling after months of being filled with doubt and wonder, did I do it right?
2018 was the year when I started doing some in depth reading about home mushroom cultivation, more specifically, indoor cultivation. I learnt about sterile techniques, still air boxes, grow blocks, various growing environments and how do deal with failure, or maybe "how not" to. I managed to grow a few species of tasty mushrooms in that year, as well as a lot of the dreaded green mold, and a few other exciting colours of respiratory nightmares!
Let's fast forward to 2020, I've just spent a year working in Europe and in process of applying for the upcoming work season and things are looking prosperous for 2020, and just like that, everything is canceled, no more work overseas, nothing. So I made a snap decision to fast track my mushroom growing plans and I started researching and teaching myself, in theory, how to build a mushroom grow room and grow mushrooms.
During lockdown 2020, I built myself a mushroom lab, with flow hood, petri dish and spawn jar incubator cupboard, spawn bag racks, and a fridge for long term storage. I designed and built a small temperature and humidity controlled grow room, for a plan to cultivate 40 kg/week. During the rest of 2020, I did a lot of trials, some with success, a lot without success. I threw out a lot of jars and bags, some not sterilised properly, some under spawned, some with old spawn, some with inadequate air filters, some with lazy sterile technique. There were some days and weeks where I wanted to throw in the towel. I thought I was way out of my league. Through constant perseverance and holding the view of the end goal in sight (and loads of motivation from my girlfriend) I feel like I have taken something out of every failure. I have learnt a valuable lesson in every defeat, and even though I still throw out the occasional bag or jar, I am now supplying Oyster and Shiitake Mushrooms to a restaurant in town and currently selling my surplus as private sales.
My goal for the next few months is to have a consistent supply of around 10 kg/week until I am happy with all processes on the farm, from culture work to fruiting, to the consumer. I am also working on a biodegradable and compostable packaging so our local supermarkets can be an outlet for mushrooms that are not only healthy for people, but also for our earth. I aim to supply all restaurants and supermarkets in the district by the end of 2021.
