Is There a Market for Colonised Spawn Bags

[punkin]

Came up in a pm discussion here, and it got me thinking.

My new build is a revamped pressure cooker/keg bomb with an 8" (200mm) triclover opening on the top. This should easily accomodate 10-15 large spawn bags.

I have a lot of edible strains and the new flowbench will make it bothe easy and efficient for me to do as much agar work as is nessercary...

I've got the grain spawn to a bit of an art and am getting zero infections...

Would there be a market for precolonised, ready to spawn bags of grain?

Say if i was to offer large spawn bags of your choice of spawn, for say $20, express posted (extra $12) anywhere in Aus, would anyone buy them?

Seems it would take a lot of the intial steps out for those of us here that are short on time, but still enjoy great fresh food while still giving you the ability to grow your own. All you'd need is a few buckets with some holes in it filled with pastuerised substrate and a plastic bag over the top

What's your thoughts?

Edited October 18, 2010 by punkin

[Thegribbs]

Sounds great to me, I would be interested ;)

[shortly]

Worowa used to sell them through his web site, dunno how well he did? He'd be the one to ask

The last i looked he only seemed to be doing plates.

The majority of ppl want something instant & idiot proof, i guess that makes most of us abby

And if you want to foster a new crop of shroom growers (now there's an idea worth pursuing) youd be better off selling plates, the question is do you have the patience for all the newbie questions

[worowa]

Go for it Punkin, there is definitely a market for spawn, and I reckon the market in oz will grow.

Diggers are selling a small bag of Oyster spawn for about $50 plus p&h, if you can do them for $20, you'll be busy.

I started selling spawn while I was a stay at home dad, on the NEIS program. I was still learning as I went, and basically was running my business as a charity-cost me more to make and post spawn than I was charging.

Now I work every weekend, some days and nights during the week, and still have 2 young kids, it just became too much work and stress trying to keep (I mean get)organized.

The endless questions from keen newbies who have done no research gets frustrating.

Doing it all alone is a struggle-but maybe Bourbon girl can be your lackey?

I'm going to do a bulk order of spawn bags soon, before the $aus falls again-if anyone is keen, we can split the costs of postage.

[Magicdirt]

That would be excellent value, when you consider how far a large bag of spawn would go.

A large bag of oyster spawn would be enough to spawn a laundry basket of straw and potentially could yield Kilo's of mushrooms.

I'm at the stage now where I don't have the spare time to do a lot so I'd be interested.

[obtuse]

I'm going to do a bulk order of spawn bags soon, before the $aus falls again-if anyone is keen, we can split the costs of postage.

 

I'd be interested in that too. when were you thinking of.

soon as exams are over i need to get back into getting some mycellium running.

Cheers, Obtuse.

[Sola]

Definitely, I'd be interested. I'd like to try growing my own and that would speed

the process up enormously. Let me know when you're ready.

[Amazonian]

Just a fact sheet that can be sent either in advance or with spawn should cover a lot of the Queries . Great idea, Best of luck.

[punkin]

I'll send you a PM re the bags Worowa.

For the record, i would only be doing edibles and possibly medicinals (definately no actives, so don't bother PM'ing). With the equipment i have, i think i could do it around that price economically.

It would be enough spawn to do a basket for sure, i could also supply extra bags at a cost if that was required for no extra postage, and the bucket idea works a treat.

I saw a website just starting for aussie edibles elsewhere that i think would welcome the influx of newb questions (i definately have no desire to field them)and will contact them today.

I just think it's something easy for me, saves the gripes about plates getting contams in the mail and will not require too much in the way of storage ect.

That's assuming the bag is spawned at the time of order and payment and shipped when ready 10-14days...

[sapito]

i would be keen

[incognito]

hell yes i would buy some colonised spawn bags of edibles of u! let me know when they r for sale!

considering the expense of gourmet shrooms it would be a deal.

[watertrade]

Worowa, I'm keen for some bags too. although I am waiting on two seperate orders from Unicorn which I believe are probably lost in the post.

I have played with the idea of setting up online culture /spawn sales. just like Worowa, and REV before that ;)

at $20 I might just buy spawn and not bother making my own

[worowa]

I'll get some quotes soon-based on last time, and the new exchange rate, I'm hoping that after postage they'll be around 50 cents each.

Let me know numbers and sizes 1) small spawn bags, 2) no 14 standard production bags, 3) Xlarge bags.

The 14s are the best all round bag IMO, good for spawn and invtro.

I'ld like to order by the end of October.

[shortly]

At $0.50 a pop I would be interested as well

[BushCactus]

i dare say a market would exist for even pre steralized spawn bags that havnt been innoculated yet. Alot of home growers would love them i know this =]

[punkin]

It's the possibilty of contam that sent me down this road in the first place. If sending plates there is the possibilty of contam at the other end, no matter how clean they were when you posted. Therefore extra postage and time.

I think the same thing could apply to non innoculated grain spawn only more so.

I have my new PC all but completed, just need to add the actual PC fittings from the 4" one to the 8" one on the w'end and i'm good to go. Have grain, have bags and have cultures.

Just need to stock up on fully cultured jars so i'm ready to go with most all the species i have, and the delays from ordering are not a month or six weeks, but a week to 10 days

The new glass panels for my flowhood were being cut yesterday and will be installed on the w'end.

I did an agar pour yesterday in front of the hood, what a pleasure Working with agar so hot i had to put a towel round the bottle i could pour, wiat to cool annd set, put the lids on and stack

No hunched back, no condensation, no splashing the agar all over the dish and lid...

I'll leave em a week and see how clean my newly developed technique really is though...

Some pics for a reward for reading such a long post...

This is two, 2 litre coke bottles jammed in the opening, so plenty of room to get bags in.

[GoOnThen]

Hey Punkin

Your keg pressure cooker is that a new one you have built or have you modified your old one.

Are you going to use gas to heat this if I remember from your posts at the shroomery that is what you used on the old one

I would be interested in any more info on your build i.e. photos, materials used and what you are going to use for safety pressure release

I have a keg and some ideas on how I’m going to build mine but always keen to see how others have done it

Cheers

Got

[punkin]

Hey Punkin

Your keg pressure cooker is that a new one you have built or have you modified your old one.

Are you going to use gas to heat this if I remember from your posts at the shroomery that is what you used on the old one

I would be interested in any more info on your build i.e. photos, materials used and what you are going to use for safety pressure release

I have a keg and some ideas on how I’m going to build mine but always keen to see how others have done it

Cheers

Got

 

Yes it's a new keg, although i'll be transfering the actual pressure cooker bits from the old one.

The old one is actually the boiler for my stills in their variuos configurations, as well as the steam generator for my big steam pot. This way i won't have to pull the false bottom out everytime i want to run the still.

There's info here on both builds...

http://www.artisan-distiller.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2394

(apologies if it's longer than you wanted to read)

edit; there's no actual pressure release built in, but as much safeguard as i can manage without it by having the cage around the pressure rocker outlet.

It'll still run on gas.

Edited October 22, 2010 by punkin

[mescalito]

Good shit

just don't forget who ya friends are hey

Thanks for the pates sent by various members for ZIP too!

All favours returned in time

Gourmet shrooming in small towns is a real niche market,one I'm almost within reach of....so thanks punkin for your posts to re-ignite the flame after all these years and this season I'm actually going to be able to be makin some bucks and feeding our lot finally!

Shit we might be able to go somewhere!!

It's potentially a viable way to supplement your income well enough if you do it right,but if you're on a pension,then this is the way to go IMHO,I'm talkin ghetto teks will pull through.

I've sussed out around town and stirred quite much more interest than I expected let alone friends etc.

Start small to suit the market(don't forget drying for overstock) and work to live don't live to work

LOVE SELF-SUFFICIENCY

[lickapop]

Hey punkin I love the keg PC...

I would love to do similar but learning to weld "properly" is on my list

I noticed no safety valves and as I have blown out one and turned my flat bottom PC into a nice round one I know how quickly things can get out of hand:)

Have you thought about putting in a couple. I rekon maybe a couple of 1/4" threaded female sockets welded in with something like a Hawkins safety valve screwed in

http://www.pressurecooker.com.au/pressure_cooker_spare_parts/21/Hawkins_Big_Boy

Nice work again mate..very inspirational

[GoOnThen]

Thanks for the info on the keg Punkin I think I will build mine much the same just with some tweaks to the lid assembly

licka

The welding on this type of build must be not only good it has to be first class and the correct compatible consumable must be used or the welds could fail. If you do all of the cutting and prep work a welder with the skills needed won’t cost you a great deal. Like most trades beer and cash are a great persuader

Cheers

Got

[lickapop]

Thanks for the info on the keg Punkin I think I will build mine much the same just with some tweaks to the lid assembly

licka

The welding on this type of build must be not only good it has to be first class and the correct compatible consumable must be used or the welds could fail. If you do all of the cutting and prep work a welder with the skills needed won’t cost you a great deal. Like most trades beer and cash are a great persuader

Cheers

Got

 

So what your saying is my welding will not be first class???

Yeah well the last pro I got to weld a couple of fittings on a keg did a shite job..it wasnt even under pressure and it leaked

so I figure if I can polyweld I can weld steel....I saw it on you tube and it doesnt look that hard

Edited October 26, 2010 by lickapop

[obtuse]

I saw it on you tube and it doesnt look that hard

oh oh

sounds like recipe for disaster.

Cheers, Ob.

[punkin]

Find a good quality custom shop that specialises in stainless welding and fabrication and pay. As was said, if you do the prep work all the way to fitting, the actual welding costs are small, and if you choose wisely you'll find someone you can trust that also loves to barter