Fungi as infrastructure.
Water, waste and soil systems designed around what fungi actually do, by someone who has run the production side at scale.
What this is
Most land design treats fungi as a nice idea. A line on the plan, a species list, a hope.
I have spent fifteen years on the production side of that idea: building commercial mushroom facilities, running them, and moving hundreds of tons of spent substrate onto farms, into soil, and through water systems that had a problem it could solve.
That is what I bring to a site. Not a theory about mycelium. A working understanding of how much of it you need, what it costs to make, how to get it there, and what it will actually do once it arrives.
Who this is not for
This is not for you if:
- You don't have land, or access to the land in question
- You want a design document rather than a system that runs
- You're looking for a course, a certification, or a weekend
- Your timeline is shorter than a growing season
Biological systems take a season to prove and three to mature. If that's longer than you have, an engineered solution is the honest answer and I'll tell you so on the first call.
The work
Water, run-off and filtration
City of Austin — stormwater, detention and retention
Work on municipal detention and retention pond systems and stormwater run-off. Original renderings retained; currently being rebuilt as planning templates.
Symbiosis Texas — 2026
Turkey tail substrate supplied and integrated for drainage, run-off redirection and filtration.
Granja Tzikin, Lake Atitlán, Guatemala — 2026
Taught a permaculture course integrating mushroom operations with greywater filtration, using spent substrate from Fungi Academy.
Substrate at scale
Fallen Oak Mycology — Central Texas
Directed every pound of spent substrate from a commercial mushroom facility to working farms and land projects rather than to waste. Eden East, Nava Farms, Driftwood Farmers Co-op, Central Texas Mycology Society, Gardeners of Eden, and Kintsugi Ranch.
Maui Mushrooms, Kula, HI — 2014
Founded and ran a production facility; spent substrate went into small farms and gardens across Ulupalakua.
Integration and teaching
Kintsugi Ranch — Central Texas
Integrated mushroom substrate into an existing permaculture plan and taught a course on site, in conjunction with Creasol Permaculture.
Granja Tzikin — Guatemala, 2026
Course on integrating mushroom operations with water systems.
Remediation R&D
Lahaina fire remediation — 2023
Contracted to supply 30,000 lb of native oyster mushroom grain spawn to a remediation crew after the Maui fires. The crew was unable to execute and the shipment never went out.
What that taught me is the reason for my current R&D: mass inoculation fails on logistics, not on biology. Live spawn at that volume is heavy, perishable and time-bound. I'm now developing shippable enzyme powders and liquid cultures formulated for specific land use cases, so the next crew that needs 30,000 lb of biological capacity can receive something that survives the journey.
Background
Fifteen years in commercial mycology. Hana Farms, Maui. Two years at Cove Crest Vineyard Winery in Northern California, from 2017 to 2018. Trades background in welding, carpentry, solar and electrical, which is why the systems I design can be built by the people who have to build them.
Currently developing a 35-acre site at 9,000 ft in Westcliffe, Colorado.
How an engagement works
01 — Site call
Thirty minutes. What you have, what’s failing, what you want it to do. Free.
02 — Site assessment
Water, soil, existing systems, what fungi can realistically take on, and what they can't. Fixed scope, quoted after the call.
03 — System design and sequencing
The build, phased over seasons, with substrate volumes, sourcing and logistics costed out.
04 — Implementation support
As involved as the project needs.
Tell me about your site.
Not every site is a fit, and I'd rather say so early than take your money and find out in month three.