A brief timeline of the history of Sandton
- 1930's - Horses roam on gentleman's estates (see GC1MEY8 - "Mink & Manure")
- 1973 - Sandton city was built, which transformed Sandton from a farming community to a busy business district
- 1990's - Sandton became part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality.
- Late 1990's - The JSE Securities Exchange and many companies relocated their head offices to Sandton.
- 2006 - 8 June 2010 - Construction of the Gautrain. A shaft was sunk at Mushroom farm park to access the underground tunneling operations.
I wondered why this area was called Mushroom farm park, but could not find any specific history about it. When I looked at how mushrooms are grown, I realized that an area once rich in horse manure, would probably have made a great substrate to grow mushrooms (but I have no historic evidence for this theory).
Mushrooms derive all their energy and growth materials from their growth medium, through biochemical decomposition processes. All mushroom growing techniques require the correct combination of humidity, temperature, substrate (growth medium) and inoculum (starter culture). An ideal substrate will contain enough nitrogen and carbohydrate for rapid mushroom growth. Common bulk substrates include wood chips or sawdust, mulched hay, straw bedded horse or poultry manure, corncobs, waste or recycled paper, etc.
At present: The rehabilitation of Mushroom farm park started in July 2010 by representatives of Bombela and other Gautrain teams. They have landscaped the terrain, created a children's play area, laid new pathways, installed irrigation and pathway lighting, introduced topsoil, cleared the waterways and planted new indigenous flora.
There is an aerial balloon in the park, placed there by Aerial Displays and sponsored by Hyundai. The balloon glides up smoothly to 120 meter, for a lovely view of Sandton and Johannesburg in the distance.
The future: The park is already an attractive natural environment in the heart of Sandton. Planned future facilities will cater for bird watching, roller blading, jogging and other outdoor facilities.
The cache is in a micro container (smaller than a film canister), with no space for a pen, please bring your own.
