Oh Hello, YouTube 👋 The Old Mushroom Farm is here

The Old Mushroom Farm
Aug 22, 2025
3 min read

It’s official. We’ve entered our vlogging era.

We figured it was time, given our growing stash of video footage, and our burning desire to show off our muddy boots in HD.

Yes, The Old Mushroom Farm is now on YouTube. Like and subscribe, baby!

So far, we’ve uploaded some of the superb content that videographer, Keren Stanley has captured for us, which includes:

🎥 An interview with The Old Mushroom Farm owner, Nick Crooks, where we get an update on his vision for the farm and what really matters to him.

🎥 An interview with Margaret-Anne Polac, the candle maker at The Old Mushroom Farm. We catch up with Annie to learn more about how she began her journey, what inspires her, and why she chose The Old Mushroom Farm, Howick for her startup creative business.

🎥 A feature on The Old Mushroom Farm’s wellness festival, Spring Leap Fest. Find out all about this celebration of connection, movement, and holistic wellbeing, happening on the 6th of September 2025, and why we believe it’s important. It’s a - a day filled with yoga, music, creative workshops, friends, and new ideas.

🎥 A look around the The Old Mushroom Farm’s Community Garden, a food focused green space, open for visitors to explore.

For those who don’t know Ker, he is an Old Mushroom Farm resident artisan, with his photographic studio based in that fascinating dome shaped building just passed the big metal arrow as you drive into The Old Mushroom Farm. Visiting Ker’s studio is by appointment only please. Ker is a KZN Midlands local with a brilliant eye, and available for shoots- get in touch with him for a unique family portrait while you’re on holiday at The Old Mushroom Farm accommodation.

Once we ventured down the YouTube rabbit hole, we discovered that The Old Mushroom Farm has been featured by visiting YouTubers (we’re low-key famous, no big deal) for some YEARS. Gosh, we thought we were doing pretty well with being on Facebook. Turns out, there’s a whole new world to discover here.

“Let’s move to the farm”

There’s something disarmingly earnest about folk who document their family holidays. They don’t try to sell you anything. They just... capture what they see. One of our favourite finds is from Sihin and Son, a South African family trio with a YouTube channel and a soft spot for good places.

They titled their video “This Place Made Her So Happy”. Which is the kind of review we’d put on a T-shirt (if we made T-shirts).

Shot during their stay at our Tunnel Apartment, the video is a kind of meander in itself: footage of the apartment’s unique interior, fruit and herbs being picked from the kitchen garden, and father and son fishing in the farm dam.

There’s a moment we love—blink and you’ll miss it—when Tracy (the mum) looks around and says, “Let’s move to the farm.” It’s the kind of line that slips out casually, but carries the dreamy feeling of a weekend well spent. There’s something undeniably romantic about the idea of life in the countryside—a longing we’ve seen mirrored in many of our visitors’ eyes.

The family browsed the shops, wandered through the gardens, ate out at the restaurants, and used The Old Mushroom Farm as a launchpad into the Midlands Meander.

Check out their video here:

We Were There: Guy Buttery’s Raag Kirwani at The Old Mushroom Farm

This was a special one —Guy Buttery playing live in Playhouse 5, with Mohd. Amjad Khan and Mudassir Khan, their music spiralling through the tunnel and out into the garden. Keep an eye out for upcoming events here. Guy says the acoustics in the tunnel are amazing. A hundred lucky listeners, seated on the edge of the moment.

We forgot this concert had been filmed. The credit for this stunning footage goes to:

🎥 Steve Leggo – camera + edit (@trail.flare.media)

🎥 Tim Burchell – second camera

🎙️ Ruan Roussouw – recordist

🎧 Mark Hako – final mix

Thanks team for capturing this historical moment: