Talking shop
At a Glance
Company: Third Coast Horticulture Supplies
Owner: Shawn Bishop
Location: 7010 Burnet Rd. Austin, TX 78757
Phone: 1-512-459-4353
Web: thirdcoasthorticulture.com
Email: [email protected]
Shawn Bishop.
Moving from the woodworking trade to opening a hydroponics retail
store in Austin, Texas, Shawn Bishop now provides for his family by
tapping into his passion for plants.
Before opening the doors of Third Coast
Horticulture Supplies, Shawn Bishop
owned a woodworking company and
made fine furniture, but a major side
hobby throughout this time was growing
plants. He started cultivating plants at 19
years old and was involved in small-scale
farming projects in Northern California.
“As our children started getting older,
my wife and I decided that we should
raise our children closer to our family, so
we moved back to Texas where I pursued
my passion for plants and food production,” says Shawn.
For the first eight months, Shawn was a
one-man operation working around the
clock. He quickly hired Kevin Cutrera,
who he had met 10 years prior working at another local shop. “Kevin was
working as a biologist doing field surveys
of the golden cheek warbler. I told him
about my plans to help change modern
agricultural practices and he’s been
working with me ever since to achieve
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that goal. He is my right-hand man and
now plays a crucial role in the functioning of the company.” Shawn also hired
Stephen Lambarti, an honest and hardworking musician and budding horticulturalist who quickly became an asset.
Third Coast’s primary focus is on
biological growing systems. “I started
brewing high-quality compost tea and
educating every customer who came in
the store about bacteria, fungus, protozoans and nematodes. I have had a
loyal customer base from the beginning
by teaching gardening philosophies
that were not well known in our area,”
says Shawn. “Word spread quickly on
how Third Coast was helping people
cope with the stresses of Texas’s sometimes unforgiving growing conditions,
and people became eager to share this
knowledge with others.”
The biggest struggle for Shawn starting
out was the shift in work environments.
“I went from tools, plants, trees and
“Third Coast has developed
its own aquaponic systems
and recipes for compost
tea—a recipe that in part
led to their recent $95,000
research grant.”
mountains, to commuting to the city
and learning Quickbooks. It was also
hard starting a business in an area with
already established stores, but my passion for education was soon noticed.”
Soon after opening, Shawn took a
serious interest in aquaponics, learning all he could about the mechanics,
chemistry and biology of its systems. He
set up some displays, experimented and
found secrets to achieving success. He
also started allowing local aquaponic and
gardening groups to have their meet-ups
in the store. The shop became the first