Can Mushrooms Save the World?

Mushrooms are amazing that’s for sure, but saving the world?  

Paul Stamets is a dedicated mycologist and has spent over 35 years developing cultivation techniques and researching medicinal, culinary and psychoactive mushrooms. In his inspiring TED talk Stamets presents mind boggling examples of just what mushrooms and mycelia can do for the earth from cleaning polluted soils, disease treatments, creating pesticides and even alternative fuel generation.

Here at Ragmans besides being partial to tasty mushrooms we have been dazzled by facts about mycelium:

*            Animals are more closely related to fungi than to any other kingdom

*            The oldest known mushroom is 92-94 million years old

*            Fungus-plant partnerships deliver nutrients to trees

*            The largest mycelium organism is reputed to be 2,400 acres and 2,200 years old!

 As organic farmers we are keen to create vibrant living soils for healthy plants by growing and introducing mycelium to the soil and plants. We have been using aerated compost teas on our organic orchards – as foliar feeds, soil improvers and pest inhibitors. These compost teas are host to thousands of fungi, protozoa and bacteria. See Teeming with Microbes for more about living soils.

In 1998 we started producing mushroom logs to grow shiitake and oyster mushrooms.  This time-honoured method for growing mushrooms is favoured in Japan where the mushrooms particularly shiitake are highly valued. We use oak for our shiitake mushroom logs and poplar for our oyster mushroom logs. Different trees support different mushrooms, these varieties work well for us. Getting hold of oak is more and more difficult as fire wood prices rise – connected to rising oil prices, connected to peak oil. That’s another important story.

We take strong strains of mycelium cultured on grain in laboratories and bulk this out with sterilised sawdust. We then inoculate the logs with the mushroom sawdust spawn, put wax plugs over the holes and leave the mycelium to colonise the logs over a period of up to 2 years. Our green, shady ‘Ragmans Lane’ is the perfect place to do this. When the mycelium is ready to fruit it produces the mushrooms – we sell logs so that you can fruit them yourself. Mushroom logs kept in the right conditions will fruit twice a year for 3 years. The logs appeal to gardeners and foodies – and are suitable gifts for the person who has everything!

Shiitake and oyster mushrooms are both delicious. They have different flavours and textures but are both good added to soups and stews. Shiitake are often used in oriental dishes – a simple stir-fry with a few shiitakes is delicious. Oyster mushrooms are lovely fried in butter with garlic and served with crusty bread. Shiitake mushrooms are also reputed to have health giving properties and are said to boost the immune system.

We have just introduced Oyster Mushroom Log Inoculation Kits to our range of shop products so you can have a go at creating your own mushroom logs. Have a look at our shop for more details.

I’ll leave you with a quote from Paul Stamets … ‘When we irresponsibly exploit the Earth, disease, famine and ecological collapse result. We face the possibility of being rejected by the biosphere as a virulent organism. But if we act as a responsible species, nature will not evict us. So knowing how to work with fungi… is critical for our survival.’

        

Reference: Mycellium Running How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World by Paul Stamets published 2005 Ten Speed Press

Yes to Nucs at Ragmans!

It’s a very exciting week here on the farm – we have taken delivery of 3 top bar hives and top bar nucs! (Nuc stands for a nucleus and is the term for a small colony of bees with a queen, brood, and honey supplies.)

The bees are here as the start of a Teaching Apiary to be managed by Bees for Development  (BfD).

 

Thankfully the weather was OK for the arrival ceremony  – it wasn’t raining and it was warm. The bees had travelled from Abergavenny, about 40 miles, with Tony and Helen Davies who had raised the nucs and who had made the top bar hives. Tony had started these nucs in June; they looked healthy and happy and the bees were very quiet even after their journey. The top bars from the nucs were very gently added to each top bar hive. We didn’t see any queens in the transfer process but there were lots of brood in the comb.

The hives have been situated in a quiet corner of the farm. Over time the apiary site will be planted with bee friendly plants and kept quite wild to provide a very natural habitat for the bees. The farm is organic so that’s good for the bees – no harmful pesticides; and there are already lots of bee-friendly plants e.g. willow, bramble, clover, lime trees, fruit trees, comfrey, ivy, providing pollen and nectar year-round.

BfD promote sustainable methods of beekeeping and have been working for over 20 years with a strong international presence. In the last few years they have been promoting sustainable bee keeping in the UK and have held courses at Ragmans for the past 3 years. The next course here is on 13-14th October 2012.

Recognising the role of honeybees and all pollinating insects is so important. Here at Ragmans we want to promote all aspects of sustainable living, which of course includes creating an environment that nurtures bio-diversity. Maintaining an environment that supports bee populations and promoting sustainable bee keeping is crucial and we are really excited and proud to have this partnership with Bees for Development and all they do to encourage and support people around the world to do just this!

The Teaching Apiary will be a core feature of BfDs course programme at Ragmans and will enable course participants to see how top bar hives work, how to site them and use them to look after bees. Other types of hive e.g. a Warre and a National will be introduced for comparison purposes. Our new top bar hives were supplied by Tony Davies – thank you Tony!

Ragmans Skill Share day

Ragmans Skill Share day  26 May 2012

Following our successful skillshare day last year we open shop for another this year, kindly sponsored by the Permaculture Association.  We are one of their LAND demonstration sites and every year they organise these sites to hold open days to encourage people to come and learn and share skills.

The day started off in blazing sunshine (remember?) with people choosing from six different workshops and farm tours.

We tried to encourage people to write down what they were doing locally and what help they might needs - a rudimentary 'needs and wants' list.

We were conscious of the fact that although the Ragmans team was running the workshops, there were many skills held by people coming to visit.

Here is Pete with a bucket explaining how we use aerated compost teas as a spray on our 7 acre orchards. After an hour of theory and practical on compost teas one person said the day was worth it for this one workshop alone

We hope that next year we can shift from being providers of skills to facilitating the swapping of skills, and are suggesting that people register beforehand to offer workshops themselves. In this way we hope to get a local skill 'hub' going.

Carine's Willow workshop

Steve and Carine from the Willow Bank both offered great workshops, bringing their considerable skills to the table. We had a fantastic lunch provided by Anna, and then back to work.  Another farm tour, and Matt did a couple of workshop - one on heating your house with wood, and another on planning and planting an orchard, aimed at back gardens as well as larger acreages. By this time the thermometer was touching 80 and we were running around with sunscreen.  The orchard workshop retreated to the shade of a large Kingstone Black cider tree, resembling a scene out of a Thomas Hardy novel.

We ended the day with a chance for people to talk about what they are trying to set up and get going locally - we heard from Dede Liss, who is setting up a Community Bakery in the Forest of Dean, from the Yorkley Court Cooperative, trying to set up a CSA in the centre of the Forest, and from Michael Dunwell, who is compiling a map of activities within the Forest that contribute to a resilient local economy.

Thanks very much for the session on Compost Tea at the skill share
session on Saturday - it confirmed much of what I learned years ago as
an Environmental Health Officer, and I intend to apply it. I found what
you had to say easily understandable and the central message of
reinstating and strengthening the natural balance of the soil is crucial.




We have read a lot of books and
watched programmes/DVD's but the ability to talk to someone 1-2-1 and be
able to ask questions back whilst finding out more about these concepts is
invaluable. I thought the way the day was delivered was also very good as
the information was delivered in a very modest way which made expert and
novice alike feel welcomed and valued.

Welcome to the Ragmans Farm blog. We are taking a few first steps into the bloggosphere to try to bring a bit of the day to day goings on at the farm.

Its hard to get in the groove straightaway with blogs so here is a very brief list of what we get up to

We grow things -

We have ten acres of apples and pear trees, and we make apple juice, perry, and cider
We inoculate and sell shiitake and oyster mushroom logs. These are grown in our wooded green lane that runs up the side of the farm.

We teach -

The farm runs a wide range of courses from permaculture with Patrick Whitefield through to living willow, herbal medicine, bushcraft and ecstatic dance! Over the last 20 years we have run over 200 courses, teaching about 3000 people how to live with less impact on the planet.

We demonstrate -

We try to walk the talk. New buildings are super insulated, old buildings are lagged as best we can.  We have examples of external insulation, warm cell insulation, cob walls and timber frame. We heat using wood burners, ceramic stoves, and a district heating system. We are currently designing a wood fired pasteuriser for our apple juice!

We also host!

You are welcome to come and stay at Ragmans, either in the Bunkhouse which sleeps 14 people, or in our Yurt, or simply camp. There is a lot going on but its peaceful. The farm nestles in a valley leading onto the River Wye on the edge of the Forest of Dean. Its a great place to spot Peregrines and Kingfishers, as well as the odd wild boar.

We hope this blog will describe more of the day to day activity of the farm, introducing it to a new audience, and keeping students old and new in touch with what we are up to.