An interview with Jairo Restrepo

Columbian champion of Organic Farming and for the rights of small holder farmers.

"my dream is to construct a being, an ideal state of a being, so that I shall not be the ideal being of the State".

Jairo Restrepo is a passionate educator and activist in the field of sustainable agriculture and food sovereignty. He campaigns for a return of self determination, knowledge and autonomy to the farmer away from the power of agribusiness. He offers education, agronomy and consultancy around the world. His background is in Latin America and recently he has been touring in Europe and Australia. Jairo used to be consultant to the UN, Unesco, and the International Labour Organisation.

As an advocate for Agroecology and regenerative farming, he is unique in that he not only argues passionately for the rights of farmers, but he also offers an array of practical technologies and preparations to increase soil fertility and transform cropping. He offers tools and inspiration for farmers, smallholders and activists. An agronomist with a rebellious character, he has a passionate belief in people power, in local rural culture, food sovereignty, and the desire to transmit the indigenous knowledge and experience gathered from over 20 years work across all continents.

In this interview he speaks of organic farming although he is mistrustful of certified organic farming in the context of South America. His brand of organic farming is closer to Regenerative agriculture.

In an interview with Jairo last month in Spain, Juan Fran from Ragmans Lane Farm asked the following questions –

JF – Tell us a little about your background and how you came to work in organic agriculture?

Jairo – I worked at the Federal University of Rio Grande de Sul in Brazil for many years. My main work was in the analysis and development of agricultural pesticides. For instance I was researching how to eradicate the smell of rotten eggs from a phosphoric poison called Malatol used in corn and wheat storage. However, in 1979 I happened to hear a talk given by a professor working in the poison residues lab on the Ministry of Agriculture.  His name was Sebastián Pinheiro and in 45 minutes he was able to describe how agricultural poisons were used not only in the environment, but also how the industry was born out of the second world war, and that it was now bribing the entire structure of the Brazilian Dictatorship. This was a turning point for me. I became very self critical and aligned myself with Pinheiro. Working with him, I trained in chemical residue analysis, and then I started speaking out to defend and protect life. My mission now is to defend life.  This is my purpose, my instinct, but also to protect the conditions that encourage perpetual and healthy life.

JF – how did your work have impact in South America?

It is hard to quantify it – many things in Latin America happened due to the crisis or terror and rising social tension.  So there is resistance and re-existence. When I speak of re-existence I speak of people who have always found a way without industrial agriculture. Some farmers have access to industrial technology, other have not. But the changes are huge. 75% of farmers in Latin America are now using organic fertilizer in one way or another and they produce 67% of food in Latin America, mostly in the small farmer sector.

When we started promoting the proposal of organic agriculture in Cuba, in 10 years we were linked with 87,500 promoters of organic agriculture. From 1997 up to 2007 where a 10 year programme was concluded and assessment in Havana was performed, we recognised that this movement grew due to the interest of many farmers, so we did have a huge impact. I participated in forming the founding of the movement in Cuba and made several consecutive volunteer trips from place to place throughout the country. One of my trips lasted 78 days, and we were in contact with 3,000 Cuban technicians -  this practically became policy.

Ideas are shared through farmer to farmer learning. But organic agriculture is not a small farmer unit, it is not even a broader political proposal; it is broader than that. Organic agriculture goes from being an instrument of technological transformation to an instrument for transforming society.

Society does not have to be detached from technology. Technology is an expression of society and this is what we want. We don’t want to change technology; we want to transform society, thereby changing the technological proposal. Today the opposite occurs, the dominant type of technology proposes a society subjugated to industry, and we want the opposite and here I use one sentence quite a lot... "my dream is to construct a being, an ideal state of a being, so that I shall not be the ideal being of the State". I want to fight for this ideal state of being so that I won’t be the ideal of the State; that is not to be slavish.

Industrial agriculture is no longer able to respond to the crisis of societal change. On the contrary it is causing the crisis, because agriculture and the food system wants to enslave society, concentrating economic revenues. This hungry proposal of accumulating capital by all means causes a crisis, and farmers see that this is not a technological issue but an economic crisis that in turn is a political crisis. Capitalism is its own gravedigger in this respect.

JF - What are the obstacles facing organic agriculture?

There are three obstacles. The first is the State. It has little societal commitment and no desire to change. Industry is where the power lies, and politicians are temporary. In Latin America industry is power and politicians are temporarily there as its representatives.

The second obstacle is the monolithic approach of Universities. The term University is derived from "universities", the universal set of knowledge possible to dream up, construct, and propose a thesis. Today Universities don’t propose theses, they propose ‘research’ but already know the results.  This is adjusted research. Industry does not need universities for knowledge, as they conduct more research themselves, what they need is legitimacy. People have an idea that university is "free, public and serves the people". That’s a lie, the university doesn’t represent the citizenry, more so, if universities were to close farmers wouldn’t even notice, the social impact of universities is negligible as compared to farmers. People think that Universities are prestigious; this is still the image that is maintained, like a veil. The truth is that the University is a brothel, where knowledge and technology are prostituted.

The third obstacle is rural outreach, the system for disseminating information to farmers. It has been created on a lie. It assumes farmers as a technological consumer unit rather than as a cultural entity. The agricultural supply industry can sell products through operatives that need very little training – you don’t need to be an agronomist, to be a mugger you don’t need to go to college.

Organic agriculture is about rural communication, where discussion and dialogue is held, where the farmer is recognized as having something to give, as they know the territory. The farmer provides the context and the background, and then others coming in can see the potential or possibilities. This is the basis for developing organic agriculture where both parties can grow together.

JF – Can you tell me about the impact of your work on climate change?

Jairo - Its very simple. The more we can build life in the soil, the less carbon will be in the atmosphere. So for example the herbicide industry should pay for carbon emissions, not only for killing life but also in the embodied oil within the product itself. Fungicides greatly modify the climate, why? Because they are selective and modify the food networks connecting microbiology and decomposition. When decomposition of organic matter is paralysed and modified this releases more carbon. On the other hand the proposal of organic agriculture is to increase soil life and to trap carbon within productive systems.

JF –  You have worked for the United Nations. They have proclaimed this year the year of the Soil. What do you think of this?

Jairo – They have a year for everything. Saying it’s the year of the Soil is like saying its International Life Year! Every single day humanity is related to soil. Our stomach does not exist without being tied to the soil – without soil there is no life, so why have one year that is for soil? Its madness.

Jairo Restrepo Rivera has published 40 scientific papers and 14 books on organic agriculture. He has participated in more than 500 conferences on the subject of organic agriculture and worked with 37 universities. He has worked as a consultant for governments and parliaments and is the founder of various NGO’s, foundations, programs, and international initiatives. He has taught over 400 courses in 52 countries, is a consultant to the UN, UNESCO and Panama and FAO in Chile and Brazil. –

Jairo will be in the UK in July 2015 teaching three courses at Ragmans Lane Farm in Gloucestershire.  For details on the courses see www.ragmans.co.uk/home/news

A Wonderful Time at Ragmans by Yanthe Oosthoek - Student Summer 2014

Being back in Holland made me realise how amazing my time at Ragmans had been. While cycling through the Dutch landscape (which is not very impressive compared to the beautiful Wye Valley Ragmans is surrounded by) I notice myself pointing out different weeds growing in the fields. This is something I did not even look at before I started working on the farm. Not only the weeds are keeping me busy; realising the importance and purity of nature was something I just took for granted before. 



As a second year student of International Development Management I had to learn more about farming. So I spent weeks and weeks trying to find the right placement place or WWOOF farm. There were two things I knew before I started searching: I wanted to learn more about permaculture and I wanted to go to the UK. I Googled ‘permaculture farm in UK’ and found Ragmans. I knew immediately that this was the place where I wanted to go.

In the first week on the farm it became clear this was exactly what I needed. 

In the time between my first working day on the farm, which was the 14th of July, and the last one, 10 weeks later, each and every day was different. The weather, jobs, and people all made my days interesting and worthwhile. Freya, Pete, Matt, and Juan Fran supported me along the way and gave me many opportunities. They gave me space to learn as much as possible about each and every aspect of the farm. From scything the orchard to compost-tea’ing the apple trees, stacking wood, preparing the Yurt, to organising a Gathering of Centres on the farm. Their trust in me made me feel so much more confident. Whenever I had a difficult permaculture question they were always willing to give me an answer and tell me even more about it. It felt like I had been there for ages already. They all create such a warm and welcoming atmosphere within the farm! 



As part of an individual placement assignment I was involved in organising a Gathering of Centres. A two day meet up to exchange experiences between 9 other educational farms in the UK. It was amazing to see how people with the same interests and concerns had the opportunity to share knowledge.

I had never thought an event like this could be so supportive and helpful. This gathering was a great opportunity for me to meet other inspiring people and become more involved in ‘interesting sustainable things’ going on in the UK. Something Holland can learn a lot from! 



It is hard for me to draw up a list of all the things I learnt during my time at the farm because it is endless. Working with the Growers proved a very valuable experience as well. The alternation of working on Ragmans for 4 days a week and one day in the Growers garden was perfect. Nat, Danny, Ben, and Jon taught me so many things about veggies, soil, equipment, seeds during the days I worked with them. I never knew I would develop a serious interest and see the importance and value of growing local food and flowers. 



Even though Ragmans is quite isolated, having warm, helpful, and lovely people around me made me feel at home. Thank you Freya, Matt, Pete, Angie, Ann, Steve, Carine, Juan Fran, Nat, Jon, Danny, and Ben. The work you all do is amazing and you are all amazing! You know what they say about people visiting Ragmans once, don’t you? They all return in due time. Well, don’t worry, I will be back for sure! 



October 2014


Actively Aerated Compost Teas (AACT) – a mid summers spraying at Ragmans Lane

June 25, 2014 by The Urban Orchard Project Leave a comment

I recently spent five sunny days at one of my favourite places: Ragmans Farm (see previous post March 2013). I’d arranged to come and help with their annual spraying regime as the spraying regime at Ragmans isn’t your usual. Most commercial orchards, including those certified organic by the Soil Association, still rely heavily on routine applications of copper-based sprays as a fungicide against scab and powdery mildew, the former being the bane of the apple grower’s life. However, copper sprays or ‘Bordeaux mixture’ damages the delicate web of interactions that occur on the leaf surface and in the soil. And, as it builds up in the system, it can be harmful to fish, livestock and earthworms.

In his usual humble manner, Matt, the farm manager, told me “we’re not claiming to be experts on this and it’s still pretty experimental”. At Ragmans the preferred term is ‘beyond organic’, as Matt says “we need to get out of the habit of thinking antibiotically – ie spraying against pests and disease. We need to approach our orchards in a holistic, probiotic way. We need to strengthen the existing beneficial micro organisms and insects to produce food free from residues”.

So, enter the wonderful world of Actively Aerated Compost Tea (AACT). This wonderful brew is essentially a living liquid soil food web which is sprayed onto the canopy, trunk and surrounding soil of the tree, inoculating it with a micro-herd of beneficial organisms. The key word here is aerated; AACT is not to be confused with your pungent smelling, anaerobic comfrey or nettle teas which are usually applied to the soil only. AACT’s are brewed by bubbling air through a solution containing compost containing ‘seed’ micro organisms. During this brewing process these tiny organisms will reproduce rapidly.

By using different types of compost and additions, the tea can be nurtured to make it more bacterially or fungally dominant, depending on what type of plant you’re spraying. As fruit trees prefer a fungally dominated soil, as they originate from a forest-edge ecology, the order of the day here is a fungal-heavy brew, although it’ll also be teeming with bacteria, protozoa and nematodes. Choosing the right type of compost to start with is key here, with a mature compost being a more fungal one.

Pete had started the brew a few days before my arrival, based on one of Soil scientist Dr Elaine Ingham’s ‘recipes’. This involved suspending a mesh bag of mature compost in a barrel filled with spring water which runs down from the hills at the farm, tap water being unsuitable due to the presence of chlorimines which kill the fungi. “The council here started using chloromines instead of chlorine which means you can’t even leave it 24hours to evaporate off” Pete told me. Some forest soil and leaves from the apples trees are added, to inoculate the mix with the microbes already present and adapted to both the soil and phyllosphere (the above ground part of a plant as microorganism habitat).

To get the fungi off to a head start, they’re offered a tantalising platter of seaweed, yeast extract, organic molasses and porridge oats. The organic choice is important; not because the fungi are fussy feeders, but because of the presence of preservatives in so much of our conventionally produced foods these days, which exist to destroy the fungi, not nurture it.
Vitally, the brew is aerated using a pond aeration pump and stones, for 2-3 days, in a cool place. Adequate aeration is critical and the water should look like it is at a rolling boil. The organisms must be active and growing to be producing the ‘glues’ or exudates required for them to stick to the tree surface. Without the aeration the mixture would quickly become anaerobic, and the beneficial microbes would die and be replaced by anaerobic bacteria and root-feeding nematodes and potentially harmful pathogens such as e.coli.

And then comes the spraying. Pete demonstrated using a lance spray, tank and battery powered pump. After re-acquainting myself with my old friend Dumpy (the little 4×4 tractor) I got to work giving each tree a healthy soaking, following the branches to the tips and back down to the trunk and importantly to the soil. Each droplet of the AACT contains a wide variety of microbes as they derived from a few handfuls of compost made on the farm from leaves, twigs, roots, shoots and the odd handful of garden soil. When a droplet lands on the tip of a leaf the microbes within that droplet that are evolved to work at leaf tips are activated and get to work protecting the leaf surface. Other microbes ‘switch off’. Conversely droplets hitting the ground will favour soil dwelling microbes that will then multiply to inoculate the soil.


These favoured microbes waste no time in munching other less favoured ones. As they increase in number they form a ‘thatch’, surrounding the leaf cuticle or root. A carefree rust spore floating on the wind will alight onto the leaf hoping to penetrate its unprotected cuticle. Instead it lands in the soup of microorganisms surrounding the leaf and is broken down by bacteria looking for a protein-rich fix.

 It’s an unforgiving microbe eat microbe world down there at the microscopic level. “This is the beauty of homemade aerated compost tea – the ingredients are readily available and you are simply strengthening the resilience of your system” said Matt.

It can take up to 30 minutes for the fungi to attach themselves to the tree surface, so it’s important to spray on the shady side of the tree if it’s sunny, so that it doesn’t dry too quickly (the soil microorganisms are also sensitive to UV).

And so I spent several happy days working my way along 1000 trees, intermittently returning to the barrel to refill the tank. This was the first time I’d visited in mid summer, so it was treat to witness the farm and its surroundings in full lush mode. The blackbirds and warblers sang by day (well, until I started up Dumpy’s engine) and the owls called through the night. It was nice to not have to worry about personal protective safety equipment (as the impromptu video in this blog shows); one can take a laissez faire approach to safety when using such a spray. And, as I’d frequently get covered by a fine mist of the stuff, I was thankful that it didn’t smell bad – had it been comfrey or nettle tea I’d have smelt like a sewer for weeks. However, I was grateful for my sunglasses; not even the most enthusiastic proponents of the soil food web desires a case of the ol’ nematode in the tearduct.

video link here

During the evenings I hung out around the fire with the latest permaculture students on Patrick Whitefield’s course, drinking cider made from the very trees I’d been spraying, and I gave a talk about how the Urban Orchard Project are applying permaculture principles to our work. On my last evening I went to watch England take one step closer to World Cup exit curtousey of Uraguay with the lovely crew at Ragmans Lane Market Garden: four inspiring young growers selling organic produce to pubs and restaurants around the Forest of Dean.

Once again it was time to head back to the capital, something I always find hard to do after a few days at Ragmans (and one too many ciders the night before). I look forward to returning in October for some cider-related happenings.

Thanks to the Ragman’s crew for the opportunity to take part in the spraying, the PDC group for their hospitality and enthusiasm, Cari for lending me her hat, Andy his camera and Steven for the impromptu photo and film shoot.

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Future Farmers at Ragmans

Have a look at this great blog post from the  Sustainable Food Trust newsletter about the Growers at Ragmans Lane Market Garden. The growers have their own blog too, you can read their blog here.

My Experience of Making Apple Juice at Ragmans

By Chris Klasinski

Here is a relatively short account of my time working at Ragmans Farm picking and processing the apple harvest which is primarily used to create high quality organic juice. I have given some thoughts and experiences from each of the three main stages of production.

Picking:

The orchards at Ragmans contain a huge variety of different apple trees. Over 30 apple varieties are grown for juice and another 10 pear and cider apple varieties can be found here too. This gives plenty of benefits through diversity but means finding the type of apples that are ripe and required to create a particular flavour of juice can be a bit of a challenge. 

Armed with maps of the orchards and riding around on Dumpy, a mini 4x4 pickup/tractor type vehicle, we fill sacks and large wooden boxes with wonderful chemical free apples ready to be taken

to the refrigerated shipping container where they will wait for the next stage on their journey to becoming a fine bottle of pure fruit juice. 

The only spraying that is done here is with Aerated Compost Tea which is designed to inoculate the trees with all the beneficial microbiology that is found in good compost. Essentially it boosts the immune system of the tree as this friendly microbiology competes with the unfriendly ones.

By creating a liquid spray only a very small amount of solid compost is needed compared to the enormous amount of solid compost that would be required to spread on the soil around each tree. As Pete the senior farm worker at Ragmans explains to the students on the Permaculture Design Course: “We do still get diseases in the orchard but it’s a balance of diseases, with none becoming dominant and posing a real problem.”

The use of Aerated Compost Tea is an experiment which only time will reveal to be a success or not. So far the results are promising and I think the apples taste great.

Occasionally whilst out picking in the orchard there is a moment to take in the beautiful views of the farm and the surrounding land. This is a time when I am thankful to be working in Mother Nature’s office rather than the brick boxes I have been enclosed in so many times before. Even after frantically picking Bramleys amidst a jungle of stinging nettles during the pouring rain I felt better than I ever did coming home from a day working in a call centre. After all, being stung by stinging nettles is good for your blood circulation and it was a beautiful moment of contrast to see the sun come out just as we were finishing.

Most of the time out in the orchards is spent filling sack after sack then lifting them into and out of Dumpy which in my view is a far more productive workout than I could ever get at a gym.

This year the harvest has been a lot better than the previous year. However the constant rain, and the resulting water logging of the soil, last year has almost certainly caused damage to the roots of many trees. This means some of the energy they would have used for fruit production will have instead been used to re-establish their root systems. Hopefully next year they’ll be fighting fit again and able to concentrate on the delicious gifts they produce.

As part of my increasing desire to experience the world around me with a deeper sense of connection I have been apologising to some the trees for the rough treatment when a little shaking is required and also thanking them for what they give to us. I view the trees here as my equals and I think it’s important to recognise the hard work that they do all year round to give us the apples that we take to The Juice Shed. Thank you trees!

Pressing:

The Juice Shed is where all the processing of apples (and pears, raspberries and blackcurrants for the blends) into juice is done. This happens in two stages, the first of which is to clean the apples in a large tank of water. Then they are loaded, by hand, into a mill. This machine is much like a wood chipper that turns whole apples into a pulp that can be loaded into the press where it is squashed until the juice has been squeezed out and pumped away through a filter into a large container.

In contrast to the peaceful open surroundings of the orchards this stage of the process is confined to a small and rather noisy space, but still outside in the fresh air. The combined sounds created by the mill, the press and the

pump mean verbal communication has to be shouted and hand signals and gestures are often more effective.

This is a bit of a messy job, especially when hurriedly emptying the dry pulp into large builder’s sacks quickly enough so the cloths that contain the pulp can be used for the next round of pressing. This is when I have received a lot of unwanted attention from the local wasp population, who perhaps feel that we are simply putting on a party for them. I’ve only been stung once but have had our yellow and black friends flying at my face and trying to land on me many times. This has had the welcome effect of making me a lot less bothered about being around them – although I still prefer to keep a healthy amount of personal space between us.

Bottling and pasteurising:

Stage two in The Juice Shed is known to me as Bottle World. At this point the fresh juice from the pressing is pumped out of the large container through a filter and down into the two bottling machines where I have spent many hours shuffling between a pallet full of bottles and the six filling pipes. Early in the morning the bottles are cold, so are my hands and so is the juice. It makes for a slow start but pretty soon, as all warm up, I find myself getting into a rhythm where by my feet are moving in a sort of dance that carries me the shortest distance, back and forth, from the pallet to the machines.

The filled bottles are sealed with a cap and are then loaded into one of four hot water tanks that will

pasteurise the juice allowing it to be stored for many years. I always look forward to the first batch of bottles going into the tanks as the rush of hot steamy air that emerges is a delightful treat on a cold morning in Bottle World.

Once the juice is bottled and pasteurised it is laid to rest in a large crate where it awaits the chance to be labelled, packaged and sent off to be enjoyed by all the customers who buy this labour of love.

Some overall thoughts on my experience:

The last two months working the apple season at Ragmans Farm has involved some of the most physically challenging and demanding work I’ve ever done for a sustained length of time. Day after day, week after week I’ve crawled into bed each night to recharge my batteries just enough to get through the next day. The experience has certainly shown me my limitations and started me thinking how I would like to develop my strength and strengths both physically and mentally. It has also been some of the most rewarding and inspiring work I’ve ever done, an experience that I will never forget and have gained much from.

I am extremely grateful to all the people here at Ragmans who have given and shared with me this nourishing experience. I feel this place and the people who live and work here are an important part of the potential for a brighter future where we as a species can learn to live with the land and the rest of nature; A potential future where humans, once again, become a constructive part of nature and improve our own experience of life and reality. There needs to be more opportunities like the one I have been privileged to experience and I hope that I can find more next year after I’ve left Ragmans. I urge everyone to seek them out or create them if you can.

Chris Klasinski

For more information on the work at Ragmans Farm have a look at the following links:

Ragmans Farm

The Willow Bank

Juan-Fran’s Synergistic Agriculture Experiment

And for more information about Aerated Compost Tea I recommend the book ‘Teaming With Microbes’

Experimenting with The Synergistic Garden - by Juan-Fran

 

Some years ago, tired of the endless routines of digging, fertilizing and weeding (which I think is useless at the beginning of the season) I began to read about Natural Agriculture.  Very different to the usual, scientific approach to agriculture, this reform was pioneered by Masanobu Fukuoka (‘The One Straw Revolution’, and ‘The Natural Way of Farming’). Fukuoka proves that you can achieve good yields when leaving the soil undisturbed, active in its own dynamic and wild state.

I began to understand about soil. Then I was left with lots of questions, the most persistent was: Could I improve these techniques in the UK’s temperate climate? This question led me to discover Synergistic Agriculture.

Synergistic Agriculture is a method that has been developed since the 1980s  by a Spanish woman called Emilia Hazelip. This method allows you to farm without digging or even scratching the soil, not even superficially. This protects the bacteria, fungi and all forms of invisible life allowing complex, subtle and beneficial interactions. Ploughing, or any other disturbance of the soil kills millions of underground and microscopic creatures and prevents organic matter accumulating in the soil. This destroys the living soils activity and all the resulting benefits to crops. In return we have to reproduce the benefits of the natural activity with the “myth” of applied fertilizers. In the natural environment 95% of the nutrients come from the sun and atmospheric gases.

The 4 rules of Synergistic Agriculture:

• Do not disturb or compact the soil
• Use the self-fertility of the land as fertiliser
• Establish a partnership with symbiotic organisms in the rhizosphere
• Add layers of humus to the growing area

Synergistic Agriculture is not the same as  “do-nothing” agriculture. With Synergistic Agriculture it is important to consider crop successions and companion plants over the years.

After examining Synergistic Agriculture in depth, I decided to experiment and make my own raised beds. I made my beds 1.40 m wide, 4m long and around 50cm high with 70 cm between each bed.  I selected different types of materials to make my “lasagna beds”: apple branches, kitchen scraps, leaves from the woods, ashes, horse manure, compost, 3 years old wood chip, clippings…I found everything around me!!

Mindful about the time of year I started (end of winter, early spring), I knew the layers wouldn’t have very long to decompose before I wanted to plant into them. I used around 4:1 balance between brown and green layers, and considered the main needs of my first crops. 

The next step was to plan the vegetables in each bed.  The two main things I had to consider were time and space. The planting had to take account of the time each vegetable needs – to grown and ripen, and the space they would occupy over that time period.

My second concern was to replicate a natural balance between the plants grown. I wanted 33% of root plants in each bed, 33% of fruit/flowers and 33% in leaf. Ideally to include one legume per bed for nitrogen fixing. This ratio is not always possible and some element predominates but this can be rectified in subsequent rotations.

And thirdly, another basic consideration is the animal kingdom; we need insects in the garden. To

Visitors to the beds!

meet this requirement each bed must have a minimum of 2 types of flowers and herbs to confuse the possible pests. These act as a biological control, and help keep a biological balance in the garden.

 I used straw as a mulch. This was to reduce the need for irrigation, to keep the right temperature in the beds and avoid erosion. The slugs would have a good time in the beds too, but I had a surprise when the ducks began to visit the garden at night time when the slugs visit the vegetables.  The beds get a lot of guests including a lot of toads!

After one and a half months the tomatoes were climbing up the sunflowers, in-between dwarf beans, celery, cabbage. The climbing beans were growing up the sweet corn through a sea of squash. Everything surrounded by salads and onions, potatoes, spinach and peas; with garlic and leeks around the edges; swiss chard, beetroot and peppers with shallots and turnips in the gaps. A food jungle…. so much food everywhere!!!

When I harvest I keep the roots in the soil (of course not root vegetables!!). It is very important for the soil to leave the plant roots in place. When the roots decompose they release vitamins, organic acid, and sugars. They also have a positive effect on the growth and parasitic resistance of the remaining plants and improving the soil (i.e. the general aggregate stability). When I harvested vegetables I left all the aerial plant parts as new mulch, decomposing and creating new compost “in-situ”. These residues create more organic matter in the soil than the crop removed - so I don’t need a compost bin. Sometimes I spray with aerated compost tea, which we make on the farm for spraying the orchards. (See Patrick Whitefield’s guest blog for a bit more about the aerated compost teas and our orchard care.)

 I always try to keep dead plants with live plants, and mix annual crops with perennial crops. Now I notice that the soil is really healthy, a nice structure and full of mycelium.

Now as I keep harvesting and planting for the winter, my experience tells me that the only thing, yet the most complicated thing we have to do is “un-learn” everything about conventional growing. Observe, interact and play with nature, not against it!

Now all the work is done and I just have to walk around the garden, enjoying, harvesting and eating. Life is Wonderful!!!

And remember, the garden is a place to enjoy, not for work; let nature work for you!!!

For more photographs see our facebook page.

Written by JuanFran Lopez who has been WWOOFing at Ragmans since Februrary 2013.

Patrick Whitefield Blogs About Orchard Management at Ragmans

Beyond Organics: Holistic Orchard Management

We recently taught one of our permaculture design courses at Ragmans Farm in the Forest of Dean. For years they’ve been innovating with permacultural ideas and their latest trend is holistic orchard management.


Ragmans Farm

One key to the system is the use of aerated compost tea. This is a preparation of beneficial microbes, made by bubbling air through water to which a small amount of good compost has been added. There are various other optional things you can add to feed the microbes and Peter Kafno, who works on the farm, took us through how he makes compost tea step by step.


Peter Kafno explains the craft of making compost tea.

For complete instructions on compost tea he recommends the book Teaming with Microbes. An important detail, which was new to me and doesn’t occur in the book, is that these days you can’t use mains water. It used to be possible to get rid of the chlorine by leaving it to outgas over 12 hours. But now water companies are using chloramines, which are more stable than chlorine and will not outgas. They will kill the microbes - which is what they’re designed to do, after all - so now you have to use rainwater or spring water.

If you have a small garden and are able to make enough compost to dress the whole garden with it every year or two it’s probably not worth making compost tea. But on larger areas, where that amount of compost would be out of the question, it really comes into its own, bringing the biological benefits of compost without the need for masses of material. At Ragmans they spray the orchards around once a month through the growing season.
    ‘We do still get diseases in the orchard,’ said Pete, ‘But it’s a balance of diseases, with none becoming dominant and posing a real problem.’


Matt Dunwell, the farmer, then showed us round the orchards and explained the whole system. Much of it is based on the work of Michael Phillips, the pioneering American orchardist, and Matt recomends his book. Most organic fruit growers spray every 10-20 days with copper fungicdes to control fungus diseases and keep the fruit unblemished so it looks good on the supermarket shelf. ‘That is suppressing disease,’ he said. ‘By contrast, what we do is probiotic, encouraging life.’


Matt tells us about holistic orchard management.

As well as using the compost tea, they mulch the trees with ramial woodchip. This is woodchip made from small branches and it’s higher in nitrogen and other nutrients than woodchip made from larger wood. It has the effect of encouraging a fungal microflora in the soil, which is beneficial for tree crops, as opposed to a bacterial one, which is what’s wanted for annuals such as vegetables and cereals.


Matt with mulch.

One problem is that the fruit is not as visually perfect as fruit sprayed with copper fungicides. There are two solutions to this. One is to educate your customers. Imperfect fruit goes well in a box scheme, where there’s more direct contact between producer and consumer than there is through a shop. The vegetable box scheme at Ragmans is just starting up again now, after a few years in abeyance, and fruit sales will be integrated with it. The other way is to make juice and this is just what they do. In fact the orchard was originally planted to supply their existing apple juice business.

 ‘What we’re doing is very much an experiment,’ he said. ‘We’re moving away from industrialised agriculture but real ecological agriculture is probably a hundred years away. There’s no-one doing it now. I call what we’re doing “modern agriculture”.’


Munch, munch!