New Ownership at Ragmans Farm

Stepping back from Ragmans Farm.                         

After 33 years at Ragmans I have decided to step back from the farm and make way for a new owner.  Farming this land and sharing it with others has been an enormous privilege. The farm has hosted extraordinary teachers and growers, students employees and volunteers. Their insight, sheer hard work and constant kicking of the tyres has built the profile of Ragmans into a farm known for teaching, experimenting and providing a platform for people to get access to land.  I have had the energy to try to facilitate and direct this over the years, but now I owe it to the land to pass it on to fresh eyes, hands and hearts.

If possible I would like the farm to continue as a teaching venue, taking advantage of bunkhouse accommodation, and training facilities. Over the last six months I have been in conversation with both the Ecological Land Coop (ELC) and Land Workers Alliance (LWA).  A model has emerged whereby the farm title can be held by the ELC, and some of the land leased to the LWA to use as a training facility. This model also allows existing tenants to continue on the farm, and will enable new leaseholders to live and work on the farm. There are many details still to clarify, but it feels like the vision has become solid enough to be bought out into the open. 

Freya Davies who has managed the farm since 2008 is stepping down at the end of June. I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Freya who has held the farm together over the last 15 years enabling me to develop other work off the farm. Mark Moodie will step in as interim Farm Manager from June to December 2023, working with Angie Horsley who will continue as Farm Administrator. Hopefully the transition to ownership by the Ecological Land Coop will take place at the end of the year. 

If there are further questions please contact  info@ragmans.co.uk

Matt Dunwell.  June 2023

https://ecologicalland.coop

https://landworkersalliance.org.uk

 

COVID-19

Ragmans response to CV-19

Covid - 19 Update September 2021

We are pleased to welcome back guests, students and visitors to the farm.

The holiday and course accomodation is self-contained, for sole use by each booking. Check-in details are emailed in advance

We request visitors without a booking or an appointment to contact us before making unplanned visits. There are limited facilites for non-holiday/course guests on the farm.

There are hand sanitising facilites on arrival at the farm.

Please do NOT come to the farm if you have any symptoms or have tested positive for covid-19,  or if anyone in your household has symptoms (unless they’re exempt from self-isolation) or has tested postive, or have been told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace.

Thank you!

 

Covid-19 Update - 25th February 2021

The farm is currently closed to the public until further notice

We hope you are all doing well and managing to stay safe during this current lockdown.

The farm remains closed for residential courses, holidays and visits.

If you are enquiring about The Wilowbank or the Market Garden please contact them separately using the following links     Willowbank        Ragmans Market Garden

Events and Courses

Again, many courses and events need to be rescheduled.

We are working with all the lovely tutors and retreat facilitators to do this. As lock-down restrictions continue, this is having a drastic effect on us all; and it is very disappointing to see so many wonderful events postponed or cancelled.

If you were due to attend a course or event at the farm please contact your event/course organiser in the first instance.

We will be contacting anyone who has booked a course or an event organised by the farm.

Holidays and Yurt Bookings

It’s the same for holidays booked in the Cider Orchard Yurt or the Bunkhouse, and we will be in touch with you to reschedule dates when you can come back for your stay. If we are unable to reschedule at a time that suits you we will offer you a refund.

The government review published 22nd February 2021 indicates that the Bunkhouse can open for bookings when Step 2 of the Guidance is endorsed - currently no earlier than 12th of April. Bookings for the Step 2 time-frame must be in line with the Guidance (currently single family units only). The calendar is now open for bookings from 12th April onwards.

There is no guarantee at this stage when the farm can open its residential accommodation. If you have a booking we will stay in touch with you. If you have booked the Cider Orchard Yurt through Canopy and Stars please contact them in the first instance.

Book Orders

We are able to fulfil internet orders and are mailing out orders once a week on average so there is a slight delay on our usual turnaround. In addition many postal and courier services are experiencing high volumes of mail and managing this with limited staff. Orders are currently taking a bit longer to arrive than usual.

At the moment our permaculture books are very popular! CLICK HERE to visit our webshop.

If you have not received your book order within 10 days (UK orders) and 20 days (Europe orders) of receiving your despatch notification please contact us.

Comfrey Orders

We are still taking comfrey orders and are holding despatch until later in the year. if you have placed a comfrey order we will email you separately about this.

Visiting the Farm

The farm is closed to visitors.

We have a duty of care to our staff, the people who live here, business tenants operating their business from the farm, all the services provided to other organisations we work with, our customers and the wider community. People working at the farm are observing physical distancing.

Ragmans is a busy place - even in lock-down, and we want to keep it safe!

Thank you

For information: The farm remains closed to the general public, please do not visit the farm unless you have an appointment or a confirmed booking.

If you have any symptoms, or have been in close proximity to anyone who has symptoms or a positive test result, please do NOT come to the farm. If you have booked a stay in the Yurt please let us know as soon as possible.

We are combining working from home with essential working at the farm. Everyone at the farm is working within government guidance on social distancing. Working from home and staggered hours at the farm means that we are not always on site or in the office to deal with enquiries and it may take us a bit longer to get back to you.

There are hand sanitising facilities on arrival at the farm.

 

Covid-19 Update 14 September 2020

We have made some changes to the way we work and would like to update you on how the farm is responding to the government guidance on COVID-19.

Happily the Cider Orchard Yurt has been open for holiday guests since the 8th July 2020. We have made many changes to meet the guidance and to make Yurt stays as safe as possible for all of us. Full details are sent to yurt guests on booking. The yurt must be booked in advance.

The Bunkhouse is now open for holidays. We will consider booking enquiries from single families, or people in a support bubble and following the current government guidance on this.

We are planning to open The Mushroom Shed for a day course in September and have developed some guidance for course organisers on this.

Government guidance does not allow for the opening of shared accommodation. We are developing guidance for course organisers who have booked The Bunkhouse for an event to see if they can operate with limited accommodation and within government guidance regarding use of indoor spaces.

We have been working with tutors and event co-ordinators and have rescheduled many courses and events, others are waiting a bit longer to see how things go.

We are now able to offer farm tours. Farm tours must be booked in advance.

For information:

 

Covid-19 Update 30 June 2020

Following the recent government guidance on COVID-19 we would like to update you on how the farm is responding.

We are excited to be opening the Cider Orchard Yurt with effect from the 8th July 2020. We have made many changes to meet the guidance and to make Yurt stays as safe as possible for all of us. Full details will be sent to yurt guests on booking. The yurt must be booked in advance.

Sadly, the Bunkhouse and the Mushroom Shed remain closed for courses and events. We have been working with tutors and event co-ordinators and have rescheduled many courses and events, others are waiting a bit longer to see how things go.

We are still unable to offer farm tours at the moment.

For information:

 

Covid-19 Update March 2020

The farm is currently closed to the public until further notice

We hope you are all doing well and managing to stay safe during the lockdown, and as some of the restrictions are lifted. This is an update as to how the farm is responding to the situation.

Events and Courses

Sadly, many courses and events need to be rescheduled.

We are working with all the lovely tutors and retreat facilitators to do this. As the lock-down restrictions continue, this is having a drastic effect on us all; and it is very disappointing to see so many wonderful events postponed or cancelled. 

If you were due to attend a course or event at the farm please contact your course organiser in the first instance.

We will be contacting anyone who has booked a course or an event organised by the farm.

Holidays and Yurt Bookings

It’s the same for holidays booked in the Cider Orchard Yurt or the Bunkhouse, and we will be in touch with you to reschedule dates when you can come back for your stay. If we are unable to reschedule at a time that suits you we will offer you a refund.

We don’t yet know when it will be appropriate to open a venue such as The Bunkhouse or the Yurt and we will be guided by the government and any industry guidance. If you have a booking we will stay in touch with you. If you have booked through Canopy and Stars please contact them in the first instance.

Keeping things going

We are all working - both at the farm and from home. The grass keeps growing and so does the jobs list!  The apple trees had a wonderful show of blossom and now we wait to see how the fruit sets and what sort of harvest we can hope for later in the year.

The good news is we are still able to fulfill your web orders.

Book Orders

We are mailing out orders once a week on average so there is a slight delay on our usual turnaround. In addition many postal and courier services are experiencing high volumes of mail and managing this with limited staff. Orders are currently taking a bit longer to arrive than usual.

At the moment our permaculture books are very popular! CLICK HERE to visit our webshop.

If you have not received your book order within 10 days (UK orders) and 20 days (Europe orders) of receiving your despatch notification please contact us.

Comfrey Orders

We are still taking comfrey orders and are holding despatch until later in the year, when we hope courier and postal services are less strained and back on track. if you have placed a comfrey order we will email you separately about this.

Visiting the Farm

The farm is closed to visitors.

We have a duty of care to our staff, the people who live here, business tenants operating their business from the farm, all the services provided to other organisations we work with, our customers and the wider community. People working at the farm are observing physical distancing.

Ragmans is a busy place - even in lock-down, and we want to keep it safe!

Thank you

 

Winter 2019 Newsletter

Read our latest newsletter to find out what has been happening on the farm, lots of lovely gift ideas for Christmas and courses coming up in 2020 CLICK HERE

New Growers at Ragmans Lane Market Garden

Craig and Becky have been growing organic fruit and veg professionally for the last 4 years, working and learning at various places including Fern Verrow, Oaklands Park and Kensons Farm.

They have been living in the Forest for a couple of years now and are looking forward to taking on Ragmans Lane Market Garden, where they hope to carry on producing quality organic salad, veg, fruit and flowers for the Forest Food Hub, local restaurants and cafes.

They are also planning to create and manage habitat for the wildlife they will share the market garden with and are especially keen to encourage the return of the Little Owl to Ragmans’ orchards. When not growing food they can be found cycling, stitching and making cider.

Contact them on Email: digupyourlawn@gmail.com or Mobile: 07930 001570

Market Garden Business Opportunity at Ragmans Lane Farm

Ragmans has an opportunity for someone to run their own Market Garden business on 1.7 acres of organic land in the centre of Ragmans Lane Farm, taking over from a very successful business built up over the last 5 years. The current tenant is leaving in the autumn to make way for a new grower and a new season.

Ragmans is a dynamic farm in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire; we have been working with organic principles and permaculture for more than 25 years and are supporting people to access land to establish their own businesses.

 You will need experience, skills and the ability to deliver a self-sustaining project.

 Closing date 23rd September 2018

 CLICK HERE for more information, how to appy and where to send your application.

 

New Land Opportunity at Ragmans

Ragmans is a dynamic farm in the Forest of Dean, we have been working with organic principles and permaculture for more than 25 years. We have an opportunity to offer access to woodland or small-scale growing projects or crafts projects that would complement our current farm enterprises – venue hire, apple orchards, veg garden, willow business and sheep farming. There's not a lot of land available but we are interested in ideas that are a good fit with the farm.

We are interested in hearing from people with a sustainable land-based business idea and who wish to be part of a dynamic, sustainable, educational farm. We are open to ideas. Tell us what you’d like to do and how you would use the land and resources here.

You will need to show experience, skills and research to deliver a self-sustaining project.

Closing Date 16th April 2018. For an application pack please CLICK HERE

 

Trainee Grower Vacancies - Ragmans Lane Market Garden

 

Ragmans Lane Market Garden is seeking two trainee growers for the 2018 season. This is a fantastic opportunity for two motivated people to gain practical experience and knowledge of the practicalities of small-scale commercial veg-growing, nurturing crops from seed to harvest over a full growing season.

About the Market Garden

Ragmans Lane Market Garden is a thriving organic vegetable-growing business, now about to enter its fifth season. Originally set up as a partnership, Jon has run it as his own business (with help from seasonal trainees) for the last year. The garden is based at Ragmans Farm, a renowned teaching centre in an idyllic location by the river Wye in Gloucestershire’s Forest of Dean. The garden has been steadily developing into a viable business based on a growing area of just half an acre of outdoor veg beds and three polytunnels. This has been achieved partly through an emphasis on growing high-value crops, particularly salads, and through the use of harvesting methods and crop successions designed to make the most of the available space. A minimal cultivation approach has also been adopted, using compost and other mulches to enhance soil and crop health while reducing the weed burden and need for tillage. Produce from the market garden is sold to local shops, restaurants and directly to local residents through the innovative Dean Forest Food Hub website.

About the Traineeship

This informal but comprehensive traineeship will run from early March until the end of October (some flexibility with dates). The trainees will work closely with the grower on a daily basis, and receive thorough practical training in the various aspects of running a small-scale market garden, including crop planning, cultivation, plant propagation, harvesting, weed management, fertility building, produce packing and marketing. The wide range of crops grown means that the work is varied – trainees can expect to be performing several different types of task over the course of each working day. There will be occasional sit-down tutorials discussing particular topics, but most training will take place on the job. Each trainee will be provided with a simply-furnished private room in a comfortable shared house on the farm, as well as all (mostly vegetarian) food and an £80/week stipend. In return, trainees are asked to work from 8-4:30 Monday-Friday, with a 30-minute tea break and an hour for lunch. There are some earlier starts (and earlier finishes) on harvest days, as well as occasional weekend watering cover.

2016 trainee Esme Shea:

“My traineeship at Ragmans was an absolutely wonderful experience! During the eight month season I learnt so much from Jon and thoroughly enjoyed both living and working at the Market Garden. My time at Ragmans has left me with a real passion for horticulture and equipped me with skills that I will use for the rest of my life. Since finishing the traineeship I have pursued a variety of horticultural work, including using horticulture therapeutically to support disadvantaged children. For anyone interested in learning about organic growing and market gardening, I cannot recommend this traineeship enough - a truly inspiring and informative experience."

The traineeship is conceived as a stepping stone for people to build a livelihood in veg-growing or a related field, so candidates will be expected to have a serious interest in developing the skills needed to pursue this line of work. Despite being rurally based, the market garden’s small scale and low level of mechanisation mean that the traineeship could equally suit someone interested in developing urban or community growing projects.

In addition to general enthusiasm, the following personal attributes are required:

Some practical experience of veg-growing on a commercial scale (eg. WWOOFing).
Commitment to and/or interest in organic/agroecological principles
A decent level of fitness and a willingness to perform physical work in all weathers.
Ability to follow complex instructions and work efficiently, with a high level of attention to detail.
Ability to work well as part of a team (including some supervising of WWOOFers in the summer months)
Full driving licence and willingness to make regular deliveries (no more than a few hours a week on average)
Enthusiasm for shared living and willingness to be involved in preparing shared meals at least some of the time

It should be noted that Jon is very much still learning the art of growing, so the traineeship is as much an opportunity to learn alongside him as it is to learn from him.

To apply for one of the roles, please send an email to ragmanslanemarketgarden@gmail.com explaining why you would like to undertake the traineeship here and why you think you would be right for the role, including details of any relevant experience that you have.

The deadline for applications is the 8th of January 2018, and interviews will take place during the week starting the 15th of January.

Please share this ad with anyone who you think might be interested.

For further info, please use the above e-mail address or call Jon on 07503217680


Lecture at Oxford ORFC

The room was more than full. People sitting on the floor, standing everywhere, filling all gaps. There were more than 65 souls on the room and at least other 20 people could not get in the lecture room. Inside, waiting for us to start, we could see a lot of expectation in the faces of the participants. They all wanted to see what bio-fertilizers are, how are they made and what they can do for the soil, the plant and the farmer. Our goal was simple: to inspire, inform and entertain the participants with new fresh and useful information about a new way to look at organic agriculture.

Matt Dunwell chaired the lecture and introduced us and kept track on the time and questions. We divided the presentation in three parts:

JuanFran brilliantly explained the working principles of the bio-fertilizers and presented the current research he is carrying at Ragman’s Farm.
In a top-speed workshop, JuanFran explained the receipt of a basic bio-fertilizer while I was mixing ingredients into a small jar.
I explained the practical applications of the bio-fertilizer and the many experiences we are having with farmers around the globe.

The session was planned for 1 hour but questions kept coming. After the lecture, doors went open and some people went out but many other people got in as we were still answering questions.

Thanks to Juanfran, Matt and the rest of the Ragman’s Farm team and the volunteers and participants for the interesting questions.

Unforgettable.

By Ruben Borge, Rocking Soils.

Ragmans at the Oxford Real Farming Conference!

Juanfran and Matt were joined by Ruben Borge from the Netherlands to deliver a session on biofertilisers at the Oxford Real Farming Conference on the 4/ 5th of January 2017.

We arrived to a packed conference (over 800 people) and headed off to our session at 4.00pm in the St Algates room.  By 3.45 the room was standing room only, and the poor ORFC steward had to hold the door closed to stop another 50 people joining the 70 people inside.

After an hour of talking we offered the audience the chance to escape to the pub - 20 people left and another 15 came in!   So it is safe to say that biofertilisers have really caught the imagination at the conference. 

This builds on the teaching from Jairo Restrepo and the work that Juanfran Lopez has been doing over the last two years at Ragmans developing our understanding of anaerobic ferments to revitalize our soils.

We also hoped to tweak the whiskers of people at the conference and get them interested in the courses that we are running in 2017 (see flyer)

We were also selling the first translation into English of Jairo Restrepo’s seminal work The ABC of Organic Agriculture through the Blackwells stall at the conference. They told us it was the third best selling book on their stall - not bad for a book with no publicity and only two days out of the printers. It’s a fantastic reference book with loads of biofertiliser recipes, cultivation techniques and a passionate philosophy that argues for the small farmer and for food sovereignty for all. It is for sale through our website click here

The ABC of Organic Agriculture introduces the work of Columbian scientist and farmer Jairo Restrepo. Although well known in South America, his message is new on this side of the Atlantic, and this book adds a strong new voice to the English literature for those who fight for diverse cropping systems and affordable healthy diets.

In this compendium of practical ideas and political discourse Jairo Restrepo lays down a challenge for us - to re think our approach to the natural world. We have become complicit in a food system that is fundamentally antibiotic. We are at war with nature, deploying a wide range of poison against pests and plant disease, resulting in food of poor nutritional quality. As the land empties of small farmers, our hospitals fill with diabetics and oncology patients.

This book is a manual that explains that high quality food can be grown affordably on small farms using minimal inputs. Starting with the basic chemistry of the soil it leads the reader on a journey from the science of soil nutrition through mineral ferments mimicking the stomach of a cow, and onto the application of microbial brews to fortify the living systems all around us. We can build natural fertility back into our soils without having to resort to the drugs of the agricultural supply industry – we have the ingredients for health and productivity under our noses.

Our companion on this journey, Jairo Restrepo, speaks with authority having been a government scientist studying pesticides in Brazil in the 1970’s. Appalled by what he learnt in this role, he decided to dedicate his life to understanding how we can work with the natural world rather than against it. Few advocates of natural farming have his scientific depth of knowledge of the true effects of industrial agriculture. Fewer still have put together a practical manual for farmers and growers to learn a new system that will help build long term fertility into their soil.

This is the sort of book that gets a bit tatty. Used again and again, it picks up the sweet scent of the soil and grows well thumbed pages over the course of time. It is for those who don’t mind a bit of dirt under their nails.

This is more than a recipe book however. A recurring theme throughout the book is that we need to reclaim our enquiry into the natural world. We need regain our sense of wonder and at the same time to understand the scientific fundamentals behind our actions. Otherwise we substitute one set of blind recipes for another. Our industrial farms have filled with ‘operatives’ waiting for the next spray instruction (product/dose/timing) received by text from the agronomist. Farmers have become deskilled. In contrast, Jairo Restrepo requires us to take back control of the health of our land from the agricultural supply industry. It has not served farmers or consumers well. In his teaching he passionately challenges the mass production of poor quality food describing it as ‘dishonest food’. His vision of Organic Agriculture is not that of certification and supermarkets, but instead he calls for a new food sovereignty that delivers equity as well the right to an affordable and nutritious diet.

The process of beneficial inoculation is subtle. An infinitesimally small colony of microbes starts to multiply and in the process slowly but surely changes the nature of the medium itself. Once a preparation is applied to the land its true potential opens up before us. This is what Jairo Restrepo intends with the ABC of Organic Agriculture – to inoculate our minds and the nature of farming itself; to help us realise what we can achieve when we work with nature.

Matt Dunwell Ragmans Farm November 2016

Regenerative Agriculture 29th June - 4th July 2017

One Day Practical Bio Fertilisers & Fermenting 19th May and 10th November 2017

Rockin Soils

Jairo Restrepo  - Inspirational Courses and 2017 dates

In June & July 2016 we hosted Jairo for his second UK teaching visit  - a 6 day Intro to Regenerative Agriculture with Chromatography. Jairo also gave a talk in Bristol to a packed audience.

Again, it was amazing, Jairo gave so much to the course. His commitment was immense, and he wove tales of his experience alongside practical tools and advice for creating fertile soils and approaches to farming for the future in a time of climate change.

Regenerative Agriculture 29th June - 4th July 2017

What people said:

"motivating, inspirational, humble, wonderful"

" Great - need more!" Holm. Mell

"Just want to try everything now!"

For more pics see our facebook page.

 

 

 

 

Our Approach to Soil Fertility and System Health ~ by Matt Dunwell

February 15th 2017 POSTED BY: Ragmans Farm




Ragmans Farm is a 60 acre organic farm in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire. We use farming practices that regenerate the land, using permaculture as a guiding design principle. Between the three main enterprises at the farm – Ragmans Lane Farm, the Willow Bank and Ragmans Market Garden, we provide employment for about 8 people.

Ragmans Lane Farm has eight acres of organic apples and we make our own brand of apple juice. We also host a series of courses throughout the year on land related issues.

A course led by Jairo Restrepo in 2015 introduced us to a new philosophy of system health, based on building healthy soils.  This had a profound effect on the farm, and led us to set up a full time research post to develop these principles for temperate climate agriculture.  Our research manager, Juanfran Lopez, is half way into a three year programme and this blog is predominantly about his work here at Ragmans. 



Our research goal is to gain expertise in making soil amendment preparations. We will then measure the effectiveness of these biological techniques on system biology and mineral balance on plant-soil health and growth. Over the last twelve months we have put in place a series of soil and plant tests and taken baseline data.


We are testing for pH, salinity, conductivity, a wide range of trace elements and also available nitrogen. In addition to this, we are developing a high quality range of preparations and techniques such as biofertilisers, aerobic teas, mineral chelations, mychorriza, chromatography, lactic acid bacteria, and native microorganism reproduction among other methods….

The objective of this practice is to reproduce the local microbiology, as bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, algae and protozoa working in a complete harmony in a healthy environmental system (forest, farm or even animal and human system).

Whilst it is tempting to try to produce a range of products for sale, we are wary of claims that certain microbe mixes are ‘silver bullets’ to be used in the same way as chemical fertilisers or herbicides. 

We believe it is more important to get a good understanding of the science behind this approach, and then for farmers to tweak them into individual requirements or situations, thereby having a positive impact on the farmer´s autonomy and viability and hopefully reaching a broader scale.

An example of how we can work through these preparations can be seen at Ragmans currently.  We have in the past sampled our soils and found them lacking in certain trace elements.  A conversation with any good soil lab will furnish you with the trace elements needed, normally in the form of salts – magnesium sulphate etc. These are supplied and put out onto the land with a spreader.


The addition of trace elements in this way can be ineffective as both the soil and plant are looking for elements in a bioactive form – ie easily digestible. For this reason sometimes the addition of trace elements can be disruptive and almost always there is waste.

When we make biofertiliser on the farm we build a biologically active system using fresh cow manure that has the gut flora and fauna of a ruminant. To this we add various ingredients – including molasses, yeast, native microbes from the forest soil.   A ferment takes place into which we can place trace elements in minute quantities over a period of three or four months.  These minerals are cycled through countless generations of microbes becoming more and more biologically available.


When the preparation is ready we spray onto the leaves and soil thereby feeding the system through the plants that in turn will feed soil microbes with essential micro nutrients.

This is a basic example of our approach as taught by Jairo Restrepo. We are only beginning to understand the potential of natural agriculture, and there is very little knowledge at all of this work in temperate systems. 

We are also running a six day course with Jairo at Ragmans from June 29th to July 4th 2017.  Jairo's book 'The ABC of Organic Agriculture' is now available in English from our on-line shop.




May 13th 2016 POSTED BY: Ragmans Farm

Aerobic or Anaerobic?

By Juanfran Lopez

Microbes  - Drawn by Miriam, age 4
 
I would like to introduce this thought with a simple and easy question comparing two different well known similar tools, but with different final purposes, just to put this article in context... it would be something like this: What is the right choice If we have to choose between digging a trench or making a swale?

I can think a set of possible answers straight away...but the most important and relevant in here would be: it depends... we can say that both are similar in terms of how to do it, similar shape and both are linked to water; but in the end, the purpose, also the results are quite different; but both are quite important depending on several key factors (climate, landform, purpose,...) and also they are quite opposite.

Therefore, if we follow on with the same philosophy and perspective in the field of brews when we are dealing with microbes, and also the processes to multiply them (here we can mention the most well known ones, such as aerobic and anaerobic processes); which one do you suppose would be the right one to develop and use on our land?
We could think about the answer from the following perspective: what is the final product like and what´s going on in either process.

I think we will understand it better after considering the few points below.

Right!! It is well known that a trench conducts water and a swale stores water, so we are dealing with a kind of “equation” where we already know what we want to achieve for our land and what the effect of doing one or the other will have on the land. We understand the process and the results; but, using again the example of  making brews, what does each process (aerobic/anaerobic) satisfy in the end? What parameters in this equation we will have to think about (cause-ingredients- process-product-effect)?

As a general concept in both processes, aerobic and anaerobic brews, we can say that the main goal of both methods is to extract and multiply a set of beneficial microorganisms into a liquid brew to use on the plant tissues and soil to encourage fertility on/in the system (soil-plant-human beings).
I would like to stop here and look in depth into the concept just exposed: what do we mean by beneficial microorganisms? At this point we have to be humble and think how much we know currently about these little friends who are living everywhere, even inside us!! (In a ratio between 90-99: 10-1 (microbes: cells)).

Here there is a possible paradigm within our simplistic way of seeing how nature works. But, do we really know how accurate microbe classification and behaviours are under our limited knowledge and understanding??

At this point if I make a brief overall description about “microbe behaviours” to date, we can split it into innumerable groups depending on several factors beyond aerobic/anaerobic. Some of them would be: nutritional carbons uptake (autotrophs, heterotrophs), energy resource requirements (photoautotrophs, chemoheterotrophs), ways of acting (syntropic, anthropic), also range of temperature (psycrophiles, mesophile, thermophilic), range of pH... among many other groups; we can even identify them by functional group or their niches in nature. Then, so far we can see a classification beyond just aerobic-anaerobic or “beneficial-pathogens”.
I think it is important to add another group to this huge classification; the FACULTATIVE ones. To me this is the most relevant one, and the most important aspect would be how this group is linked with all the groups mentioned above.

Diverse Microbes Growing on a Rice Trap - Ragmans Lane Farm

The facultative group (it could be the most predominant or relevant one playing a key role in our equation) means that they perform their functions depending on what group, behavior, etc (e.g. above) are predominant at that time, conditions, etc., and then are supported by the facultative group. (We can compare this group with the behavior of human beings and we can see similarities between them, which prove again that we are almost made up of a diversity of microbes! And not just structurally speaking, but also regarding our behaviour).

So, after all the points previously mentioned I think we are a bit more ready to discuss brews, processes, final products and their purposes without going into detail or highlighting one or another process.

There are lots of discussions going on about the uses of AACT (Aerated Activated Compost Teas) or biofertilisers (fermented brews), regarding one or another, but well beyond  this debate and looking at their own aspects, to me the right question would be: When, for what purpose, why and how should we use one or the other??

Only If we recognize the proper use and understanding between one or the other, depending on situations, goals, or needs at a specific time, we will be able to reach the proper state of wisdom to choose the right process and product (This exercise will help us to expand the way we think, philosophically speaking.)

How can we dismiss the importance of fermented processes in life? Are we denying the importance and goodness of some microbial fermented processes in the soil? Even its importance in metabolism within the human body or in some products such as wine, yoghurt and cheese or different types of food in our daily diet?

Why do we have to choose between multiple millions of microbes in one way or another? Even knowing that aerated microbes often can replace oxygen in anaerobic conditions and use other nutrients instead; or that anaerated microbes can hide between water molecules?

Just to finish and to show how complex the equation is, we could add a few factors to make it more interesting, like the vitamin  or protein content, or the quality of the ingredients; available minerals, organic acids, salt content, stabilization and pH of the final product; or talking about the energy or different metabolisms taking place in both processes…

Therefore I can simply say that how, why, and which one to choose will depend on several factors, such as origin and quality of ingredients, soil and plant conditions or the goals that we wish to obtain in our system, dealing with the wide range of factors in our equation.

To finish this piece of paper I would like to say that Life was created by the Symbiosis between different types of beings (microorganisms), different behaviour, thoughts and beliefs. So life is just life how it is by itself, self regulating until reaching a state of harmony without excluding any metabolic process or living being in nature. So, why don’t we imitate these patterns of symbiosis, not just to manage the fertility in the land, but also to reach harmony in our minds and society…

Working Together to Reproduce Microbes
“In planet earth there are not good or bad living beings. Each one has his function, which is necessary and has the same value. This is my base to regenerate the landscapes all over the world”
Masanobu Fukuoka, “Sowing seeds in the desert”

Resources

An interview with Jairo Restrepo

June 23rd 2015 POSTED BY: Ragmans Farm


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

March 23rd 2015 POSTED BY: Ragmans Farm

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


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