Creating A Community Forest Farm In South East Wales

 

If you’d like to come, please contact Stephen Powell on email stephen@gaiacoach.co.uk or call 01873 890032.

 

This meeting could be of interest if any of the following appeal to you; being part of a pioneering community food project having a chance to grow mushrooms being able to choose a Tamworth pig for your table while it is still alive sharing any special knowledge, interests or ideas you have. Let me tell you about steps I have already taken to develop a forest farm at Llwyn Ffranc on the western side of the Skirrid, revered locally as a holy mountain. I bought the farm after decades as a globetrotting correspondent. 

 

I planted about 4000 trees, including an orchard with plums, cherries, apples, pears, apricots and nut trees. In spring 2008 a friend sprang the question: “Shall we keep some pigs?” We visited a local pig co-operative, where gingery pigs reminiscent of wild boar came roaring out of the undergrowth. We were hooked and soon became the owners of four Tamworth weaners. We read the Soil Association booklet “Pig Ignorant” and plunged into our new venture as pig farmers. The first journey to the abattoir was emotional, but I did feel pride at standing in an honourable tradition of peasants and the pork tasted sublime. 

 

In January 2009 I turned my attention to mushrooms. The idea was to drill holes in alder and oak logs, hammer in Shiitake mushroom plugs and then wait a year or so. Some 3000 plugs arrived in one bag. Reading the instructions, I discovered that once the bag was open I had to use the lot within 24 hours. Over a weekend, five of us drilled holes, hammered in plugs and sealed the holes with molten beeswax. We hammered in all 3000 plugs and are now waiting to see whether mushrooms fruit. So where does this story go next? If you come along on February 13 you can help to write the script.