Practical Estate Skills

Back to uni today, so I'll tell you a little about what I'm up to!  Had a great day today, we've been green woodworking.  A little more on that later but first let me tell you about what else we've been up to previously.

Stock Fencing

Tree Felling

Tool Repair

Hedging

Tree Planting

Stile Making

Dry Stone Walling

Please excuse the odd formatting, I'm still getting my head around how this works!

Anyway, I've thoroughly enjoyed learning all these things, they are mostly definitely a skilled job and we've only touched the surface, but hopefully I've learnt some new skills which I can build on in the future.

Today we took fresh cut chestnut logs and split them down into rustic posts to make a gate.  Lots of hard work and no gate yet, hopefully we'll get to finish it soon.  We have to restore a footpath as a project for the semester, and this gate will be part of it.  I will obviously post an update when it is installed.

Green Woodworking

Back to normal lectures tomorrow, with kick off at 9am.  Three brand new modules to get stuck into, and no doubt some assignments soon! 

Just a starling!

I've been inspired to write a post about our very over-looked starling.  They are thought of as just a boring, common bird.  And to be honest, we rarely actually get the chance to look at them properly.  But our dear common starling (Sturnus vulgaris) is in decline.  Hard to imagine when you are stood at Aberystwyth pier, watching them come in to roost in their thousands, but it is now considered a red list species!  Long term monitoring by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) has shown a 66% decline since the 1970's!  The reason for the decline is unknown, but now has placed the boring old starling as a species of high conservation concern.

Before you write off the starling as unimpressive, take a look at these; (not my photos, just ones I have found on the net!)

Starlings are actually stunning!  They are one of the our most colourful birds. It's raining today, and there is lots of starlings about in the fields, along with redwing and fieldfare, sadly not the weather for it. But next time it's a sunny day, and you're out and about and you see starlings,  just take a minute, see if you can catch their colours in the sunshine.  They will take your breath away, I promise!

Kombucha - The Immortal Health Elixir!

I have a keen interest in Fungi, that should be obvious to you by now!  I am also investigating the possibility of self sufficiency (as self sufficient as sensibly possible, anyway), and love foraging etc.  I'm not hugely into alternative medicine, but I do like the idea, doctors are all to keen to hand out drugs, quite often unnecessarily.  I like the idea of a little self help.  OH has introduced me to Kombucha.  He used to have some years ago and use it on a regular basis.  So what is Kombucha?

Kombucha is an ancient Chinese tea, which dates back over 2000 years!  It is a sweet tea which has been fermented by a symbiotic bacteria and yeast colony.  Although it looks rather strange, it is said to have some incredible health benefits.  Russian scientists have claimed it appears to be why they have such low cancer rates in some areas of the country.  It is also good for the digestive system and joints, helping to improve arthritis.   The Chinese obviously hold it in high regard, as that is where the name Immortal Health Elixir comes from!

As the colony matures it splits off new pieces called 'scobys', these can then be separated to form new beverages.  The tradition is to give them away to someone new, but I have heard that you can make face packs from them! Anyway, we recently found a local lady, through the power of Facebook, who had some Kombucha scobys to give away, and we made the trip over to meet her.  She's a lovely lady, working hard on her own self sufficiency and permaculture model, and it was very interesting to meet her.  We collected a scoby from her and now have our own Kombucha tea brewing.  It will need a few days before it is ready, but I am looking forward to trying it.  

For more information about Kombucha, have a look here.

Stonechat

With OH and his cracked rib, it's been hard to get out and do stuff, but not over do it.  For someone who is usually up the mountains or exploring mines, it's incredibly difficult for him to rest.  He's also just got me a second hand Fitbit, as a late Christmas present, so I'm itching to go do stuff even more than normal!  But we had to make do with another gentle stroll today, up at the lakes and forestry at Clywedog.  (Well worth a visit if you're ever in the area!)  Here's my photo for the day.  Pity he's looking the other way though.

We had hoped to spot Kingfishers, but the water level of the lake has dropped about 6 feet, (it's a man made reservoir, with a dam, so the water level is controlled by human hands), so I think they must have moved fishing spot.  The perch we previously found is some way from the water now!  No fungus spotted today, but we did find otter footprints and fox scat full of bones!

Oyster Mushrooms

I'm having a go at growing Oyster Mushrooms (Pleurotus oystreatus).  I'm going to attempt a variety of methods and see what works best.  I have bought some Golden Oyster culture.  This is the one that's worrying me to be honest.  The culture is lab made under strict conditions to prevent contamination.  Scary stuff, and easy to infect with some other kind of mould.  Our house is quite damp so......

Anyway, I've inoculated three different substrates; wood pellets, teabags and cardboard loo rolls.  Both the (used) tea bags and the cardboard have been boiled off, to eliminate contamination.  These have been sealed in clean tubs and placed in the dark.  They will stay there for a week, then I will check to see if anything is happening.

I've also taken a chunk of mycelium from an old oyster growing kit and given it fresh fodder in the way of wood pellets.  I wonder if that will work?!

My next attempt is to harvest spores from a wild oyster mushroom, which I collected today, and make my own culture.  According to Paul Stamets (Mycelium Running, my new favourite book) these mushrooms, should I succeed will be the toughest and most useful, as they are already used to all kinds of bacteria and other moulds, and should do well outside.  

Who knows if any of this will work?  We will have to wait and see.  I do hope so, as growing, and hopefully selling, my own, home grown mushrooms is part of the master self sufficiency plan!  I'll let you know how I get on!

Still Room for Mushrooms

OH has cracked a rib and is lots of pain.  We were planning a walk up Cadair Idris yesterday, but he was unable to carry his pack, so we had to abort.  Today we managed a short walk in the woods.

At first it seemed that due to our climate there were no mushrooms left to find, but before long brackets of all types seemed to appear.  Then the more we looked, the more we found.  No Jelly Ears, to my disappointment, but a brand new find for me, Elf Cups!
Not sure if they are Scarlet or Ruby, but they are Elf Cups all the same.  The brand new ones were just mm across!  They grow to about a maximum of 7cm when fully expanded.  Just as well they are the colour they are, much easier to spot!  They grow on fallen hardwood and are often surrounded by moss, making them harder to see.

I also found plentiful Birch Polypore, and have learnt that although bitter, it can be brewed into a tea which is very good for the immune system.  I might have to make up a winter brew.  Maybe with some berries added to it for sweetness.

Plynlimon Fawr

A nice relaxing post exam blowout.  Not much of a view, but stunning anyway.