How to get to us . . .

 

We are HERE!

you can also find us by putting GL17 9PA into googlemaps.  If you are using SatNav to get to us - please look at where the arrow is pointing so that you find the right road into the farm.  SatNav users usually take the wrong turning at the last minute . . .

If you are using public transport (well done)

Bus from Gloucester

The bus station is next to the train station. Travel from Gloucester Station to Ruardean Square. Click here for a list of bus timetables.

By Car

By car from the M4 come over the old severn bridge (M48) and take the Chepstow turn off. Go into Chepstow, over the bridge on the A48, and turn left onto the B4228 signposted to Coleford and the Forest of Dean. Follow the signs to Cinderford out of Coleford. Join the A4136 then take a left turning to Lydbrook. Drive through Lydbrook until you reach the River Wye and turn right. After half a mile there is a sharp right hand turn to Ruardean. We are the first right up this road.

By car from Gloucester and M40 Take the A40 from Glos as far as Huntley, then turn left onto A4136. Follow this until you reach Nailbridge (after Mithcheldean). Turn right to Ruardean. Go through Ruardean and come down the hill towards the river Wye. Go past Little Marstow Farm (left) and Great Marstow Farm (right). We are the next left after that.

By car from the M5 Come down the M5, turn onto the M50 and go to Junc 4. Take the ring road (A40) round the top of Ross. Turn left to Goodrich after 3 miles TAKE CARE it comes up fast! Drive past the post office and school, and turn left at the T Junction under the stone bridge, then over Kerne bridge crossing the river Wye. Turn right at T junc at Kerne Bridge onto the B4234 (signed to Lydbrook) then past a garage on your right. The second left fork after the garage is signposted to Ruardean. We are the first right on this road.

Useful telephone numbers:-

Stage Coach Buses (Gloucester) - 01452 783540 click here for website

National Rail Enquiries - 03457 484950 click here for website

National Express Coaches - 0871 781 8181 click here for website

Local Taxi Companies (near the farm) - CDS Taxis 01594 834834 / Crystal Travel 01594 832288 / K&T Taxis 01594 845913 / Road Runner 07778 277752

If you are attending a course or event that finishes on Sunday or late at night please consider arranging your travel home in advance.

Contact your course/event tutor to see if they can arrange a lift share for you.

If you need to get a bus or a train please consider booking a taxi to the bus/train station in advance. Rural bus services are scant in the evenings and on Sunday, and getting a taxi at short notice in this area can be difficult.

 

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.




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