Welcome back to Farmerama! This month we hear more from Dr Christine Jones, this time talking about why we plant cover crops and the wonderful world of fungi below our feet. If you missed her last month talking about carbon cycles and healthy plants/soils, then check out that episode here.
Young farmer Harry Boglione runs a truly mixed farm nestled amongst the Dorset hills. We visited earlier this summer and were amazed at the many different things he has going on at Haye Farm. He told us about his experiments to build the perfect mobile chicken hut and how the bird-flu threats earlier this year took his thinking in a whole new direction.
Patrick Mallery is a fungi fiend. He runs Upcycled Mushrooms and is all about using fungi to convert waste materials into something delicious and nutritious. We heard his tips on growing mushrooms outdoors and particularly how they can be a great companion crop to fruit trees.
We caught up with biologist Ann Bikle to hear how soil microbial underworlds are linked to human health and the microbiome. Anne and her husband David Montgomery are a geologist and biologist duo that have written a series of books about soil, microbial life and how this all relates to agriculture. We also spoke to David about good soil health and their most recent book – Growing a Revolution – and this ‘Short’ is up on our Soundcloud page.
Finally we headed back to Dorset at Bride Valley Vineyards, where vineyard manager Graham Fisher told us about his thoughts on growing grapes in a changing climate.
This show was made by Abby Rose, Katie Revell and Jo Barratt, with an additional interview from Abi Glencross.
Thanks again to our supporters E5 Bakehouse. If you’re ever in London, go try some of their bread – you can even see the grains being milled on site!
We’d also like to thank Annie Landless for the help she’s been giving us managing our social media. We are @Farmerama__ on Twitter and Instagram and you can easily find us on Facebook at Farmerama Radio.