mushroom farming Archives - Agricultural and Rural Convention

Letter From The Farm | The Slower Path To Paradigm Change

November 5, 2021 Chiara Garini

We’re back on Chiara Garini’s farm at the foot of the Italian Alps. After her ambitious plans to open an on-farm restaurant, Chiara reflects on the benefits of taking the slower path to paradigm change. Paradoxically this setback serves well her overall vision of agri-food systems as the farm continues to reap the benefits of diversification. Meanwhile in local politics, divisive narratives around farming have led to a disappointing development, leaving Chiara more convinced than ever that agroecology is the way forward. […]

Letter From The Farm | Three Years In: Realism And Planning For Utopia

March 5, 2021 Chiara Garini

We are back on Chiara Garini’s forest farm at the foot of the Italian Alps. Three years in, her mushroom farm and forest garden is at a crossroads: should she expand or diversify? In any case Chiara is determined to bring utopia into her business plan, and tells us about an exciting new development on the farm… […]

UK | Waking Up To The Power Of Mushrooms

February 25, 2021 Ursula Billington

Interest is mushrooming in the power of fungi to feed and heal people and the planet. On one urban farm in Bristol, England, mushrooms upcycled from wood chip are building topsoil as well as feeding the local eaters. Meanwhile another nearby mushroom growing initiative is giving wealthy landowners an incentive to preserve their woodland. Ursula Billington reports. […]

Letter From The Farm | Grateful For Invisible Friends

November 6, 2020 Chiara Garini

We’re back on Chiara’s forest farm at the foot of the Italian Alps, where there’s much to be grateful for. Chiara updates us on an abundant shiitake harvest, her mushroom business going wild, and finding solace in fungi as “invisible friends”. […]

Letter From The Farm | Thriving In The Ford

May 30, 2020 Chiara Garini

We’re back on Chiara’s mushroom farm at the foot of the Italian Alps, where forest farm life goes on regardless of the lockdown. She is determined to get her on-farm processing facility up and running for this season. During the Covid-19 crisis she’s been even more socially isolated than usual, giving her time to muse on the deeper meanings of the “ford”: the site of her farm, but also a metaphor for agroforesty and agroecology. […]

Letter from a Farm – Ruminating on the First Two Years in Italy

March 4, 2020 Chiara Garini

We are back in northern Italy, with mushroom and agroforestry farmer Chiara Garini. Writing after two years on her own farm, she reflects on her experiences and takeaways and what plans lie ahead. […]

Letter from a Farm – Diverse Systems & Diverse Skills

June 4, 2019 Chiara Garini

We are back in Trento, Italy, on the farm with Chiara Garini. This time she talks us through the challenges of making an agroforestry farm ecologically and economically viable in the long term. In particular, she stresses the many skills and approaches needed to be a successful agroecological farmer. […]

Letter from a Farm | A Stormy Winter in Italy

February 5, 2019 Chiara Garini

Winter and the fierce storms that came with it were a blow for our budding agroforestry farm in Italy. We hear from farmer Chiara Garini about how she dealt with the extreme weather events, how she plans to prepare for more such events in future and how she’s prepping for the year ahead. […]