Enterprise
The responsibility for the maintenance and management of the land, in accordance with set principles, is delegated through a Management Agreement to Coed Talylan Enterprise Ltd (CTE Ltd).
The company will maintain the necessary infrastructure for the business activities, and any related land management responsibilities.
Courses and Workshops
Currently the main business activity of the company is offering training through, educational courses and workshops. Coed Talylan provides an attractive and secluded setting for a number of courses and workshops on subjects such as carpentry, roundwood timber framing, mushroom cultivation, One Planet Living, Off-grid energy and other areas related to low impact development and sustainability. The Company has been successfully running these courses for 8 years. The profits are used for maintaining and improving the land and infrastructure.
Mushroom Cultivation
Mycogeneration is an online platform that supports the Mushroom Cultivation Course as well as a sales outlet for mushroom products from the land and materials and equipment related to mushroom cultivation.
Shiitake mushrooms are produced from a system of log cultivation using coppiced alder from the land. They are sold fresh and dried locally. Part of the drying process involve expose to sunlight for 12 hours in enhance vitamin D content. Shumei Natural Agriculture, an international organisation promoting a system of organic agriculture, are interested in supporting this product allowing the use of their labelling standard.
Turkey tail is a medicinal mushroom that is grow using birch logs harvested through the ongoing thinning of the woodland. We sell the dried fruitbodies as well as process them into a medicinal mushroom tea product with herbs also grown in the woodland.
Other methods of growing medicinal and gourmet mushrooms that can be incporporated into woodland management activiteis and horticultural enterprise are demostrated on a small to medium scale. All these techniques utilise readily available materials and avoid using peat based substrates.
Coed Talylan Timber Products
Using thinned larch and spruce, ash and hazel Sara Tommerup builds a variety of products such as compost toilets, yurts, and saw horses. The wood workshop and framing bed is located near the main parking area in the larch plantation.
Eco-campsite
Initially, a 10 space “wild camping” campsite will be available to Members of CTLT. The campsite will be centred around the a-framed cabin providing an information point, shop selling excess fruit and veg, and a café. Visitors will also be able to use the adjacent compost toilet and shower.
Prepared pitches in the woodland near the cabin will be sparsely spaced over an area of 4 acres, providing a secluded camping experience. Tents and camping equipment will be available to rent and charcoal and firewood for sale to be used in contained firepits by the prepared pitches, with a children’s woodland playground built from larch.
It will be no ordinary campsite but rather a chance for those who want to support one planet development to see and experience low impact living in action. Visitors to the campsite will be encouraged to use public transport.
Expanding on thiswe would like to develop 4 exemplary low-impact cabins, small accommodation units using timber and other materials from the land designed to be visually integrated into the landscape. The structures will be designed and built through a member led Natural Building School initiative with each build providing a unique learning and training opportunity.
The accommodation and campsite will be made available for hosting long-term volunteers, researchers and retreat organisers.
Potential Enterprise Development
Willow
The cultivation of willow in the riparian ecology of the woodland presents the possibility of supply a product of willow whips or cultivars. Areas alongside the stream have already been planted with different salix species commonly used for basket making and decorative willow craft. There is a growing market for natural burial services with willow coffins as a sought-after product.
Herbs
The cultivation of angelica, lemon balm and marshmallow is already a feature of the growing scheme in with woodland intended to serve the Turkey Tail Herbal Tea product. There are many opportunities for utilising edge zones for the production of medicinal herbs. The drying facility proposed for the processing facility extension would be utilised for the processing of herbs.
Seeds
With growing distributed over the land and it’s relatively secluded location Coed Talylan is well place to contribute to regional seed saving activities. We would like to work towards contributing to the Hwb Hadau Cymru (Wales Seed Hub) producing excess seed for sale.
Charcoal and Bio-char
Although a small ring kiln is used to produce small amounts of charcoal this method is extremely inefficient. We are exploring the possibility of working with Botanic Gardens of Wales to use their “Exeter Kiln” to make charcoal for local use and bio-char as a by-product with the view to use biochar as part of a process of making mycorrhizal inoculum.
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