Friday, December 13, 2013

Shiitake Inoculation

This week the WWC Forestry Crew inoculated a new batch of mushroom logs. 120 logs were inoculated with shiitake spawn and another 5 logs were plugged with chicken-of-the-woods.
Drilled log ready for inoculation and shiitake spawn
The first step in inoculation is to drill holes 5" apart in a diamond pattern around the log. These holes are filled with mushroom spawn, a sawdust medium that is colonized with the mycelium of the fungus.
Charles Williamson and Dylan Bahoosh plugging logs
A palm inoculator, once filled with mushroom spawn, injects the spawn into the log. The hole is then sealed over with cheese wax.
The new logs bedded down for the year
The inoculated logs were taken to the shiitake yard and bedded down underneath their future ricks. After resting for a year the mycelium will have fully colonized the log and they can be forced to fruit.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

WWC Receives Major Gift for College Forest Management and Education

Warren Wilson College has received a $400,000 gift for the purpose of establishing the Irene Pennington Broyles and Glenn Boone Broyles Fellowship, in order to help preserve and manage the Warren Wilson College Forest in perpetuity.

Irene Broyles, a Somerset, Ky., resident who had survived her husband, Glenn, made the gift before her passing on Nov. 14. She served as librarian at Somerset High School for 32 years, and the couple owned and operated a tree farm in Kentucky for many years. Glenn’s brother, Boyd, and Boyd’s wife, Edith, were partners too in the farm that received numerous environmental awards. Irene Broyles was a 1939 graduate of Dorland-Bell School in Hot Springs, N.C., which merged with the Asheville Farm School in 1942 to form what eventually became the four-year Warren Wilson College in 1967.

The Broyles Fellowship will recognize and support the College Forest director – currently Sustainable Forestry Professor David Ellum, Ph.D. – in using innovative methods of teaching students in forestry, and in conducting research in sustainable forestry, forest management, forest science and forest policy. It also will assist the director’s supervision of Warren Wilson College students concentrating their studies in sustainable forestry and academic fields related to preservation of the College Forest.

“The college is thrilled to receive this generous gift from Irene Broyles establishing the Broyles Fellowship,” Warren Wilson College President Steven L. Solnick said. “The fellowship will help ensure the preservation of the College Forest, and greatly benefit not only our current students, but also those for generations to come.”

Warren Wilson’s 1,130-acre campus includes 625 acres of managed forest. The college has a strong academic program in sustainable forestry within its Environmental Studies Department, as well as a forestry work crew, one of more than 100 student work crews at Warren Wilson.

“Education is the No. 1 natural resource produced by the College Forest,” David Ellum said. “This gift will not only help us to use the best science to protect the ecological integrity of the forest; it also will provide incredible opportunities for our Triad education of academics, work and service that involves students in all aspects of the forest’s stewardship.
“Mrs. Broyles’ generosity will leave a positive and longstanding mark on our students and our forest.”

Irene Broyles had further connections to Warren Wilson College and its forerunners. Two of her four brothers were Asheville Farm School alumni; one sister was a Dorland-Bell alumna, the other attended the school; and a grandniece currently attends Warren Wilson.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Black Cohosh Medicinal Tincture

The WWC Forestry Crew is in the process of making their second FDA approved medicinal tincture made in accordance with Good Manufacturing Practices. This year the chosen understory medicinal was black cohosh .
Hannah Billian with a black cohosh plant
Students harvest black cohosh rhizomes from the College Forest. The terminal bud was divided from the rhizome and replanted in the forest to ensure the plants will continue to thrive in the forest understory.
Joe Coleman dividing a black cohosh rhizome
Once the material was meticulously cleaned by the crew it was dried in an oven.
Hannah Billian leads the crew is cleaning the rhizomes
Next the dried material was brought to Blue Ridge Food Ventures, where the dried rhizomes were chopped and placed in jars along with distilled water and organic alcohol to tincture. The next step is to bottle the tincture.
Joe Coleman  and Hannah Billian prepare the tincture

Monday, December 2, 2013

Rolleo 2013

The Team
 On November 16 the Warren Wilson College Timbersports Team traveled to NC State to compete in the 2013 Rolleo Invitational.
Caleb competes in the Pole Fell
The team came in third place, only one point behind NC State and seven points behind winner Haywood Community College. The team was 4 points ahead of Virginia Tech and 21 points ahead of NC State Alumni.
Morgan Competes in Underhand Chop
Morgan Martin once again carried the team with a First Place finish in Female Axe Throw, Female Bow Saw, Jill and Jill Crosscut, and Female Underhand Chop. Morgan shared a First Place in Jack and Jill Crosscut with Caleb Hawkins, who also got a First Place in Stock Saw.
Sam Webber and Kim Conrads in Log Roll
The team received Second Place in Wood ID.
Kim Conrads in Bow Saw
The team received Third Place in Wildlife ID, Pole Fell, and Men's Underhand Chop.
Christopher in Axe Throw
The team received Fourth Place in Pole Classification, Male Axe Throw, Team Log Roll, and Male Crosscut.
Jameson Martinez and Caleb Hawkins in Jack and Jack Crosscut
The team came in Fifth Place in Dendrology and Male Bow Saw.
Rhys Brydon-Williams in Male Underhand Chop