Category: Forest
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Tree Planting Project – Mulberries and Walnuts
Planting new trees has always been a significant part of our plan for Casalinho. Trees to enhance and repair our environment, to feed us, our animals and our soils. Almost all the fruit trees on this property were destroyed before we knew it, but we’re told that the lower portion of the property alone was more »
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Our Week in Pictures: 25th August 2014
Festa, festa still this week, with the three day event at Malhada do Rei. As I write, we’re sitting in the smoke of the first fire we’ve experienced locally this year. It’s not close enough to be of concern to us personally, but is a stark reminder of how a dangerous a stray spark can more »
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Too Close for Comfort
Our volunteers wrote a lovely tutorial on hot composting for me to post here, but anything hot doesn’t seem appropriate after yesterday afternoon! We had our first forest fire of the year, the closest to Casalinho we’ve experienced. One of our visitors raised the alarm, and whilst another phoned the emergency services I drove down more »
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Doing Battle with Broom
We’ve obviously had weather conditions perfect for broom this Spring, because the hillsides are entirely yellow at the moment. Although beautiful when all in flower, broom is a plant that proving difficult for us to keep under control. I can fully understand why, in some parts of the world, it’s considered an invasive pest. As more »
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SLU update – Woodmanship
This week our module on the Sustainable Land Use course is Woodland, and joining Patrick in teaching is Mike Gardner. The teaching is a complete contrast from the last fortnight and Mike has introduced a totally new dynamic. His comments about killing squirrels and shooting deer (both a major pest in a managed woodland setting) more »