Casalinho e Escabelado is an ongoing project, a 10ha quinta in central Portugal. Within the constraints of the existing infrastructure, we are trying to develop the farm with permaculture principles in mind.
In addition to working on making the house fully habitable, our to do list seems endless! As well as the daily maintenance of the vegetable garden and animal care, current projects include developing and installing renewable energy, improving our irrigation systems, expanding the growing areas, maintaining our newly planted orchard and vines and introducing soft fruits, clearing forest and tree planting, building animal shelters, and, well, just about everything else!!
As you can imagine, that’s a lot of work for just one family so we host working holiday makers, volunteers who work alongside us in return for their meals and accommodation. There’s no shortage of different things to do, and lots of variety. We particularly welcome those with a real interest in permaculture and sustainability, but both skilled and unskilled help is welcomed. The important thing is that you’re willing to muck in, work hard and have a go!
We’re hoping to detail our progress with some of our projects here as time allows, so please check back.
More soon …
In the meantime, here’s a couple of photos just to show you what we’ve achieved so far. Both photos have been taken up from near our water mine, and show the house and land immediately surrounding it. On the left is when we first bought it, and on the right is in February 2011.
