The Bounties of Beltaine

The Bounties of Beltaine

May is a luscious month to be in Portugal, everything feels as if it is celebrating, the fauna and flora seem to sing along with the multitude of birds perching and nesting amongst the tall pines surrounding us. At first the ground suddenly sprouts to knee height and there is an urge to get the strimmer out to tame the familiar paths and terrain that used to be passable. But then you realise that it's a hopeless cause, there is just too much land to deal with, it's better to surrender and succumb to the immersion of the green. 

Below are some photos to show some of the progress and abundance of our farm.....Dove Farm or Quinta da Pomba in Portuguese, which is the name previously given to it, we haven't decided yet if this is the name to stay. The previous owners left us with a legacy of mature fruit trees and grape vines dotted along the terraces, the veg garden I have started there too, offers no resistance to the enchada (hoe) and I am reminded again of all the years of tending to this earth that must have bore them their valuable crops.

We have made a little more progress on our bathroom, that you can see below, we used a natural pigment made from iron mixed with lime to create the colours. We will need to get a good run at it soon to finish off the interior, then we can enjoy warm solar showers and a wash basin area with mirror, surfaces and cupboards. 

Our water reservoir area is lacking water now, we hope to fix it one day, but in the mean time it is a bounty of wonderful plants peeping from every crevasse

I wasn't too sure about the colour I had mixed for the lime render on the compost loo, but the sun has softened the tones and I'm beginning to like it.

Trevor has started to build the sink area, he created the floor from lime crete then sprinkled the floors with a natural iron oxide pigment powder.

I painted these walls, and like the warm tones, but it will need another coat as the whiteness of the lime has seeped out of the dried paint.

Love these steps that Trev has made (soon to be sanded). He also created the impressive stone step.

The greenery and plum trees are moving in on the bathroom. Looking forward to landscaping the area around.

Thought I better put a photo of me to prove I exist ! 

So exciting to get the veg patch started, especially when I can grow peppers, aubergines and tomatoes outside....AND... I haven't  seen a slug....bliss. 

The panoramic shot of the veg terrace in relation to the house.

baby peaches

Amazing amount of plums this year...pruning pays off. 

Here come the cherries ! Maybe a week or two until red and ripe. 

The vines and the cherry trees that sit at the edge of the terraces

Looks like it's going to be a good year for grapes, we may need to develop a taste for wine making and drinking, like a lot of the locals.

The dome in flower. I forgot to mention it's been very hot for May, and it's quite an effort to keep everything watered, we conserve all our washing up water for the pot plants and flower beds.

Proof that Trevor does chill out. In our caravan with fly swat to hand. 

One of our cosy camping areas, nestled under the shade of the chestnut trees...yes a bit of strimming needed.

Foxgloves sit between the reclaimed tiles that will eventually be used on the renovated house.

One of my little flower beds.

Wild roses completely envelope the main well (which hides beneath)

My daughter Tanith comes for a birthday holiday from Ireland.

And finally the tipi....more in the next post.


Hope to see you here again sometime soon. xx

A Journey into Creation - The Compost Loo !!

Before encountering the wholesome life of a eco village resident, I did not know the significance of an authentic, state of the art compost toilet. Trevor is an officianado of their construction, as he has lived for many years in Southern Spain in the wilds of Alpujarran mountains. Within 6 to 9 months of composting 'humanure', it is ready for fertilizer to the veg garden! What comes out of the brick and limecrete sealed chambers is not a scary sight, but completely broken down nitrogen rich compost. 
We decided to build it from straw bales, adding additional space for a shower and wash room, and the compost toilet structure from bricks and lime. This was a chance to get a feel for a straw bale build on a small scale in preparation for the 10 meter round straw bale house we plan to build in the near future. 
We decided to situate the build on one of the terraces that is level to the new veg patch (possibly a blog post in the making), this is for the convenience of wheelbarrowing the compost over, the objective, to keep work to a minimum whilst maintaining maximum efficiency. Permaculture offers this common sense approach, and our quinta appears to offer itself to this way, due to the land having many centuries of loving care and diligent attention put into it's crops, veg and livestock.
Here is a photo diary of the process so far : 

Trevor and Sam (one of our special wwoofers) getting started on the foundations, the two rectangles at the back are the start of the chambers to the compost toilet.

Sam and Emily, his partner, and an equally good wwoofer (Willing Worker On Organic Farms), wheelbarrowing a load of stones for the wall. 

Stone and limecrete foundations for the walls & brick for the chamber walls to the toilet.

Trev has done this sort of a work countless times before - he has been a builder for many years in the UK, Spain and now Portugal. 

Metal rebar to secure the straw bales and beams in place

Green pine pools from our woodland are stripped for the beams that will be the structure to hold the roof up and keep the bales in place.


       

Reclaimed terracotta tiles that were already on our quinta. The toilet area has now been lime rendered.

Chambers to the compost loo.

Davey, Jo and Jane come up for a visit from South Spain and get stuck in - helping to create the bale walls and wooden structure.

The round 'window' is an old water wheel reclaimed from one our wells. There was a system of cogs that was turned by an animal such as a cow or donkey that would walk around the outer circle of the well. It used to have buckets attached that were then poured into stone irrigation channels onto the land

The straw walls coming together with the help our friends. 

These wall are looking a bit shaggy, next time we will source more compact bales !

Some old bus windows will be the ventilation and daylight for the shower room.

Jo and Trev playing a few tunes, they used to be in an Irish band in Spain.

Anthony stayed and worked with our neighbours Bob and Annette, he spent a few days helping us too. We hope he returns for a visit one day soon, a very lovely guy. Goggles are used as the lime, although a natural product, can burn on the skin and in the eyes. 

Trevor melding with the mud and lime, we improvised this mixture, as clay for cob is in short supply in our area. After a few days this is rock hard.

Don't wear your clean clothes ! 

Getting there.

Reminds me of an African mud hut at this stage.

Carl, a friend and neighbour, helps 'tosh' the lime render to give a smooth finish.

Trev applying the lime and sand render.

 Back entrance steps to the toilet. Front entrance for the bathroom area.

We have new residents on our quinta - Isaac (Trevor's son), baby Kaileb and SJ, Isaac's partner. They are now helping out and helping us to build the dream. Also with the goggles, one of our helpful neighbours, Cameron getting messy with the mud.

Jude & Cam mixing straw with the lime and mud to get a sticky mix to throw at the walls. 

 Cameron 'squishing' and smoothing onto the straw.

 Love this photo, Kaileb is so cute, and SJ looking angelic :)

Father and son getting stuck in.

Isaac making a nice job of the window.

 The satisfying job of the final render to the internal walls.

 The soft contours of the finished walls.

 Lovely job on the round window


Floor preparation for the loo, then next job is the partition brick wall to separate the areas.

 The story so far.................