Friday evening at sunset. The neighbour walks his cows across the shorn fields their bells ringing to the rhythm of their footsteps. A hot tired sound.
It has been hot. Averaging 40 degrees up here on the top of the hill. Inside has been up to ten degrees cooler, thanks to the sheep's wool insulation and some green shade netting we have put up to try and keep the walls from getting so hot. That is where taipa walls are the tops. If this had been a house built in the traditional manner, with rammed earth walls 50 centimeters thick, it would be cool in here during the day, and only after sunset would the heat start to find its way into the rooms. Instead, it is crappy old hollow clay bricks. Still, one day they will be replace with straw bales or adobe.... Dream on.
The garden was looking so pathetic a few weeks back I was beginning to despair, but Laura suggested more water. The magic ingredient! Now I have a whole host of vegetables that will be ready, soon. In fact, we ate our first cucumber this evening, and what a taste! The tomatoes aren't huge, but they are also tasty. The aubergines that I grew from seed are really big and strong. Now I am scraping off the cut grass from the hill and using it as mulch to try and stop all that precious water from evaporating too quickly.
I went to the Tamera open day a few weeks ago. Tamera is a large community, mostly German, that have a lot of land quite near us. They have done some amazing water retention schemes in the landscape. They had the famous Sep Holzer from Austria to help them design their lakes.They have so much water, all gathered from the rains from the winter. It is inspiring to see. I also was inspired by some of the alternative buildings they have, made from straw bales and other stuff. Of course, it is very well made, expensive stuff. Not so home made as my attempts. But then, they paid experts to do the work. It is still impressive when they tell us that they only had to light a fire twice the whole of last winter. Well worth a visit. The vegetarian lunch is always yummy! I cycled there and was surprised at how close it is to us. Sometimes, in the evening, we can see a small mushroom cloud over the hill where Tamera is. R reckons it is coming off the lakes!
The tank we have been slowly constructing is almost ready. I have rendered the inside so it is all smooth. Next, we must make the walls level, using an angle grinder... that does not sound pleasant work. Also, in this heat it could be dangerous, due to sparks flying into the dry grass.
Nuno has built us a little splash pool so we can dive in and cool down. I will use it for watering the garden. Permaculture - stacked functions.
There are a lot of things happening around here now that it's holiday season. World music festival in Sines, FACECO, the agricultural show, in Sao Teotonio, and next week end, 'tasquinas' in Sao Luis, where all the local restaurateurs have stalls selling their best menus, and a bouncy castle for the kids and a baile later, so we can all dance off the excess!
Friday, July 19, 2013
Saturday, June 29, 2013
The Wedding and the Weeding
What a wonderful day it was. Laura and Nuno got married on the beach!
Family and friends had created a lovely space on the beach that points out to the Atlantic and also embraces the big sandy estuary of the river Mira. The day was perfect Blazing sun, a bit of a breeze, high tide, and eighty guests in their wedding clothes all smiling and their children playing in the sand.
The alter was made from eucalyptus poles and blue netting, the space was marked out with bits of leafy cane and a white ribbon, in a large circle, and the entrance was made with a brilliant arch that Nuno had made from cane. It was soooo pretty!
The bride, my blooming and beautiful Laura, walked down the steps on her father's arm, her bride's maids in front all in blue, like mermaids, and Isabella and Beatrice holding the rings and rose petals....
As for the feast, afterwards... It was fun and fab. The food, thanks to Hotel Social, was beautifully displayed and tasty, too. I danced and talked and cried when Laura and Nuno took their first dance together as a married couple. It was romantic. A huge full moon and lots of sumptuous bean bags and bouncy castles. The perfect day.
Meanwhile, back on the land, it has become hot. 35 degrees and more! Because we are a bit inland from the sea, we don't get those cooling sea breezes. Some plants love it. The tomatoes and strawberries and aubergines are shooting up. I sowed some peanuts a few weeks back, and they are coming up.
I had planted a passion fruit next to a young cork oak, thinking it would grow up it, but they didn't like each other! I have moved it to climb over the first 'bender' I made, which is now my shaded area for plants in pots. It has a fruit on it already.
The experimental cabbage is doing very well. No watering, but growing strong and heartening up. It proves that if you give plants enough space and no competition, they can grow without watering. This is an important discovery in a land which is sometimes in drought.
The red cabbages are growing well and are not bothered by the flea beetles which are busy making lace out of the other green cabbages....
The new water tank is really taking shape now. It is solid and I have been inside, plastering the walls, listening to Santana and Jimi Hendrix. It gets very hot in the tank, even with shade over the top, so I come out soaked even tho' it's still empty!
My shady bender full of young trees
And here is another beautiful day dawning on the top of the world!
Family and friends had created a lovely space on the beach that points out to the Atlantic and also embraces the big sandy estuary of the river Mira. The day was perfect Blazing sun, a bit of a breeze, high tide, and eighty guests in their wedding clothes all smiling and their children playing in the sand.
The alter was made from eucalyptus poles and blue netting, the space was marked out with bits of leafy cane and a white ribbon, in a large circle, and the entrance was made with a brilliant arch that Nuno had made from cane. It was soooo pretty!
The bride, my blooming and beautiful Laura, walked down the steps on her father's arm, her bride's maids in front all in blue, like mermaids, and Isabella and Beatrice holding the rings and rose petals....
As for the feast, afterwards... It was fun and fab. The food, thanks to Hotel Social, was beautifully displayed and tasty, too. I danced and talked and cried when Laura and Nuno took their first dance together as a married couple. It was romantic. A huge full moon and lots of sumptuous bean bags and bouncy castles. The perfect day.
Meanwhile, back on the land, it has become hot. 35 degrees and more! Because we are a bit inland from the sea, we don't get those cooling sea breezes. Some plants love it. The tomatoes and strawberries and aubergines are shooting up. I sowed some peanuts a few weeks back, and they are coming up.
I had planted a passion fruit next to a young cork oak, thinking it would grow up it, but they didn't like each other! I have moved it to climb over the first 'bender' I made, which is now my shaded area for plants in pots. It has a fruit on it already.
The experimental cabbage is doing very well. No watering, but growing strong and heartening up. It proves that if you give plants enough space and no competition, they can grow without watering. This is an important discovery in a land which is sometimes in drought.
The red cabbages are growing well and are not bothered by the flea beetles which are busy making lace out of the other green cabbages....
The new water tank is really taking shape now. It is solid and I have been inside, plastering the walls, listening to Santana and Jimi Hendrix. It gets very hot in the tank, even with shade over the top, so I come out soaked even tho' it's still empty!
Monday, June 17, 2013
building, learning, letting go...
Time is whizzing by. It's nearly midsummer and also officially the start of summer on 21st June. The weather has been mixed, some days blisteringly hot, then other which feel decidedly chilly. Modern times.... Modern climes as they say.. well, I say.
Anyway, we have had another couple of chicken casualties... I found one lying by the path, dead as a door nail. No reason that I could see. Then on the weekend we went to baby sit for Laura and I didn't lock them up (the chickens, not the baby) because we left quite early and I thought we wouldn't be out too late.... Wild animals are cunning. They know when you're not around. They must check the fence and the door every night. So another chicken gone. Now we have one cockerel ( he ran off and roosted in a tree) and two chickens, one of which has been sitting on a huge pile of eggs for more than 21 days... Hmmm
We have been eating peas and cabbages and carrots from the garden and soon we shall have beans and tomatoes. I harvested a measly amount of tatties. They taste great. Just wish I had planted more. The first lot got done in by the bad weather in early spring. Too wet. Still, there is always next year. I plan to grow a proper amount and not too early. The guavas are in flower and have lots of buds. They seem to grow well here. I love guava. Also, I bought a passion fruit, which has flowered. Exciting.
I have a few trial patches of corn and beans and pumpkins (the three sisters). One patch I water and one patch I don't. The watered patch has bigger plants, but the proof is in the pudding. We also have two cabbages planted far apart which are not getting any water either, but are already big and heartening up. There is a good book by Steve Solomon about dry gardening, where he did lots of trials and found that if you give plants enough space they don't need much or any water as long as they have no competition nearby. Seems to be true. Just means that you have to have huge gardens.
R has been building a large water tank using an experimental technique. It is top secret so you will have to wait for photos and results.
Nuno is putting another window in the kitchen and so we are immersed in dust and brick particles. Because the house is on the saddle of a high hill with a lot of strong wind, with the new hole in the side of the house, the front door has blown out and broken the door frame. Aye, it's a fair breeze we get here. No wonder they built a windmill here.
The big wedding day approaches. My beautiful daughter, and the handsome Nuno, and the delightful Isabella are all getting married on Saturday, on the beach! Family is beginning to crawl out of the woodwork. Anyone want to do some brush cutting or digging? Nah, they want to party and loll on the beach! Sigh, that's the problem of living somewhere as enticing as this. And it is looking particularly lovely at the moment with all the wild roses and other flowers of the fields blooming. So on Saturday night I will wander down to the beach in my new dress, in the moonlight and ....
You will have to wait for my next post to find out!
Anyway, we have had another couple of chicken casualties... I found one lying by the path, dead as a door nail. No reason that I could see. Then on the weekend we went to baby sit for Laura and I didn't lock them up (the chickens, not the baby) because we left quite early and I thought we wouldn't be out too late.... Wild animals are cunning. They know when you're not around. They must check the fence and the door every night. So another chicken gone. Now we have one cockerel ( he ran off and roosted in a tree) and two chickens, one of which has been sitting on a huge pile of eggs for more than 21 days... Hmmm
We have been eating peas and cabbages and carrots from the garden and soon we shall have beans and tomatoes. I harvested a measly amount of tatties. They taste great. Just wish I had planted more. The first lot got done in by the bad weather in early spring. Too wet. Still, there is always next year. I plan to grow a proper amount and not too early. The guavas are in flower and have lots of buds. They seem to grow well here. I love guava. Also, I bought a passion fruit, which has flowered. Exciting.
I have a few trial patches of corn and beans and pumpkins (the three sisters). One patch I water and one patch I don't. The watered patch has bigger plants, but the proof is in the pudding. We also have two cabbages planted far apart which are not getting any water either, but are already big and heartening up. There is a good book by Steve Solomon about dry gardening, where he did lots of trials and found that if you give plants enough space they don't need much or any water as long as they have no competition nearby. Seems to be true. Just means that you have to have huge gardens.
R has been building a large water tank using an experimental technique. It is top secret so you will have to wait for photos and results.
Nuno is putting another window in the kitchen and so we are immersed in dust and brick particles. Because the house is on the saddle of a high hill with a lot of strong wind, with the new hole in the side of the house, the front door has blown out and broken the door frame. Aye, it's a fair breeze we get here. No wonder they built a windmill here.
The big wedding day approaches. My beautiful daughter, and the handsome Nuno, and the delightful Isabella are all getting married on Saturday, on the beach! Family is beginning to crawl out of the woodwork. Anyone want to do some brush cutting or digging? Nah, they want to party and loll on the beach! Sigh, that's the problem of living somewhere as enticing as this. And it is looking particularly lovely at the moment with all the wild roses and other flowers of the fields blooming. So on Saturday night I will wander down to the beach in my new dress, in the moonlight and ....
You will have to wait for my next post to find out!
Friday, May 31, 2013
I am still having problems with posting photos on this blog so sorry for that. I wanted to show you our fridge. We call it the African fridge. It is a large terracotta jar inside another large pot, the in between is filled with sand which we keep damp at all times. It does actually work! R keeps his beer cool, and we put in butter, vege, occasionally a bit of meat. It works due to the water sweating out the sides and keeping the inside cool.
The insulation is working a treat. The big room keeps cool during the heat of the day.
I have had Nuno working for a couple of days, digging a trench around the back of the house. It got so wet last winter that there were puddles inside the house. I really don't want to live with that this year. Of course, it may not rain this winter... Still, it's good to get it done.
We have been eating lots of peas and onions and carrots and cabbage, from the garden! The mange touts that I ordered off the Internet are very good. They have dark purple pods. Very sexy. And very tasty. When I cook them up I keep the water. It makes delicious stock or a hot drink. Yum! The spinach (Swiss chard) is coming on nicely and also the cabbages. I have to patrol them and rub out caterpillars...
I have planted two beds of the three sisters, corn, beans and pumpkin. One of the beds I am watering and the other i am not. Just to see what happens. We also have two cabbages that are planted with a lot of space around them, at least a meter, and they are not getting water, either. It is possible to grow stuff without lots of water, if you give them enough space and keep the weeds down.
The golden oriole has been singing away and I wonder if it has taken the black figs... there are none where there were some a few weeks ago... Hmmm.
The new water tank is rising out of the foundations. R is slowly building it up. It is an experiment, but it's beginning to take shape.
Around us the fields have been cut and baled into barley hay. In small bales. I like to see them dotted about the fields. The farmer hopes to sell them for 3.50 each.
And so we move into June. This has been a long slow spring, cool and windy at times. Let's see what summer brings.
The insulation is working a treat. The big room keeps cool during the heat of the day.
I have had Nuno working for a couple of days, digging a trench around the back of the house. It got so wet last winter that there were puddles inside the house. I really don't want to live with that this year. Of course, it may not rain this winter... Still, it's good to get it done.
We have been eating lots of peas and onions and carrots and cabbage, from the garden! The mange touts that I ordered off the Internet are very good. They have dark purple pods. Very sexy. And very tasty. When I cook them up I keep the water. It makes delicious stock or a hot drink. Yum! The spinach (Swiss chard) is coming on nicely and also the cabbages. I have to patrol them and rub out caterpillars...
I have planted two beds of the three sisters, corn, beans and pumpkin. One of the beds I am watering and the other i am not. Just to see what happens. We also have two cabbages that are planted with a lot of space around them, at least a meter, and they are not getting water, either. It is possible to grow stuff without lots of water, if you give them enough space and keep the weeds down.
The golden oriole has been singing away and I wonder if it has taken the black figs... there are none where there were some a few weeks ago... Hmmm.
The new water tank is rising out of the foundations. R is slowly building it up. It is an experiment, but it's beginning to take shape.
Around us the fields have been cut and baled into barley hay. In small bales. I like to see them dotted about the fields. The farmer hopes to sell them for 3.50 each.
And so we move into June. This has been a long slow spring, cool and windy at times. Let's see what summer brings.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Bits and Pieces
Sorry, no lovely photos for the moment, as I have a new system on the computer (Linux) and don't really know how to use it!
We bought some wool from the son-in-law of the lady in the cafe. Three huge bags full! And for a few days I pulled off the dag ends (with the help of Marian, who also did some sterling work on some of my poor weedy beds and borders, while on 'holiday' with us!) and then I stuffed them in feed sacks and stapled them to the rafters under the tin roof. Now that it has started to get hot it has made a big difference! It looks a bit funny and smells a lot worse, but already the smell is diminishing.
We have been eating quite a bit of food from the garden. Peas, beans, broccoli, spinach, leeks and yesterday I harvested the first proper hearted up cabbage! I feel very proud :) and rather healthy!
We have started digging a new terrace for the next water tank. The ground is like iron. I used a huge iron bar and broke up the surface, then scraped it off, then did another depth. Hot work!
Yesterday I put up a big tent on the only bit of flat land we have. It was windy and quite a few swear words were being blown over the hillsides.... but finally it is up and now I'm getting it ready for my cousin and her son who are going to come and see what we are up to. Exciting!
The swallows have made a nest under the eave of the tin roof, next to the bedroom, so I hear them whizzing about and squeaking. I hope it's not too windy for them. I have made a small temporary 'pond' for them out of a huge plastic bowl. I would like to have a larger area of water for all the animals, the birds and the bees. One day.
The once-a-month Sunday market is on in the village today. I will go and see if there are some organic avocados and figs to buy. We have eaten all our dried figs from last year, and the avocados from Algarve are really delicious.
Hopefully, I will get the photo thing sorted as it is fun to share them.
We bought some wool from the son-in-law of the lady in the cafe. Three huge bags full! And for a few days I pulled off the dag ends (with the help of Marian, who also did some sterling work on some of my poor weedy beds and borders, while on 'holiday' with us!) and then I stuffed them in feed sacks and stapled them to the rafters under the tin roof. Now that it has started to get hot it has made a big difference! It looks a bit funny and smells a lot worse, but already the smell is diminishing.
We have been eating quite a bit of food from the garden. Peas, beans, broccoli, spinach, leeks and yesterday I harvested the first proper hearted up cabbage! I feel very proud :) and rather healthy!
We have started digging a new terrace for the next water tank. The ground is like iron. I used a huge iron bar and broke up the surface, then scraped it off, then did another depth. Hot work!
Yesterday I put up a big tent on the only bit of flat land we have. It was windy and quite a few swear words were being blown over the hillsides.... but finally it is up and now I'm getting it ready for my cousin and her son who are going to come and see what we are up to. Exciting!
The swallows have made a nest under the eave of the tin roof, next to the bedroom, so I hear them whizzing about and squeaking. I hope it's not too windy for them. I have made a small temporary 'pond' for them out of a huge plastic bowl. I would like to have a larger area of water for all the animals, the birds and the bees. One day.
The once-a-month Sunday market is on in the village today. I will go and see if there are some organic avocados and figs to buy. We have eaten all our dried figs from last year, and the avocados from Algarve are really delicious.
Hopefully, I will get the photo thing sorted as it is fun to share them.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
A new month
I have been to England and back since I last wrote here.
And we have new a chicken and cockeral. R saw them in the flea market in Sao Luis and we had to get them (guilty conscience?). They are lovely, polite little chickens and now most of them are laying so we are rich in eggs. The colour of the yolks are deep orange.
We have been working on another water tank, lower down the hill. In the last couple of days we have been laying concrete foundations. Hopefully, we will soon put up the walls. It will be a kind of ferro cement construction. It's going to be muxh bigger than the 'elephant' we built last year.
R's mother is visiting and she has been doing brilliant work on the flower borders and clearing brambles from a fig tree. It's great to get help with that kind of work.
We have just received three huge sacks of sheep's wool and I have begun making roof insulation by stuffing it into feed sacks and stapling them to the rafters. I think it looks very neat and should work a treat. The sheepy smell will soon dissipate (we hope!)
We are eating beans, peas, brocolli, spinache, leeks, onions and carrots from the garden. I am very pleased about that. The taste of fresh vege is so good.
And we have new a chicken and cockeral. R saw them in the flea market in Sao Luis and we had to get them (guilty conscience?). They are lovely, polite little chickens and now most of them are laying so we are rich in eggs. The colour of the yolks are deep orange.
We have been working on another water tank, lower down the hill. In the last couple of days we have been laying concrete foundations. Hopefully, we will soon put up the walls. It will be a kind of ferro cement construction. It's going to be muxh bigger than the 'elephant' we built last year.
R's mother is visiting and she has been doing brilliant work on the flower borders and clearing brambles from a fig tree. It's great to get help with that kind of work.
We have just received three huge sacks of sheep's wool and I have begun making roof insulation by stuffing it into feed sacks and stapling them to the rafters. I think it looks very neat and should work a treat. The sheepy smell will soon dissipate (we hope!)
We are eating beans, peas, brocolli, spinache, leeks, onions and carrots from the garden. I am very pleased about that. The taste of fresh vege is so good.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Good Bye Cocky
An accident occurred this afternoon... We were sitting outside eating some food when Cocky came up to R and pecked him... so R kicked him... a bit too hard... off he went squawking in the long grass, his girls following. I got up after a while to go and see... There he lay, dead as a door knob, surrounded by his ladies, clucking quietly. I think it was shock. We are all a bit shocked. He was so splendid. I had a cry, then we quickly plucked him before he got cold. R is very sorry. He thought Cocky would move away, but he didn't.....RIP
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