Alo Land

The joy of crafting imperfect things: chess set

It's been surprisingly enjoyable to embrace the imperfection of the results. Building things with my hands and learning something at every step – it doesn't get much better, if I let go and accept "good enough".

permaculture

Winter Chop And Drop: Seeking a balance between cover crop growth and protecting young trees

The cover crop has grown tremendously, creating a lot of biomass and... shade! They are thriving so much they became taller than the young trees they are surrounding, leaving them shaded for most of the day.

education

Friendly mothers...?

I am a little excited. This afternoon, a mother with her two kids is coming to visit. We haven't met before, but wanted to meet other families and children to befriend our own. This must be somewhat similar to what blind dates feel like. Some signals indicate that we might

Getting started with mushrooms

Mushrooms seem like an integral part of what we're trying to do, so we planned to cultivate some to supplement the wild ones from the garden.

Observation: Looking for succulents for fire protection

As part of our fire protection strategy, we have plenty of succulents in our site. While they don't prevent a fire and should not be used as an insurance against fire, we use it as an additional tool in a vast toolkit to minimize the fire hazard. Looking for what

Plantar árvores — um guia

No início do nosso projeto de Permacultura, plantámos cerca de mil árvores e arbustos. Para quem esteja a pensar fazer algo semelhante, mesmo que seja apenas uma mão-cheia de árvores, partilhamos o procedimento que seguimos: MateriaisSerão necessários os seguintes materiais: Estrume de vacaEstrume de coelhoBiomassa (aparas de pinheiro)Palha (de

Rites of passage

What next? Just be.

permaculture

The Power of Observation: an example for early Winter

Observation is a design tool that you keep going back to in order to keep improving your site.

Burnout

I would sit at my desk, look at the interesting topic in front of me, and blank out. It was time for a more radical change.

Wildfire protection strategy

As we learned and observed more the risk seems higher. We planned and implemented several measures.

Happy anniversary - 1 year in Portugal

It has been a year since we moved here, which is very confusing. Because it was so intense, it feels like we just moved here, and we are just starting to get a sense of our whereabouts. At the same time, because so much has happened, it seems like many

One year at home in Portugal

This time I'd like to stay and grow roots here.

QGIS and permaculture

I just wanted to draw on a map.

A fast-moving mess

It is happening. Hundreds of trees coming, needing immediate attention, a place to be planted on, water, amendments, mulch, light, care. We had been waiting for this moment for a long time and for the past few days we, the family and 5 men full time, have been digging, planting,

permaculture

Bem-vindas a casa, plantas

É muito emocionante pôr as mãos na terra, cheirar as plantas, e sentir que estamos a remendar algo que está rasgado no nosso mundo.

Earthworks completed

The garden is hard to recognize now. While the earthworks were needed, I hope that we won't be making such dramatic changes to it again.

Kick-off reforestation

Today it was the kick-off of the reforestation. Or should I say deforestation? Oddly enough, the first step of making this a fertile land is to remove most of the trees, which are eucalyptus. They are a fire hazard, drinking all the water and preventing other trees from growing. It

Sementes de felicidade

Regenerar 10.000m2 de solo não é fácil, mas é muito estimulante. Entre um casal e duas crianças pequenas, 0 design de Permacultura para este espaço vai crescendo, pouco a pouco. Temos as próximas semanas para implementar a primeira fase: preparar o solo, as valas de irrigação (swales, em permaculturês)

projeto

Projeto de Reflorestação

Nesta fase, vamos concentrar-nos em preparar o solo, aumentar a sua fertilidade, privilegiar a introdução e proteção de diversas espécies produtivas e de apoio à regeneração

autumn

Autumn is coming

October is gearing up to be a big month for our plot. We will be doing all the necessary earthworks, install swales and lakes, and plant a lot. We are also going to be some home improvements, so we have an efficient way of keeping the house warm throughout the

Free the oaks

These brave pioneers did not get the memo about not growing under eucalyptus trees.

Dill vs Fennel

Herbs can taste and be used so differently and yet look so similar. A pair that often demands a second look to identify is Dill and Fennel. Here is a way to tell them apart. Dill vs Fennel: an overviewDill is a wonder herb. Packed with nutrients, it looks good,

On humility

Our goal is to document our journey: what we did, how we failed, what worked for us, and what we learned. If any of it inspires, motivates or helps anybody, great. If not, oh well.

Courgette vs Pumpkin

Although we tend to think of these two vegetables as being very different, and cooking/eating them in distinct fashions, the reality is that they are both from the same family (gour/Cucurbitaceae), and genus (Cucurbita). So, in reality, they are quite similar. Courgette, also known as summer squash, zucchini,

Getting Started

Obtaining a yield

As we continue to plan swales, ponds, harvesting water and defining lists of plants and resources to create a regenerative ecosystem, it is energizing and confidence boosting to just go outside and grab a bit of basil to season lunch.