Hi, we are so glad to see you here!
You clicked on this page – we are impressed and a little surprised! The best way to get to know us, though, is to get in touch!
Grow With Us
Alo Land Strategy Summary
Alo Land is a regenerative initiative by us – Petru and Inês. We are former tech professionals who moved to Portugal with our two children. We currently manage a 1-hectare plot with a food forest and own an additional 2.5-hectare undeveloped plot nearby.
Vision and Goals
- Land restoration using regenerative practices
- Supporting holistic well-being (physical, emotional, spiritual)
- Cultivating eight forms of capital (financial, material, living, social, intellectual, experiential, spiritual, cultural)
- Building community resilience
Current Challenges
- Overwhelming workload maintaining the food forest
- Potential for more social connections, particularly for the adults
- Gaps in food production despite potential
- Restrictions on travel due to land care responsibilities
Strategic Approach
The family has shifted to an incremental growth strategy that focuses on:
- Leveraging existing resources and activities
- Attracting people to the land (as participants or volunteers)
- Creating a volunteer pipeline
- Thoughtful development of their 2.5-hectare plot
What's with the name?
From Wiktionary: alō (present infinitive alere, perfect active aluī, supine altum or alitum); third conjugation
-
- I foster, I nourish
- I raise (as a child, an animal, etc.)
- I feed, I maintain, I develop
From our visual diary...
Mixed a batch of compost in the modular bin.
Mixed a batch of compost in the modular bin.It was full of kitchen waste and weeds from the past couple months. We've started using the center load bin for kitchen stuff now, so it was time to cook this material.Also added a wheelbarrow of mystery manure leftover from...
New feral kittens dropped.
New feral kittens dropped.This one was lost next to the duckling food in the nursery. Luckily mama duck left it alone.
The ducks observing irrigation pipe repair work.
The ducks observing irrigation pipe repair work.I was cleaning around the duck coops with a hand sickle so I don't damage the many sensitive things around. However, the sickle had other plans and landed a good hit on the pressurized water mainline.At least it wasn't...