Inês Paler

music

Melodies, Memories, and More: Reflecting on a Musical Spring with Music Together Silver

Our dreams for Alo Land are still shifting, but we know want to create a welcoming space in our garden, fostering a sense of community and connection for families, and Music Together fits right in.

music

Music Together Silver Coast: Hitting the Right Chord for Families

So we launched Music Together Silver Coast, with music programs for families on the Silver Coast with children up to 8 years old.

duck

We are selling Duck Eggs !

With an abundance of eggs on hand, we decided to embark on an experiment: selling our surplus to the local community. This endeavour has been an eye-opening experience, revealing a fascinating dynamic between familiarity and culinary perception.

Making Water Kefir

If you are looking for a recipe, you should get it right away. Water Kefir benefits and background story are below the recipe. Enjoy! Recipe Tools Needed: * Glass jar, min 1,2L, with an airtight lid. * Cheesecloth or other breathable material. It must be tight enough to prevent any bugs

Stepping Stones

It's been an exciting week at our permaculture homestead here in Portugal! We've accomplished several achievements that have made a real difference on the farm. First up, we built another bird coop! We've been wanting to keep some additional birds and have more room

Making Pistachio Butter

Making pistachio butter is easy, once you have a pistachio supplier. It will be tastier, healthier and probably cheaper than the store bought. More importantly, you can adjust it to your preference in terms of texture, and flavour. 1. Soak the pistachio overnight, by adding it to a bowl of

Nitrogen fixing plants for central Portugal

Here is a list of the nitrogen fixing plants we have in our garden. They are present in order, according to the following: short herbs, climbers, bushes, trees. Trevo branco anão, Dwarf White Clover, Trifolium repens This perennial doesn't grow beyond 10 cm tall, but spreads up to

thoughts

Farewell, Squirrel

They miss daddy, but they are a beautiful family of strong explorers. Soon, they will be running, from pine to pine tree, quick as their father.

spring

The promise of Spring

The expectations are still low, but there will be a huge celebration if we get to make a single portion of fruit salad.

permaculture

Making Milk Kefir

While it might seem a bit overwhelming at first, milk kefir is really easy to make. After a few attempts, it will take you very little time and energy to prepare.

Making Olive Leaf Powder

Olives are such special trees. They live long, are full of meaning (religious and not), they have character and make any plot look wonderful. Some people like to let them wild, others prune reasonably, while others are turning them into bonsai projects. In any case, the fruit is widely desired

Getting ready for Spring

The Winter has been unexpectedly dry, but it has been cold, particularly at night, hovering 0ºC. Some plants are showing bugs and blossoms, or new leaves. The ground cover has taken on very well in some parts of the plot, although some areas still present a very exposed soil. With

(Not quite) Instant Garden to kick off the growing season

We are totally sold on no-tilling and avoid disturbing the soil as much as possible. We believe that it helps the soil life thrive and while we don't get fertility boosts, we benefit from a steady soil growth, season by season. To support this ongoing improvement, we add

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

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

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: Materiais Serão necessários os seguintes materiais: * Estrume de vaca * Estrume de coelho * Biomassa (aparas de

permaculture

The Power of Observation: an example during early Winter

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

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

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.

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