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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...
Planting willow and poplar cuttings between the trees on the east swale berm lines.
Planting willow and poplar cuttings between the trees on the east swale berm lines.The ones that root and do well will supply chop&drop biomass.
Planted the playground micro swale with willow and scented geranium cuttings.
Planted the playground micro swale with willow and scented geranium cuttings.
Khaki Campbell females having some fun (?) in the dark.
Khaki Campbell females having some fun (?) in the dark.The drake is watching with a puzzled look. A Muscovy female drops in and does not approve.(surely it's Tuesday already somewhere)