In June 2019 we (Lea, Maarten and Puck) purchased a piece of land in the hills of the Castelo Branco district. It had not been used in over 30 years and was completely overgrown. But we knew there were good olive trees in the field and we could see all the potential. After a lot of hard work we are now settled on our land. We live in a cosy yurt, grow some of our own food and even added another baby (Bo) last year. Now we are slowly working on regenerating the land and in the beginning phases of building a forever home.
Our farming philosophy
We are and always will be a small scale farm. We only take on as much as we can do ourselves, and if we want to expand it will be to such a degree that we can hire help. Using volunteers or poorly payed outside help is all too common in modern farming and not something we want to replicate. Our farm is an experiment in how we can create a sustainable business from the land.
Working with nature is the other important pilar of our philosophy. We do not use any chemicals or fertilizers on our field. Any amending that needs to be done, is done through adding manure or cover cropping. Next to growing olives our aim is to build soil, grow native wild flowers and adding to the biodiversity of our land.
After some love and care our olive trees are much happier and have started to give us some olives. This year we are finally able to sell a small batch of olive oil, all picked by us and pressed locally.
Next to olive oil we have also started beekeeping. In 2021 we bought three hives and we are now in the process of expanding the amount of colonies we tend to and keeping them strong and healthy. In return we take some (not all) of their beautiful wild flower honey. We listen to the pace of nature and the bees, none of this can be rushed. At the end of the summer of 2022 we hope to announce our first batch of honey for sale.
