O Monte is situated 7km from the small town of Aljezur and 10km from the surf beaches of the West coast. We have been working, cleaning and maintaining the land for nearly 3 years. The vegetable gardens are extensive enough for us to be more or less self-sufficient through the year and provide produce to sell at the local Saturday market.
The general, everyday tasks can include:
- sowing and transplanting
- maintaining growing crops
- harvesting - both cultivated and wild growing produce eg mushrooms
- preserving of produce
- pruning
- weeding
- maintainance and cleaning of woodland and stone pines
- compost making and turning
- preparation of land for transplanting/sowing
This March and April will be preparing land for spring sowing and planting and transplanting crops.
Projects include:
- 'creating' semi-wild vegetable beds
- making 'bug hotels' for beneficial insects to hibernate/live in
- building retaining stone walls
- making a solar shower and compost toilet
- building exterior bread oven and outdoor cooking area
Working time is around 30hrs a week, usually 6hrs x 5 days, but this is flexible, depending on the weather and tasks.
