Welcome to Quinta do Vale

We are Father and Son; Andreas, 59 years old (at the moment he's in the hospital, because he broke his hip and we will return to the farm in the end of February). He's a engineer that has always a lot of ideas and solutions in his mind. He is dedicated to nature, permaculture and biological food. Lucas, 23 years old, studied programming, is now dedicated to do all kind of farm works. Apart of the farm work, Lucas teach traditional world dances with his girlfriend Rafa that used to help often at the farm.

==================== Projects ?! ===================

=== Greenhouse ===
--- Suspended: Not enough money for the plastic sheet that has a total cost of 400€ ---
We got already a donation of 200€! :)


=== Garden ===
- Planting new plants
- Shower the garden (Not in Winter)
- Weeding the garden. (Minimum 2 buckets of grass for the chickens and ducks - everyday!)


=== Solar Panel ===
- We had a homemade solar panel some years ago, to heat up water so we could shower for free. We would like to rebuild that with recycled Styrofoam from old fish boxes that would have been put in the waste. A wood structure and some black tubes will do the job.

=== Building another kitchen ===
In the second house we need to build a new kitchen. (we already have most of the stuff we need for that.)

=== Painting ===
Some new walls have to get painted inside the new house.

======= Finished Projects ==========
- Building a new roof for the goat stable. (90% done!)
- Solar drier: Replacing the plastic sheet of the solar drier, and creating a new structure. (Done with Niels)
- Cleaning all the land off 3m high brambles bushes and other weeds.

=== Working time ===
This can be different from wwoofer to wwoofer. When we need to teach you something you don't know it will take us time, so you will do 5h or 6h depending on how much you can do in that time.
6 days a week, 1 day off. So if you are not afraid of getting your hands dirty we would love to hear from you! You don't need to have any special skills, but you might leave with some :)

== Rules for your stay ==
- At the moment we use propane to heat up our shower water, and we use piped water that we have to pay, so we have to save and that means that the shower can't be running for longer then 5 min for each person a day.
- We need responsible wwoofers that can stay alone (or with other volunteers) in the farm, because we might have to leave one or two days to take care of different issues.
- You need to be truly devoted to the cause, because we're not an hotel, we are a farm where hard work has to be done!

- Every volunteer must bring their own working boots, warm clothes, bathing suit and flashlight.

=== The wwoofers opinion ===
You are always free to tell us if anything is wrong and we will not judge you for that. It's better to know what you think than see you unhappy or not motivated!


============================================
== Production ==
Fruits (apples, pears, plums, peaches, apricots, grapes, Kiwis, oranges, lemons, strawberries, raspberries, figs, kaki,...)
Nuts (walnut, almond, pine nut)
Vegetables ( tomatoes, zucchini, potatoes, beetroot, cucumber, beans, peas, celery, eggplant, chard, ruhbarb, pumpkin, spinach, peppers, cabbage,onions, garlic, ...)
Goat cheese ****
============================================

There are a lot of other little works that have to be done but they can be done in a few hours.
We live on the border of this village, one of our borders is a little stream, and another is a forest.
Since we are near to 'Coimbra' you can visit this beautiful city also famous as City of the students.
'Coimbra' has one of the oldest universities in continuous operation it was established first in 1290.
There are a lot of other sightseeing's like the ruins from 'Conimbriga' 13 km from us. This is one of the largest settlements of Roman's in Portugal. We also have a mountain near by 1200 meters high and 17km from us where you can find schist villages, or just go for a hick in nature. We also have a nice river that has very clear water where you can swim in the Summer 18 km from us.

====== At the farm you can enjoy =====
-> PC with internet that volunteers can use (max 2h/day)
-> Wireless (only in one of the houses!)
-> A "tank" (a small swimming pool built on the rock!)
-> A small lake (it isn't so clean right now, but if you are an adventurer you can swim on it!)
-> An outdoor hot bath tub (you can make your own fire and enjoy a hot bath many times you want!)
-> Hammocks that you can hang anywhere
-> Many books (in German, English, Portuguese and French!)


If you are interested in more pictures and other information send us an email.