Quinta Regadinha

We are a young couple with experience on self-sufficient-living that in 2015 got a piece of land in the highest mountains inside the biggest natural park of our country. We need help on creating a Natural Farm to support our small eco-community! Rita is a health-food enthusiast and loves to work with different kinds of art-craft. She likes to explore with Medicinal plants, Fermented food, ways of preserving food and appreciates doing basketry, wool-work and book-binding. Also likes to produce cleaning and hygiene products like natural detergents, soaps and salves. Walking in the nature, singing with friends and doing yoga (now having classes with a new neighbor) are some of the other things she enjoys. Gonçalo is a nature lover with a passion for Permaculture and Natural Farming. Studied Organic Agronomy and has been practicing it for some years now, also guiding internships and volunteers. Enjoys singing, playing didgeridoo and to make music with friends. Until now, with the help of lots of amazing people we build two yurts, a greenhouse dome (toilet and nursery), recovered a ruin for a kitchen and build a rootcelar with eartbags and a workshop with a greenroof. For the volunteers we build a small kitchen, toilet and shower. Also done a stable for the farm animals with roundwood. Made a herb garden, a vegetable garden with huegel beds a small food forest and planted many trees and bushes. We have the help of horse,goat, sheep, ducks, chickens and bees to regenerate pasture where we plant trees and shrubs in order to convert it to an poly-crop system. Some small earth works like dams and swalles have also been made in other to extend the already existing ancient irritating system. Unfortunately in 2017 a massive fire went over this beautiful valley but in the same year we were blessed with our first home-birth daughter Dana. Lukcly, in 2020 Rui, Rita's brother, decided to join us to broad is farming knwoledge and improve is carpentry skills. In 2021 we were double blessed with the home birth of our twin sons, Aziz and Arsu. In 2022 the valley burned again in the Summer, we managed to save all the animals and structures but most of the trees and bushes died. With us lives also 2 female dogs and 2 female cats besides many wild animals. In north Portugal we have strong culture of family agriculture that is still practiced by beautiful old people and some young new amazing neighbors. You will meet some of those and can get to visit them to chill-out or help on farming maintenance in exchange for services, products or money and learn some knowledge or skills with joy! We are at north-central Portugal, in a mountain with two glacial valleys, a lot of water on lakes, rivers and streams, that you can follow to find abandoned farming and shepherd houses surrounded by wilderness. There's tow villages close to us: Linhares da Beira (+/- 5km), an historical place with a military castle, a local association, a craft-shop, a cosy bar, a gourmet restaurant and two hotels ; Figueiró da Serra (+/- 2km), with more vivacity has tow local associations, a grocery-shop, tow bars and a hotel with restaurant. We have a 2 seat car that we use often to bring needs from outside but there's also a bus passing in Figueiró da Serra every day at 9am that goes to the closest town (Gouveia +/- 20km) and comes back at 5pm.

This year we will need help maintaining the herb and vegetable garden and the food forests; building simple structures with roundwood and recicled materials; harvesting vegetables, wild herbs and fruits and processing them; farming maintenance ( moving and cutting fire-wood; moving electric fences and farm animal summer shades;cleaning the stable). We only need help for around 3 hours/day, 6 days/week according to goals, therefore we only provide accommodation (camping tent and mattress) and shared facilities (kitchen, dry toilet and hot shower) so, you buy your own food (we sell olive oil, fermented and dried vegetables, nuts, herbs, vegetables and eggs). There's also a natural pool in the stream and according to the season, mushrooms, edible and aromatic plants, berries, acorns and chestnuts. Please bring with you your own biodegradable hygiene products and/or you can buy our soaps.