Keela Permaculture Farm Portugal

At our off-grid permaculture project in Portugal, we believe in learning by doing. Join us at our homestead and certified organic farm for hands-on courses: Permaculture Design, Food Forest, Natural Building, and Permaculture in Practice.
Since 2016 Laurence Manchee and the Keela team have been restoring an abandoned agricultural farm to an abundance of food and life through food forests, agroforestry, sheep, chickens, and land restoration activities. We have also established working Permaculture systems with various natural buildings, including Strawbale, cordwood, and cob.
Our courses are not just about learning, they’re about living. Immerse yourself in a unique communal living experience at our off-grid permaculture project in Portugal. Enjoy organic farm-to-table food, water from our spring, clean air, and daily optional yoga or callisthenics classes. 

Permaculture Design Course

Design and build permaculture systems and get a certified PDC certificate from the Permaculture UK Association

Permaculture Design Course

Food Forest Courses

Food Forest Courses

Natural Building Courses

Natural Building Courses

Permaculture Volunteer programs

Permaculture Volunteering

Monthly Open Days

Monthly Open Days

Latest Blog Posts

Permaculture Apprentice Wanted

We are looking for five permaculture apprentices in 2025 to join the Keela Permaculture Farm team. It is ideal for permaculture enthusiasts who want to start their own homestead, become a farm manager or become a permaculture teacher.

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Janurary in the vegtable garden and farm

What to do in the garden in January. We are seeding, planting and managing this in the vegetable garden on our permaculture farm in Portugal.

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Breed Worms Like a Pro

This article was published in Permaculture Magazine. I have a subscription to this magazine and can highly recommend it. Click here to subscribe to Permaculture magazine.

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October in the garden Portugal

This is what we are doing in October on our farm in central Portugal.

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Photos from September 2024

New certified PDC Students

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Scouts visit scouts group farm experience.

We have 28 scouts visiting us for nearly a week to experience farm life and participate in the programs happening at Keela Permaculture Farm. They worked in the vegetable.

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Organic Farm in Portugal

After three years of bureaucracy and inspections from Sativa, Keela is now listed as a certified Organic Farm in Portugal and is on the EU register of certified organic farms as Laurence Manchee (the founder and trading name of Keela).

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First of our monthly Open days

In August 2024, we had the first of our new monthly open day, and it was fully booked with 50 people! A big thank you to everyone who attended and helped out; we had an enjoyable day.

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Permaculture Apprentice Portugal – paid job

Keela Permaculture Farm is seeking a Permaculture apprentice who would like to gain experience teaching and hosting Permaculture courses wanted

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Yoga Immersion with Sudhir and Anya plus Intro to Permaculture

26th May -2nd June 2024, Keela Permaculture Farm in central Portugal. Yoga Immersion in Nature In 2024, we are excited to combine our  retreat hosts into a Yoga immersion. A fully authentic experience with two yoga teacher trainers and a certified permaculture educator to introduce you to Permaculture. Sudhir Rishi will join us from Sthira […]

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How much work is it to manage an Agroforest

The easiest part of managing an agroforestry is raising the funds to plant it and then planting it. The real work comes later, with maintenance year after year. This article discusses the maintenance we must do each autumn in our organic agroforest in Portugal.

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Useful shops in Fundao portugal for farm life

This page list some useful shops people living near Keela Permaculture Farm in the Fundao area

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Fundao agriculture festa with a organic and regenerative tent – 5th-8th Oct 2023

A four-day agriculture festa in Fundao is organised by the Município do Fundão with multiple areas, including an organic and regenerative agriculture tent where laurence from keela yoga farm will be presenting alongside a massive lineup.

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Septmeber in the vegetable garden in Portugal

What to plant in September in the vegetable gardens in central Portugal

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August in the vegetable garden in Portugal

What to do in August in the vegetable garden in Portugal. Which seeds to plant and which plants to plant out. As part of our efforts to keep up with our veg boxes, we need an excellent gardening plan for what seeds to plant and when. So I am finally documenting and sharing our data […]

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Organic veg boxes for sale from our permaculture farm

We have extended our summer garden of vegetables and are now selling veg boxes to local customers. Each week customers buy a box or €10 or €20 worth of vegetables. Laurence packs each box with what is available that week instead of the customers choosing their vegetables.

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Shop at Keela Yoga Farm

Please visit our in-house and online shop at Keela to support our small farm. As a Permaculture Farm, first and foremost we are producers. One important part of being a permaculture farm is to produce more and consume less.

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Video from our Summer 2023 Permaculture Design Course

Check out the video from our Summer 2023 Permaculture Design Course showing some of the things students get up to during a summer course at Keela Yoga Farm. To find out more about our permaculture design courses please click here

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What is Permaculture part 2 – The 12 principles of Permaculture

I like to define Permaculture as a philosophy that follows three core ethics with systems designed based on twelve principles. Permaculture combines natural systems that mimic nature while incorporating modern technology. It aims to create a more sustainable future by producing more, consuming less and working together.

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Registering an Organic Farm in Portugal

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Organic Seeds and Trees Portugal

A list of places to buy trees, seeds and general shops for your homestead for people living in the Fundao area.

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What is Permaculture Part 1 – History and Ethics of Permaculture

I like to define Permaculture as a philosophy that follows three core ethics and systems designed based on twelve principles. Permaculture combines natural systems that mimic nature while incorporating modern technology. Permaculture aims for a more sustainable future by each of us producing more, consuming less and working together.

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Planting a salad garden

This blog post is to help you plan, design and maintain your salad garden for a continued supply of salad all year. This article was published in our monthly gardening peace in the Central Connects Magazine.

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Planting Cover crops in the vegtable garden

Welcome to the first edition of the monthly gardening blog that will feature in Central Connect magazine in Portugal. The focus of this article and future articles will always lean towards the edible garden, known in portuguese as ‘A Horta’. To download your copy of the magazine, scroll to the bottom.

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December in the Garden or Farm in portugal

Here is my December gardening article for the central connect magazine. Summer has ended, the rains have started, and the cold is coming. This brings new tasks in the garden and on the homestead. Here is what we are up to at Keela Permaculture Farm this December.

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Tropical Strawbale Greenhouse Shower Room

In addition to our outside shower, we have an inside wood-powered shower in our greenhouse. This gives the beautiful feeling of showering outside in nature but inside in the warmth of the greenhouse. The hot water heater heats the greenhouse, and guests stay nice and warm.

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Photos from Permaculture Design Course Sept 2022

Photos from our September 2022 certified two-week Permaculture Design Course. Week 1 had two theory classes per day and two practical classes per day. On the weekend, students had the opportunity to visit another local farm for a work exchange. On week two, students were split into design groups; each had to complete a permaculture […]

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Photos from Oct 2022 Natural Building Course

Photos from our 5-day natural building course in October 2022. Students got to experiment with various Natural Building methods, including wattle and daub, earth bricks, earthbags, cordwood, cob, earth plaster, lime plaster and straw bale. Please take a look at the photos below from the five-day course. You can also check our video from our […]

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Permaculture Chicken System Video

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How to harvest grapes for wine-making

We run a small co-op where we make wine collectively together at Keela. This post is to help those who are picking their grapes for us to make wine but will apply to anyone who is picking grapes.

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