Whilst staying is Lisbon we visited Terra Alta in Sintra for a weekend course on Food Forests. This is a method of growing food using nature’s way. In nature, forests are made up of hundreds of types of trees, shrubs and plants all growing with and around each other in an ecosystem. The forest is abundant with life without the need for chemical fertilizers and pesticides that is needed for conventional farming.
This was an incredibly inspirational weekend with some practical tree planting, a lot of theory and displays of examples. Doug Crouch’s course managed to help take my understanding to the next level. Now with the continuation of study on individual plants that can be grown here in Portugal, I can really plan our food forests at Keela to be the most efficient possible.
All over Terra Alta are food forests at different stages, but what was most amazing was how abundant and alive the land was with vegetation that supplies food.
We also got to see some of the systems they had there like compost toilets, irrigation, natural buildings, stream management and the kitchen. I am going back there in July for a timber framing course to learn how to make a frame for a house, shed, or box using traditional methods without nails.
Terra Alta website: http://terralta.org/
Doug Crouch’s website: https://treeyopermacultureedu.wordpress.com/
My summary on food forests: Food Forest Portugal
Related Posts:
Silvopasture for Chickens & Sheep January 14, 2020 Over the past year, we have planted one field using silvopasture principles. Silvopasture is where you grow trees and shrubs with animals integrated into the…
Photos and updates from 2019 December 31, 2019 We have had a very busy year on the farm with more than 100 volunteers, many courses and retreats. We have started some new permaculture…
Building our Strawbale Community House January 18, 2020 In September 2019 we completed the building of our straw bale community house. This is a large building where our visitors can eat, work, attend…
Long Drop Vermiculture Compost Toilet October 1, 2019 I have built a long drop dry compost toilet that links with a worm farm, the worms should move into the humanure pile, eat all…
Registering Sheep in Portugal February 27, 2022 We have been through the process to get a licence for sheep and register sheep in our area of Fundao in Portugal and should apply…
Kimberly Manchee - Yoga Teacher and Co-Founder of… January 2, 2020 Kimberly Manchee is the co-founder of Keela Yoga Farm. She is the farm and kitchen manager and resident Yoga teacher. Kimberly teaches workshops on Reiki,…
Photos from the 2020 Natural Building Internship September 29, 2020 During the summer of 2020, we ran a 10-week Natural Building internship where guests joined for 1 week, 1 month or the whole 10 weeks…
Aerial photos and updates Oct 2019 October 22, 2019 A friend dropped by and took some aerial photos of each area of our farm areas. These are taken at the end of the Summer…
Cleaning and Using Sheep Wool for Insulation July 29, 2020 Sheep are amazing creatures to have on your permaculture farm. For very little input they give us so much in return. They manage our pasture…
Retreat with Sudhir Rishi June 2020 - Mastering… November 29, 2019 We are so happy that Sudhir Rishi will return to us for another 6-day retreat at Keela Yoga Farm on the 13th June 2020J. Join…
2 thoughts on “Food Forestry Course at Terra Alta, Portugal”