With 46 acers of land, multiple fields, daily yoga classes, a community to run and a huge permaculture project, starting a food forest can be very overwhelming. We decided to fence off a smaller area which had three old burnt down pear trees, named it the pear food forest and made it our focus for the first half of 2017. more “Starting a food forest in portugal”
Over the past few months, while working on improving our water, solar, camping spots, food forests and vegetable gardens, we now have three choices for showers: A wonderful compost toilet, a yoga room, a chill out mezzanine and 46 acres of land to hang out in. The upgrades continue every day with the help of our amazingly committed volunteers. more “Facilities at the yoga farm are improving”
Three years ago we planned to give it all up and start a sustainable yoga community in Portugal. We moved onto the land we bought less than two months ago along with 6 pioneer volunteers who offered to come and help us set up, in exchange for food, yoga and meditation.
more “Pioneer Volunteers”
Although we have only just bought the land officially on the 22nd November 2016, my birthday, we have had friends and family volunteering with us for the past two months to help us start our permaculture and yoga project. Please see some of the work we have been up to on this blog. more “Volunteering at Keela Yoga Farm”
Three years ago, my wife and I decided to leave our jobs in the city to start a self sustainable community and yoga retreat centre in Portugal. After two years of research and saving, we quit our full time jobs in Singapore and embarked on our life changing journey to find land in Portugal. This blog summarises our journey to find our plot of land in Portugal. more “Finding land for Keela Yoga Farm in Portugal”
During our volunteering stint in Portugal this year, we have seen many different types of structures and buildings that have been built with natural materials and using various techniques. One technique that has interested me is timber framing. This traditional technique requires skilled builders that use green timber from local fallen trees with no nails, screws or cement.
Ever since reading ‘The Moneyless Man’ that was recommended to me by Kimberly’s brother Darrell, I have wanted to learn more about foraging for food in the forest or roadside. It wasn’t until I was volunteering at the Awakened Life Project in Portugal, where they serve wild greens as the salad at every meal, that I started to learn about it.
After volunteering for the past few months in various parts of Portugal and learning a lot about gardening, community living and most recently meditation, we were looking forward to working with Fiona and Nonu at Yoga Holidays Portugal for a new experience. more “Yoga Yurt Holidays Portugal”
At the beginning of June we started volunteering at the Awakened Life Project in the mountains of central Portugal. An established sustainable spiritual awakening association with an ever expanding local and global community. more “Volunteering at Awakened Life Project Portugal”
In May 2016 we volunteered at Vale Da Sarvinda Permaculture project near Castelo Branco in central Portugal. We were based inside a national park right on the border with Spain. Here we saw how the permaculture principles can be applied on a very large scale. more “Vale Da Sarvinda Large Scale Permaculture Portugal”
In May 2016 we volunteered at ‘A Quinta’ in Alentejo, south west of Portugal and not too far from the coast. A project with 130 hectares of beautiful land that is being restored through permaculture practices and regenerative agriculture. This farm consists of a small community of residents and volunteers, has many examples of the permaculture systems that we hope to use in the future, and was a great learning experience for us both. more “Volunteering at A Quinta in Alentejo”
Before we buy land of our own to start Keela Yoga Farm we are traveling through Portugal and volunteering for other communities, yoga retreats and families that are having a go at the self-sufficient lifestyle. Our first stop was Osho Gardens in Algarve. more “Saving an orchard at Osho Gardens in Portugal”
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. more “Food Forestry Course at Terra Alta, Portugal”
After more than two years of planning to leave our jobs and start a self-sustainable yoga community, we have finally made it to Portugal where we will set up ‘Keela Yoga Farm’. more “First month in Portugal”
I spent the month of January 2016 teaching Yoga at Angkor Zen Gardens Retreat Centre whilst sitting out the Portuguese winter. In addition to teaching at the retreat centre, I had the opportunity to take groups for extra yoga and meditation to Angkor Wat and other close by temples. more “Yoga in Angkor Wat Temple”
During our Permaculture Design course at Rak Tamachat we learnt that, just because food looks beautiful and fresh in the supermarket, doesn’t always mean that it’s full of all the nutrients and minerals that it should have. Food will only be complete with the necessary nutrients and minerals if the soil is organic and contains what the plant needs. more “Healthy Soil for Nutritious Food at Rak Tamachat”
Living in cities, I have always tried to be as sustainable as possible. But in reality, most of the products and services we buy have travelled across the world and are made either using fossil fuels or in places that once had ecosystems such as forests and woodland. We want to create a place that doesn’t harm the planet but instead heals it. more “What do we mean by self-sustainable?”
I couldn’t believe it, my last day of teaching these amazing kids had finally come around. The decision to leave teaching to start Keela Yoga Farm was not one that I had taken lightly, and the children that I had had the pleasure of teaching this year made that decision all the more difficult. more “My Last Day at Work”
As we change our lives from the busy city life in Singapore to a quieter life on Keela Yoga Farm, we decided to go on a full body detox at Orion Healing in Thailand during our six months research trip. more “Detoxing at Orion Healing”
You don’t wake up one day and decide to start a self sustainable yoga retreat and then quit your job when you arrive in the office, at least that isn’t how we did it.
more “Why Portugal?”
The idea to start a sustainable yoga farm first came to us while traveling South America in 2013.
We are excited to announce that we have both now handed our notices in at our jobs, and we are planning to move to Portugal to start a self sustainable yoga community and eco farm. We will grow our more “The day we quit our jobs to start a sustainable yoga farm”
Compost Worms
€30.00 – €100.00
Unisex Crewneck T-shirt - Permaculture Ethics
€20.00
Thermal 1-liter water bottle
€15.00