This is what we are doing in October on our farm in central Portugal.
more “October in the garden Portugal”
October in the garden Portugal
October 9, 2024
Category: Permaculture
Septmeber in the vegetable garden in Portugal
September 7, 2023
What to plant in September in the vegetable gardens in central Portugal
August in the vegetable garden in Portugal
August 13, 2023
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 (in spreadsheets) in a more legible form. Join our mailing list to stay updated.
Organic veg boxes for sale from our permaculture farm
August 6, 2023
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.
more “Organic veg boxes for sale from our permaculture farm”
Video from our Summer 2023 Permaculture Design Course
July 30, 2023
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
What is Permaculture part 2 – The 12 principles of Permaculture
June 28, 2023
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. more “What is Permaculture part 2 – The 12 principles of Permaculture”
What is Permaculture Part 1 – History and Ethics of Permaculture
May 13, 2023
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.
more “What is Permaculture Part 1 – History and Ethics of Permaculture”
Planting Cover crops in the vegtable garden
December 29, 2022
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.
December in the Garden or Farm in portugal
December 20, 2022
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.
Tropical Strawbale Greenhouse Shower Room
November 5, 2022
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.
Photos from Permaculture Design Course Sept 2022
October 20, 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 design with implication steps. During the week were two theory classes per day to help them with their project.
- We finished the week with group presentations and a pizza party
Join us for our future Permaculture Design Courses
Permaculture Diploma Portugal
April 8, 2022
If you would like to start or continue your Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design with the Permaculture Association you may do this at Keela Yoga Farm. We have opportunities as Teaching apprenticeships, teaching assistants and design work experience at our Permaculture Farm with Tom Henfrey, the only official registered Diploma teacher in Portugal.
Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design
Tom Henfrey is a Permaculture Diploma tutor based in Portugal. He co-teaches the Permaculture Design Courses at Keela Yoga Farm. Tom can assist you as your diploma teacher or help you with your continued learning and experience as a Teaching Apprentice in our Permaculture courses.
For more information on the Diploma check out the Permaculture Association Website
Permaculture Internship Video
October 23, 2021
Want to know what it is like on one of our Permaculture internships? Check out this 20 min video showing what we got up to each day during the Summer 2021 internship.
Remember internships are different seasonally and annually but this will give you an idea. more “Permaculture Internship Video”
Morning Tasks on a permaculture farm
January 8, 2021
We made a youtube video on our morning tasks at Keela so you can see he we start our day. There is nothing better than getting to connect with nature, get some fresh air and connect with animals and plants every morning before breakfast. more “Morning Tasks on a permaculture farm”
Tree Planting and Ally Cropping in our Silvopasture
November 5, 2020
This year we have had a bit of rain in September so we started our tree planting early. On top of that we further planted into the layers of our silvopasture plantation.
Thank you to our Permaculture interns for buying trees and planting them. We planted cherries, nectarines and almonds into space that we had in our silvopasture. We also planted cabbages between all the grapevines that were added last winter.
Life During Lockdown
September 14, 2020
During the lockdown, we had 5 guests guaranteed with us for 3 months after they were meant to leave and then we enjoyed the farm to ourselves for a while. For those of you that are not following us on social media for our daily updates, here are some photos of all the things we were up to. We are now open for guests and are running permaculture internships. more “Life During Lockdown”
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 helping to keep our land fire safe, they provide us with income from meat, cheese from their milk and manure for our food forests and growing gardens. more “Cleaning and Using Sheep Wool for Insulation”
Chicken Powered Compost System
April 19, 2020
We started our new chicken powered compost system one month ago when we finished our new chicken run. The chickens will make us compost whilst producing food for the chickens. This is part of our wider Keela Yoga Farm chicken system.
Introducing our pigs
April 15, 2020
We have just got two piglets from a friend to help us manage our farm and give us sustainable food. We look forward to learning how to look after pigs and use them as workers in an effort to offset more carbon and produce more food.
The breed of the pigs are half Mangalitsa, half Bisaro and they will live in our pig house for two weeks whilst they get used to us. Our farm is officially called ‘Vale Leitao’ meaning Valley of the Piglet. There were already three stone build pig houses on the land when we purchased it. We had been using one of them as a chicken house until the recent completion of our new chicken house and run, so the pigs are currently in the old chicken house. more “Introducing our pigs”
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 system that benefit each other. The idea is to reduce carbon based inputs into the system such as tractors to cut grass and fertiliser for trees whilst getting extra forrage for the animals. more “Silvopasture for Chickens & Sheep”
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 systems, continued in the food forests and with our reforestation project and the natural building projects. Here is an update on some of our current projects for those not following us on facebook or Instagram. more “Photos and updates from 2019”
What makes the biggest garlic heads
November 22, 2019
It is known that bigger garlic cloves grow bigger garlic heads. But I want to find out how true that is. So this year we are planting the bigger garlic cloves in separate beds to the smaller cloves so we can see it for ourselves.
more “What makes the biggest garlic heads”
Vermiculture flushing toilet
November 17, 2019
The flushing vermiculture toilet system is similar to a normal flushing toilet inside the house, but it is the treatment on the outside that is different. Instead of a usual septic tank, we put our composting worms to work first. more “Vermiculture flushing toilet”
Water heated by compost
November 10, 2019
Instead of the usual compost pile to heat water with wire mesh frame and wood chips we are testing this with a wall of straw bales filled with woodchips, giesta (scotch broom) and sheep manure with straw bedding. more “Water heated by compost”
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 2019 when the land is very dry and shows the work we have done on this abandoned land over the past two years. more “Aerial photos and updates Oct 2019”
Photos of Spring 2019 Food Forest Work
May 1, 2019
In March and April 2019 we hosted a one month food forest course, where participants learn how to plan, design, implement and maintain a food forest. During this month our food forests where expanded and upgraded the food forests. Please check out what we got up to.
New permanent beds this winter
April 23, 2019
We have planted several new permanent beds this winter mostly by students and volunteers participating in this year’s food forest course. A permanent bed is one that requires a lot of extra work up frot, up but shouldn’t need to be tilled, dug or have as much work in the future. It also usually consists on perennial edible plants. There are many techniques which we experiment with including sunken beds, raised beds, woodchip beds and polycultures.
Back to Eden Gardening with a twist
January 8, 2019
Back to Eden gardening is a method of gardening from Paul Gautschi it is quite simple and makes complete sense in theory so we are giving it a try with two areas in our winter garden. It is gardening with thick layers of compost and wood chip mulch. more “Back to Eden Gardening with a twist”
Sunken Beds
September 3, 2018
As opposed to building soil above ground with a raised bed, a sunken is a bed below ground where it is cooler and wetter. This type of bed appears to work better than a raised bed in Portugal’s hot and dry summers. more “Sunken Beds”
Composting Worms Portugal
July 8, 2018
Our compost worms are critical to our organic gardens; they are a must for any organic gardener. They not only reduce waste by eating your leftovers but create a liquid fertiliser for the garden, compost and more worms.
We sell composting worms, they are available for collection from our farm or via post.
Cost for worms
€5 per 100 worms (approximately 1kg) + €5 postage and packaging
Includes our booklet on keeping worms
Please contact us to order your worms
