There's a Spring in our Step......

As the days lengthen, we have noticed how our energy levels have increased - as has the amount we can achieve in a single day!!


You will see from the pictures, and the little text to accompany, that we have been again trying to pack as much into a month as possible.....

This update gives a taste of the variety of things we have been up to - from attending to bureaucracy; to hosting our first Open Day of 2016; images of the building work around the caravan; snaps of the garden and other activities......



Click below to see more photos and our NEW LOGO.......

Signs of Spring and New Life!

Probably the biggest news to share this month from the Mount of Oaks is that Marcia and Eric are due a baby in May! 

 






















Other news.....well, our days were spent in a variety of activities, indoors and outdoors - from pruning fruit trees (like the fig in the photo opposite) and clearing terraces of brambles; working on administration and planning course material; sowing seeds and organising the seed box; renovating existing spaces and making new work spaces; and lighting daily fires! 

 Click below to catch a glimpse what we have been up to.........

Dia Aberto no dia 20 de Fevereiro

Para aqueles que têm interesse em conhecer-nos e para os que estão mortinhos por ver os progressos feitos no Monte dos Carvalhos, convidamos todos a passar o dia connosco.

Visita guiada em português
Ver o progresso das construções naturais
Almoço feito com produtos locais e da estação
Troca de sementes e ideias sobre simplicidade
Oportunidade de conhecer pessoas com os mesmos interesses
Apresentação dos nossos cursos e oportunidades de voluntariado para 2016
Passeio de carroça com o Xico - o nosso burro (se as condições meteorológicas permitirem)


***** Façam a vossa inscrição por e.mail: mount.of.oaks@gmail.com *****

das 12h às 17h

Até breve!

New Year News

 

New Year News: Happy 2016 one and all!  As we are part way through January, we will share a little about the 'goings on' of the last month and highlight some of the events we plan for this new year: main news dates of our Practical Natural Building Courses, Open Days, Silent Retreats.....

Click below to see more pictures and news.......

Olive Harvest and preparing for Winter.....

 The last month has been FULL........full of olives, full of friends, full of cob on our hands (and sometimes our faces) and pretty full of sun! Let the pictures and little text below give an insight into the wonderful workings of the Mount of Oaks life from mid Nov - mid Dec 2015.

Click below to see more.......

Establishing firm foundations!

In the last weeks at Mount of Oaks we have been focusing on refashioning our Common House. And we used this opportunity to teach a Natural Building workshop. Besides this, we have been busy welcoming people, sharing, living community and conducted our first official Open Day. 

Click below to enjoy the pictures...

Dia Aberto / Open Day 24 de Outubro

Continue a ler... click to keep reading...

Preparing for the Season ahead

The late Summer brought us friends, construction materials, a lot of work and the beginning of a Big building project.


Click bellow to see the pictures and read the stories!

NATURAL BUILDING Practical Course

  NATURAL BUILDING PRACTICAL COURSE from the 10th to the 18th October

          9 days of theory and muuuuch practice  here at the  MOUNT OF OAKS

WHAT ARE WE GOING TO LEARN AND DO ? 

CURSO PRÁTICO DE CONSTRUÇÃO NATURAL

 CURSO PRÁTICO DE CONSTRUÇÃO NATURAL de 26 de Setembro a 4 de Outubro

          9 dias de teoria e muiiiiiita prática aqui no 
               MONTE DOS CARVALHOS

O QUE VAIS APRENDER E FAZER ? 

ABUNDANCE: family, joyful work and food!

The garden is full of delicious food, the land has been full of family, mothers, brothers, cousins, 2 lovely volunteers and a lot of JOY! We will let the pictures tell the tales of a new compost toilet, BBQ's, .......

ENJOY the snaps!

Click below to see more.....

Dreaming...Planning... and living

As usual we have a lot to share... visits... community meetings...new members...new building works... harvesting food from the garden, and more ...

it is indeed a New Season ...

(click below to read more...)

festas, family and a new baby!

This last few weeks have been really busy at Mount of Oaks. The garden is lush and the harvest starts but mostly it has been a time of coming together. The parties in the villages nearby started and our families have been around. Also we are really happy to announce the first baby being actually born on the land! Exciting times!


If you want to read the stories and see the pictures, please click below.

It really feels like Spring

A busy but beautiful and joyful month lies behind us.
The garden got finally prepared for the crops, we opened our season for visitors and helpers and all around us, life started to blossom. 

If you want to read more about whom we hosted and what we were up to, please click below.

home alone

When Tom left in the end of January we were alone at the land. I don't know if you can really be alone in the place with one donkey, two dogs, five cats and six chicken, not counting the wild animals, plants and trees. Living some months by ourselves during Winter is part of the community rhythms we have. Following Nature, we "hibernate" in the Winter to come back to action in Spring. But this Winter the weather was so nice (sunny and cold) we enjoyed being with neighbours, celebrating Eric's birthday, visiting Serra da Estrela and starting to work on the garden.

 

 

click below to see more of the pictures and follow the story...

18 e 19 Abril - Fim de semana com Plantas Silvestres e Medicinais

Vamos aprender como podemos tirar partido das plantas para cuidarmos da nossa saúde, quer sejam plantas silvestres ou plantas da horta.

Click para continuar a ler...

New year - New adventures

New year - 
New adventures

A new year lays a head of us. We can't predict what will happen. As always there will be surprises, challenges and adventures.

Click below if you want to read more about what we were up to and what are our plans for the first months of 2015.

 

OLIVE HARVEST 2014

November was a busy month on the land - our annual olive harvest, wood collection for winter, visitors, helpers, finishing building work ... and Barbara turned 40! 

click below to see more of the pictures and follow the story.....

 

Permaculture Convergence

We were really blessed to have been part of the first Permaculture Convergence in Portugal   from 24-26th October - in Fundao, just on our doorstep.

photo by Camara Municipal do Fundao

We had the privilege of being part of the helper team. For 3 days Fundao was filled with people passionate about Earth Care, People Care and Fair/Just Sharing. More than 300 people participated - and for all involved the weekend was definitely a success. 

click below to keep reading......

PorTUgUeSE PeRMaCULTuRE DeSIGn COurSE

Permaculture from ethics to practice.......

October has been the month for connecting to the wider world of Permaculture here in Portugal. We hosted our first Permaculture Design Course in Portuguese - with Silvia Floresta, Yassine Benderra, partners and kids. As if that was not enough -- we volunteered with the logistics of supporting the 1st national Permaculture Convergence in Portugal - here in our local market town of Fundao! But more about that in a following post.....now we will re-cap on final days of September.......

 

 

click below to keep reading.....