Summer Time
And the living is...easier but definitely busier with the onset of BST
Dry January is a distant memory, Lent is nearly done, the sun is shining here in the valley, and spring has not only sprung, but is now powering into Portuguese summer time.
Personally, January wasn’t terribly dry (because of my birthday...and the weather) and I somehow missed the start of Lent altogether...presumably due to that food and wine binge in Cape Town I told you about last time.
But my annual weight-loss programme doesn’t usually get underway until around this time of year anyway.
The need to shed pounds was the biggest take-away from my annual medical MOT this week – at least the blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels are in strangely reasonable shape.
But it’s a good incentive to get the legs moving with a daily walking routine – all good preparation for the Big Countryside Strim-Off.
For new readers...and loads of you have been arriving recently (thanks for following our journey), there’s a legal fire-prevention requirement in Portugal to cut back all the vegetation within 50m of every building.
It was tough with two buildings, it got even harder with five, and after such a wet winter it’s going to be a busy one this year.
The undergrowth is exploding thanks to all the water in the soil and the power in the sun, so I am currently watching in trepidation as my workload grows by the day.
It’s always that balance of leaving enough time to do the work before an usually moving deadline, but not cutting too early...a bit of April rain can bring a second spurt of growth which then needs another round of grass-cutting and a doubling of the workload.
Speaking of spurts, one of our agaves has already got a head start on us...and all its chums.
The oldest of the plants are maybe 20 years old now and reaching the end of their lives – their last act is to use up every bit of remaining energy and fire a flower many metres into the air.
They grow incredibly quickly – this one has done its first metre in under a week.
Every year we kick ourselves because the plan is to intervene just before the flower starts to grow, cut out the sugar-filled core of the plant, smoke it, ferment it and distil it into mescal. Every year the buggers beat us to it.
There’s already a lot of energy being expended here in the valley – I’m amid a DIY frenzy of getting everything ready in preparation for this year’s high season.
I’ve been doing what they always tell you not to do and playing with electricity – as well as plasterboard, plumbing and paint.
The weeds have been exploding through the gravel and we’ve been trying to pull them up while the currently malleable clay soil turns into concrete.
The transformation takes just a week of warmth – which we’re now enjoying – and so we’ll be turning to strong vinegar and that electric high temperature zapper thingy I bought last year to keep control of our paths and walkways.
Krishna is working like a demon as ever – painting, cleaning, weeding and planting.
Pumps and pressure switches have been coaxed back into life or repaired (thanks Cristiano), a few solar panels which flipped over in high winds are back in business and after being some winter neglect, the salt-water swimming pool is back to its gleaming best.
And it’s not just getting out the unwanted plants of course – Spring is also about getting all the new ones in!
A bag of old potatoes hastily planted in our raised beds has already become a jungle of greenery trying to crowd out the garlic, spinach, spring onions and parsley which are all doing fabulously.
We’ll be popping into the plant nursery this week with the trailer to plan some new additions to our landscape, but the big news this year is the vineyard.
The Post-It note wall may be full of many, many projects...so many that their very presence strikes fear...but we’ve decided to become viticulturists as well.
The 800 plants have been ordered, and despite all the time spent on reading, research and asking advice from so many wonderful people, it’s all happening now extremely quickly.
The half hectare we’ve set aside for the vines was first cleared by Gonçalo Oliveira – the Cow King’s Son (does that make him O Príncipe de Vacas?) - before Christmas and before all the rain came along.
We delayed ploughing in the organic material needed to boost around 40cm of acidic topsoil exhausted after decades under eucalyptus, and we’re glad we did – the heavy rain would have leached out many of the nutrients.
Everything below that thin layer of soil is clay with a crust so tough the pine tree roots spread sideways rather than down...making them teeter in the wind.
It’s a juggling act of doing everything in the right order so the young vines can be planted the day they are delivered, and it’s even more complicated because the soil is still wet.
We have a narrowing window to arrange the delivery of 25 tonnes of organic material, a tonne of phosphates and whatever lime we can find to reduce the acidity, which all needs to be moved into place and ploughed into the soil.
Then we have to decide where the plants are going, arrange for a “ripper” to visit - a bulldozer with a big metal spike mounted on the front to rip lines through the clay crust down to about 1.2m to give root growth a head start.
Only then can we place the irrigation lines and plant the Portuguese wine grapes we have chosen: 400 Castelão reds , 200 Arinto and 200 Alvarinho in the whites.
The clock is clearly ticking – the table grapes which grow near our house are already bud-bursting, and we need to get the vines in before summer properly arrives.
The wet winter delayed building and landscaping work across the whole region for everybody, and so there’s a sudden rush of demand to dig and clear and plough and rip, so it’s a challenge...let’s hope we can keep the juggling balls spinning and the plates in the air.
With a long to-do list we’re delighted to have a new arrival – Jose Perez has joined us for six months as part of the Erasmus European exchange programme for Young Entrepreneurs.
Jose is from Gran Canaria where his young business is to set up an off the grid tourism lodge 1,700m up on the edge of a dormant volcano crater.
The programme is about the age of the business rather than to entrepreneur, which thankfully means he’s got a lot of experience in sales and in handywork.
I’d obviously heard of the Erasmus programme supporting students for European exchanges, but wasn’t aware of the entrepreneurs scheme until it was introduced to me by the head of the British Portuguese Chamber of Commerce, Chris Barton.
I’m going to do a deep dive into the scheme for a magazine article which I’ll share here, but suffice to say the EU is funding Jose’s six months with us and we are hugely appreciative of his help.
He’s been diving into the DIY and it’s great having someone with a business mind and fresh eyes moving into the valley.
In exchange, Jose will learn about all our off-grid systems and how a new business navigates a scary new world.
Jose has English to level A2. I passed my A2 in Portuguese a couple of years ago and have just passed my B1 this month...but his English is soooooo much better than my Portuguese. More speaking practice required, I think, as I embark on the next level B2.
It’s unbelievable that Easter is already just around the corner – we have a fantastic weekend planned with sommelier Joanna Hutchins so why not come and join us?
Our Easter Sunday food and wine pairing lunch is a dress rehearsal for the wine retreat in May (we still have two places left...and another retreat in early October if you’re interested!).
And if cancelled flights have messed with your holiday plans come and stay with us for a few nights.
Book online here or get in touch – the 15% Readers’ Discount still applies. Just add the code SPRING26 on checkout. See you soon!
Tremendous stuff and hope to get out one day. We saw a tremendous pic of you broadcasting in Helmand in the Imperial War Museum today !