Our Journal
For reading and inspiration
REGENERATION VILLAGE
In this post, you will discover three ways that you could invest in a rural regeneration inititiave that is offering a new perspective for development, based on living in harmony with nature... A Regeneration Village has, as its starting point, a traditional ancestral...
Olea Europaea
The olive harvest in rural Portugal is the culmination of the year, and it brings the whole community together. In our mountain district, the process has hardly changed since the time of Noah! The olives are knocked off the tree with long chestnut poles, the younger...
Thirteen Moons
For the past ten years, we have been developing ways of accelerating soil health, to revitalise soil ecology, improve biodiversity, and in turn create more food sovereignty and food security. One of the outcomes of this research is a soil enhancing medicine, called...
Planting by the Moon
Planting by the Moon We are in the first planting moon here in Portugal, which corresponds to the ancient rites of Imbolc, which is the lunar ceremony during this moon. In the contemporary era, it is marked on 1st February, but the lunar ceremonies are not on...
Solar dos Girões
The Solar dos Girões was constructed more than 400 years ago as the family home to the noble Beltrão – Soveral dynasty. In those times, the lands were controlled by feudal lords, and subsistence farmers were in service to the land owners. That era is still in living...
CEB – Compressed Earth Blocks
All the constructions and reconstructions at Vale das Lobas are being crafted from natural and sustainable materials wherever possible. We have researched very carefully the traditional and innovative methods and we have come up with solutions that provide optimum...
First Stone
On 29th July 2019, we marked the official commencement of the reconstruction of the Solar de Girões, a 17th century manor house and chapel in Sobral Pichorro, with a traditional ceremony of Placing the First Stone, attended by The Secretary of State for...