Waystation in the Algarve

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I have recently taken on a new project, building a space up from nothing, with nothing, in the south of Portugal. We are not actively searching for help yet, as there is no accommodation, and not much we can offer right now (other than a tent site, or a place to park a bus...)
Anyone traveling in Europe wants to stop by, you are welcome to camp for a bit, and hang out with us to see how we live. Anyone who is motivated, and active, there is a possibility of taking on more long term volunteer workers in the future, and it would be good to start a dialogue soon.
We are 3 people in our late 20's to early 30's, with mixed backgrounds. I am a long term homeless/0 budget traveler/ farmer. I work like a fucking beast, and have spent many years working on sustainability projects in 20+ countries, every climate from tundra to rainforest. I have been around STP for many years, you can get an idea of me lurking through the forums.
My partner is French/German, trained ecological vegetable gardener, horse trainer, and doing a lot of the paper/planning of details that I have no patience for. She works daily with our horse, and tells us where to dig a hole.
Antonio is a friend from Italy who is trying to start a life here, the land is not his, but we plan for him to be the "overseer" or what you like. He wants to stay permanently, so the power of veto is in his hands. He is new to alternative living, having spent many years owning a bar, working in 5 star restaurants, and fucked off to start traveling 7-8 months ago. He is new, naive, and for sure can use all the help he can get.
We search people to come and help us realize a dream of building a new space. It is not really a community project, but there is always room for guests and volunteers. Come by, have a beer, smoke a joint, or help us build or work in the garden.
I will check in on this thread, and maybe post some pictures sometime to keep folks updated, but I dont really check online so often. If you would like to come for a visit, drop me a message on here, and we can start a dialogue and making plans. Come spring time, we should have enough food to feed quite some people, and in the mean time, there is a ton to be foraged from the forest. we are less than 5km from the beach, settled in a valley in the middle of the sao vicente natural park. No neighbors, no resources nearby, rugged tough living, available to who wants to have it. See you soon-
 
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Benny

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I'm interested! I'm heading over there in March with no place to go in general. The US is falling apart and in my mind Europe is the best place for me. I've grown amazing gardens and built wacky projects. I'm not looking to settle down but I would love to help build up your projects for a bit. I'll send some pictures of my building projects and gardens if you're interested.
 

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An overview from about 10 days ago, all the garden space on the left was just weeds and blackberries at the beginning of the month. The hill is an oven built from an oil barrel and a pile of earth, took about 1 hour.

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Me handling David Bowie, Resident Equine
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Antonio preparing food (or a joint)
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Chickens!!! These are my new project.
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Since we cant afford plastic foil, gotta make due with water bottles
More pictures soon, one day can make all the difference in the world down there, so this is not really a good update...
 
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Oh yeah, in case you cant tell, a gypsie camp would be an improvement to this place. Antonio Knows nothing of building, and I am spending my time making gardens, so corrugated iron and pool liners make up a lot of our "constructions"
 

Mihail Morea

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Oye ke bien amigo!

Could you tell us a bit about the land situation? Are you squatting some abandoned land(should probably be enough of that in Portugal)? Does someone you know own it?
Looks great. Can't see myself rambling over to that corner of Europe anytime soon, but good luck with your land!
 

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The situation with the land is like this:
The land owner has been my neighbor all year, and owns a large strip of land, from the hillside down into the valley. He lives on top of the mountain, and the valley is full of rich tilth. He is spoiled rich boy, his money, and land, comes from his family. I imagine form that, he spends his days, dreaming of nice things, and drinking his dreams away. the garden was untouched for a few years, and really not ever worked since he owned it. We have permission to be there, but not total freedom. Things have to be approved by him, but only big changes (buildings, deforesting, heavy land changes...) He has come to see it about once a week, and he is really happy with it so far (so happy, though he hates cutting down trees, and building things, that he gave us permission to start our Kitchen building in the spring 6mx6m... nice project we could use a hand on?)
Where you at mihail?
 

Mihail Morea

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Sounds quite nice! I can kinda imagine that situation - he has the resources, but doesn't have the drive. For you it's kinda the opposite. He's the patron, you guys are the artists.
Me myself - I'm in deep woods up north, in Latvia. Hunkering down until the melt starts, but I'm not getting my hopes up yet - our weather has been pretty mild for the past couple of days(0-1 C), but February is going to have periods of -30. Shit.
But I've got a vague idea of taking a few weeks off to go to Morocco, and the Algarve isn't far at all - just across the pond. If I get down there, I'll definitely hit you up!
 
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We are here we are here we are here...
Garden carries on, I have started plowing the summer garden space, the horse has moved to a new home, and we have doubled our chicken pack.
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Benny, the weather should be getting nice in around one month, hope to see you here. We still have no space to accommodate, but starting in april it should be comfy to sleep outside (I will be).
Lotte and I just get a caravan now, and we will be moving a bus down soon, so there will be some more dry/safe places for things, but sleeping is better done outside once spring begins.
See you soon huh? If you get close, drop me an email, and I will give you a mobile # to contact us
 
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Benny

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Sounds good. I have to go do some work in Cabo San Lucas for a bit and then flying into Lisbon and heading down there sometime around April. I'm ready to do some work and help out for awhile.
 

Komjaunimas

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heh, its madness... A lot of people i know are now in Portugals south doing what you guys are or squating long forgotten mountain/desert establishments its becoming epidemic :D but if you will still be there i'll definetly drop by
 

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SUmmer garden prepared
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Giant hill bed with 9 cubic meters brush buried underneath
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Rope and bucket/ siphoned gravity feed watering system... SOMEONE SEND US A PUMP!!! AND A BIGGER RESERVOIR TANK!


Quick pic update, lots of work going on, still just the three of us. Come help!
 

RockerBilly

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shiiit, wish i'd discovered this sooner. im been housed up squatting in london for the past few months but been here so long im ready for a change. i have a good bit of experience building and doing permaculture type stuff, might well come down and visit you once i quit my job in a few weeks
 

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Next photo update.
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Built a 3 meter (10ft) water tower. From forest to standing in three days. Since then I have lifted a 1000liter tank on top, and filled it by lifting 20l buckets with a rope. We just got a generator and are organizing a pump in the next days
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Irrigation lines fixed together and taps placed, we have running water for the moment, but need to get our pump to keep the tank full.
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More or less all of the beds are filled, with the base crops. The green house is empty.
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Our second brood has hatched, 6 of 7 in the last 3 days. This makes 1 rooster, 5 mature hens, 5 (6 week) chicks, and 6-7 hatchlings. Baby barbecues are so cute.
Antonio left, the horse is gone, its just me and lotte holding things down here. with everything planted out its just watering, weeding and eating, plus the day to day with the animals and ourselves. Come stop by if you are in the area!
 
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Heyo, brief update...
Lotte and I left this project about one week ago. The garden was a huge success, we managed to feed ourselves and the extended community through the summer. Unfortunately, our focus was on gardening, and not building necessary infrastructure for the winter. We harvested our final crops and seeds, and head north to try to make some cash. A group of three friends took over the space, and if someone is still interested, drop me a line and I will get you in touch with them.
 

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