Autumn brings beautiful sunsets and colours as the big trees along the river start to drop their leaves, and the river became powerful again after some big rains in October
Before the rain came, Jefke and Margarida built a water catchment system at the spring area at the end of the waterline of the second valley of the property. We researched the design on youtube and Jefke was a great help to find all the parts, relying on his experience working in building refugee camps.
The aim of the system is to better capture the water and prevent it from seeping into to the ground, so that it will continue to flow later into the summer and we can store it for drinking and washing water.
We made a spring box from a food grade barrel to filter out any sediment before the water passes through the tube.
Autumn is mushroom season!
The land has a lot of parasol mushrooms growing, which are edible and very yummy. Kali enjoys finding them and picking them in the right moment just after they have opened up.
I was researching other mushrooms, but not yet confident to identify them. Soon we hope to grow edible mushrooms and explore the different varieties!
I was working on a roof and floor for my 4m yurt. This will be the sixth winter I am living in it, and a solid floor and roof feels like a big upgrade! It feels much more secure from the rain and more like a cozy house. I used mimosa sticks, free pallets and free ply boards. In the springtime I plan to upgrade it with a better roof cover for the summer heat.
We have had a lot of amazing visitors and volunteers who have been great to help finish the last parts of the inside of the kitchen, building better seating, installing the wood burning oven and adding little touches like a 'last fed' indicator for the cats (thanks Frida!)
Julia, Kali, Elke, Micha, Alison, Samantha, Rosa and Antonio were clearing the land around the kitchen and preparing new beds ready to plant into in the spring time.
We made some trips out, including into the Serra da Estrela where we has a lovely walk, stumbled across a live band in the woods and visited the main source of the Mondego river - the river which the Ecovillage is next to.
I also took a trip to the closest coast with Catia and we had a fairly warm November day to enjoy the beach and the ocean.
Julia has been staying for some months now and we are going ahead to officially make her the first resident to join! She has bought a yurt and employed our friend Grim to build a platform for it. Grim has a good connection to a small local sawmill and has started delivering the main beams, after oiling them.
For the Winter update, we hope to have news about finishing the formation of the cooperative, accepting Julia as a member, reaching a funding milestone and finishing Julia and Kali's yurt!
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