Ahimsa-Portugal

New Planting & New Chicks

2012-01-16T10:01:00.000-08:00

Since living here in Fonte de Baixo we have been regularly adding to the long-term sustainability of the land. We do not use any artificial pesticides, insecticides or fertilisers so we enrich the soil through our own compost, manure and nitrogen fixing green manures such as alfalfa, white and red clover, buckwheat, and lupins. These past 10 days during the waning moon we have been busy cutting and turning the green manure, spreading our well-rotted muck and compost in preparation for sowing in a few weeks time. Now it is time for the worms to do their part by dragging the wilting foliage down into the soil.

One of our chickens had been sitting tight and managed to hatch four of the seven eggs but it all got too much for her and she abandoned 3 in the nest. Unfortunately, one of the chicks fell out the nest during the night and got too cold to survive, whilst another need emergency rescue with the aid of a hot-water bottle and warm water and honey. We have now brought mum and the three chicks into the house for a while during this cold frosty period until they are a little stronger and more able to cope.

This week we have also planted nine currant bushes (five black and four red) around the yurts, another eating variety olive tree and sixteen new grapevines of a eating variety called Donna Marie. These will take a couple of years to grow and come into fruit but we feel confident the wait will be well worth it. Our good friend Rodrigo's mother recommended the variety and so far Rodrigo has always spot on with his advice.

The nights are definitely getting longer as it is 18.00 and it is not dark yet. Earlier today I went to have a peak at the Rhubarb which for me is always a good barometer for spring and to my surprise the first crowns are already up. I have recovered them with some old bracken just to keep the frost off the tender new growth. Rhubarb crumble could be just a couple of weeks away...yum!

Bom Ano Novo para 2012 de Fonte de Baixo

2012-01-04T10:01:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year for 2012 from Fonte de Baixo
January is our proper winter month here in central Portugal but the weather has been really fantastic so far with bright sunny days and cold frosty nights. With the distracting festivities of Winter Solstice, Christmas, Chanukah and the New Year out of the way and before the battle against gloom and despondency brought about by the long days of rain that accompanies February.

We are patiently waiting for the waning moon period to start on the 6th of January as this signals the start of ground preparation ready for the coming growing season. We work the soil during this lunar phase to ensure the cosmic energy is drawn down into the soil to maximise the fertility and nutrient levels.

In the garden we still have a bountiful supply of vegetables including jerusalem artichokes, parsnips, turnips and beetroot as well as cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts and a variety of chard to choose from. Whilst salads are their lowest we still have lettuce, wild sorrel and radicchio to accompany the sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, pickled green beans and aubergines in oil that we laid down during the summer months.

Billy comes to visit

2011-12-19T10:02:00.000-08:00

Today we had a visit from Senhor Manuel's billy goat (Bode in Portuguese). Ginger came into season and Ale is probably coming soon so it was time for a visit. Manuel's billy is a very handsome long-haired chap with great chat up lines and despite a few odd mannerisms that male goats tend to display he is easy to be around. Let us hope he lives up to reputation.

Olive Harvest

2011-12-18T08:12:00.000-08:00

As the year draws to a close a new chapter begins. For several days we picked, cleaned and packed our olives into sacks ready to be taken to the Lagar (Press). This year we had a bumper crop but before we could pick two heavy rain storms came in from the North and we lost some of our harvest. That aside, we had our best harvest so far. We wanted to press our olives cold to maximise the quality of the oil rather than quantity. We have a local Lagar in Pedrogao Pequeno (our nearest village) but they mix the olives and heat the pulp prior to pressing. Whilst this results in more oil extracted, you don't get your own olive's oil back and the oil has been heated which effects the quality of the oil.

We packed up our olives and drove to the village of Sobrar where the Lagar uses modern machinery but does not heat the pulp and guarantees you get your own oil back. We arrived at 4pm and to our surprise they were ready for us - this doesn't always happen in Portugal. Our olives were weighed and dropped down into a hopper where they were gravity fed into a triple screw crusher...the aroma in the room cannot be explain other than to say...heavenly.

After about 20 minutes of grinding the olive pulp is ready to be poured onto cloth mats and placed one on top of another until the pressing is ready (approximately 500 kilos per pressing). Once our pressing was assembled the stack was wheeled over to the press and for the next hour slowly pressed using a steam driven press exerting around 300 lbs per square inch. The oil slowly runs off together with the water contained within each olive into settling tanks.

Our olives now pressed and the oil and water run off into settling tanks where it stayed for 24hours - left nothing left to do than to retire to the Adega (wine cellar) for a glass or two of the local wine. The next day around 4pm we returned to pick up our cold pressed virgin olive oil....fresh, green and peppery. With slices of fresh bread, salted olives, sun-dried tomatoes and newly pressed oil...supper was a delight...not forgetting the wine to round off the occasion.

Legal at last (in honour of the Nabo Queen)

2011-10-29T06:19:00.000-07:00

When we made the final move to Portugal we drove in our Mitsubishi L200...loaded up with the things we would need whilst we waited for our container to arrive. We knew we would have to pay some import duty on the truck and that we had six months in which to start the importation process. Then back in May of this year on our way to Pombal we were stopped by the Alfandega (customs and tax) and duly fined because according to our paperwork we had exceeded the six month period. We are pleased to report that we are now legal...we have new number plates on the truck and we have cleared all the taxes and fines. We have been helped along the way by Daniel our good friend from the northern region of Tras-os Montes. Many people told us it was a minefield to try and import the vehicle without going through the specialist agencies...but wanting to save money we decided to go it alone (with the help of Daniel later on in the process). I am pleased to say that it is not that hard once you know what is required, by whom and in which order. We are happy to share our experience with anyone who intends to import their vehicle into Portugal.

To celebrate...(we use any excuse) we decided to make an "Everything in the Garden Stoup". Bruni went off to see what there was on offer and came back with our first nabo (turnips) of the season and the first she had ever grown from seed. The smile says it all...great stoup too.

Going Nuts Again!

2011-10-27T05:16:00.000-07:00

With so many chestnuts we are looking for new and exciting things to make with them. We came across a Hugh Fearnley Wittingstall recipe which we slightly modified which is a really hearty warm soup.

Chestnut and Sage Soup
serves 4-6
3 tablespoons of olive oil
15g of butter
1 medium onion, chopped
6 sage leaves, roughly chopped and extra for garnish
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 litre of vegetable stock
400g chestnuts, peeled
125g yogurt
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

We used fresh chestnuts - Hugh used pre-packed so there is a slight difference in the recipe.

Peel the chestnuts and cook them in the vegetable stock with two bay leaves for 10 to 15 minutes until soft, and but to one side.
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and the butter in a saucepan on a medium-low heat and sweat the onions for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and sage and sweat for a further 2 minutes.
Pour in the stock and most of the chestnuts - reserve a few for garnishing. (If using packet chestnuts this is the time to add them) Season with salt and pepper and continue to cook for a further 15 minutes, stirring from time to time.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool, the puree with a blender. Add in the yogurt and adjust the seasoning. Do not allow the soup to boil as this will make the yohurt curdle.
Meanwhile, slice the reserved chestnuts. Heat the rest of the olive oil and saute the additional sage leaves until crisp and set aside on kitchen paper to absorb the extra oil.
Warm the soup and serve. Garnish with the sliced chestnuts and sage leaves and a trickle of the olive oil.

Going Nuts Again

2011-10-25T13:10:00.000-07:00

With such a bumper harvest of walnuts we want to make as many dishes as we can from them. We have already made a number of variations on'pesto' and yesterday Bruni decided to bake a German Walnut Tarte called Engadiner Nusstorte. I don't have a sweet tooth myself and seldom eat cakes, puddings and desserts but this was something really special and I would encourage you to have a go at making it.

Ingredients:

For the pastry:
160 g butter
150 g sugar
1 pinch of salt
1 egg
300 g flour

For the filling:
20 g soft butter
200 g sugar
250 g roughly chopped walnuts
200 ml double cream
1 egg yolk
Mix the butter with the sugar, salt and the egg. Add the flour and knead everything together into a dough.
Cover and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
For the filling melt the butter in a saucepan, add the sugar and keep stirring until the sugar has caramelised into a light brown liquid. Add the walnuts and cream and let it all boil up once. Leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Remove the dough from the fridge and roll out 2/3 of it into a thin base. Transfer into a 24 cm buttered spring form and let the edges hang over the edge. Spread the filling on the base. Brush the edge with egg yolk. Roll out another round with the remaining third of dough and place on the top pushing it down gently. Brush the top of the tart with egg yolk and prick with a fork in several places.
Bake the tart for 30 – 40 min. Leave to cool before transferring to a serving dish.

Going 'NUTS'

2011-10-18T02:09:00.000-07:00

When the leaves are still turning from green to every hue of red, gold and brown you know that the summer is really over. One of the bounties of autumn that I enjoy the most is the harvesting of nuts and here at Fonte de Baixo we have gone truely nuts with a bumper hravest of walnuts and chestnuts.

Some of the chestnuts we are drying to store over the winter and the others are roasted on the rocket stove, boiled and used as a vegeatble, made into cakes or one of our favourites is the traditional Portugues soup - Sopa de castanhas e feijoa branco - chestnut and white bean soup. The recipe is easy and can be modified to add extra flavours by adding some squash or pumpkin.

100g dried haricot beans soaked overnight in cold water and then drained
90g peeled chestnuts (we roast our first as it is easier to get the inner skin off)
1 bay leaf
50ml olive oil
1 onion and 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 litre of good vegetable stock

Place the oilve oil in a deep pan and gently fry the onions and bay leaf. Once the onions have softened then add the garlic.
Now add the beans and chestnuts and pour in the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer of about an hour or until the beans are soft.
Remove the bay leaf and blend, season to taste and serve with fresh buttered bread - Yum!

Rocket 'Stove' Man

2011-10-16T09:32:00.000-07:00

With the help of Nigel, Andy, Rodrigo and John, Fonte de Baixo now has a super efficient rocket stove.

Using some fire bricks, chicken wire and local clay we are now able to switch off the butane gas stove and cook using the small throw-away off cuts from the eucalyptus that is laying all around this area. The rocket stove is a low-cost alternative to expensive fossil fuels for simple cooking. We now cook exclusively with wood that is forested either from our own land or the local forests. Early estimates suggest this will save us and the planet around 140 euros a year and a reduction in the production of greenhouse gases.

We still have to decorate the stove but with the olive harvest just around the corner that may have to wait. We are looking into an Inca inspired sun motif.

150 Kilometer Food Challenge

2011-04-23T03:53:00.000-07:00

All over the globe whether it is Vandana Siva in India, Carlo Petrini in Italy, The Incredible Edible movement at Todmorden in the UK or the global phenomenon that is the Transition Town movement, eating local and being part of the local food movement is gaining ground, despite the overwhelming power of the multi-nationals, and the globalisation of seeds and food by the agri-business giants like Monsanto and Cargill. Being a locavore (eating food from within 150-kiometers of where one lives) is an important part of our local culture and identity. Eating locally produced food helps to preserve, re-build and sustain local agriculture and horticulture – local food integrates production, minimises processing, reduces distribution costs and encourages local consumption on smaller scale farms thus creating sustainable local economies and an intimate bond between producer and consumer.

The benefits of eating local food

The benefits of locally produced food are numerous – but drawing from a list created by Michael Graham Richard in Ottawa, Canada here are 10 Good Reasons to Eat Local:

1. Eating local means more for the local economy.

According to a study by the New Economics Foundation in London, a Euro spent locally generates twice as much income for the local economy. When businesses are not owned locally, money leaves the community at every transaction
2. Locally grown produce is fresher. While produce that is purchased in the supermarket or a big-box store has been in transit or cold-stored for days or weeks, produce that you purchase at your local farmer's market has often been picked within 24 hours of your purchase. This freshness not only affects the taste of your food, but the nutritional value which declines with time. And everyone can grow something fresh to eat even if it is some mustard cress or sprouted seeds on the window ledge
3. Local food just plain tastes better. Ever tried a tomato that was picked within 24 hours from your own garden, grow-bag or even flower pot? Enough said.
4. Locally grown fruits and vegetables have longer to ripen. Because the produce will be handled less, locally grown fruit does not have to be "rugged" or to stand up to the rigors of shipping. This means that you are going to be getting peaches so ripe that they fall apart as you eat them, figs that would have been smashed to bits if they were sold using traditional methods and melons that were allowed to ripen until the last possible minute on the vine.
5. Eating local is better for air quality and pollution than eating organic. In a March 2005 study by the journal Food Policy, it was found that the miles that organic food often travels to our plate create environmental damage that outweighs the benefit of buying organic. There is another solution, try to buy locally grown organic produce or better still, grow your own.
6. Buying local food keeps us in touch with the seasons. By eating with the seasons, we are eating foods when they are at their peak taste, are the most abundant, and the least expensive.
7. Buying locally grown food is fodder for a wonderful story. Whether it's the farmer who brings local apples to market or the baker who makes local bread, knowing part of the story about your food is such a powerful part of enjoying a meal, building local communities and ensuring the future of artisan producers and not giving in to factory farmed and processed food, sold by faceless multinationals who’s only concern is profit and executive bonuses.
8. Eating local protects us from bio-terrorism. Food with less distance to travel from farm to plate has less susceptibility to harmful contamination, more independence for producers and choice for consumers.
9. Local food translates to more variety. When a farmer is producing food that will not travel a long distance, will have a shorter shelf life, and does not have a high-yield demand, the farmer is free to try small crops of various fruits and vegetables that would probably never make it to a large supermarket. Supermarkets are interested in selling "Name brand" fruit: Romaine Lettuce, Red Delicious Apples, King Edward Potatoes. Local producers often play with their crops from year to year, trying out Little Gem Lettuce, Senshu Apples, and Pink Fir Apple Potatoes.
10. Supporting local providers supports responsible land development. When you buy local, you give those with local open space - farms and pastures - an economic reason to stay open and undeveloped.

So apart from the social, economical and agricultural benefits of supporting small family farms and producers there are also the benefit of a simpler-sounding lifestyle choice.

Where does local food come from?
Local food comes from local growers, farms and producers which exist as an alternative to the industrial food systems, multinational supermarkets and agri-business seed manufactures. The trade off is simple, you have a personal relationship with the farmer and producer and more control of what you consume. When you buy local food, not only will you know where it came from, you are often buying it from the very people who grew it, produced it and looked after the environment from where it came. Local for us at Ahimsa-Portugal is approximately 150 kilometres – occasionally we have to travel a little further because that is where they can more easily produce their food. Local is much more than just kilometres.

The ecology of local food

Local producers are passionate about their produce and want only the best conditions in which to grow and produce their food. They care about the soil, watershed and the species they grow and the methodology they use to grow and produce…for this reason they look at everything in the round and look after the environment. Buying from local people makes environmental sense.

Finding and buying local food
By definition local food is produced locally, so you are most likely to purchase it via smaller outlets, farmers markets, cooperatives and community-supported initiatives. This where the real appeal of eating locally produced food lies – transport, storage and packaging costs are reduced at a financial, planetary, transportation and storage, processing, packaging, advertising, and wastage level.
The amount of coal, oil and gas used to transport food around the world is colossal and despite our best efforts we have been unable to establish a best-estimate figure. The CO2 these fuels release pollute the atmosphere, contributing to global warming and climate change, acid rain and air pollution. The vast amount of energy used in refrigeration to keep fruit, vegetables, dairy products and meat from spoiling also adds to the cost…but who is really paying? Not the supermarkets, not the agro-chemical companies, and frequently not even the consumers…statistics indicate that retail food prices in the developed and developing economies have never been cheaper. It is often small family producers, artisan processors, local shops and communities and especially producers and communities in third-world markets. Multinational food producers need to use large quantities of packaging to keep the food looking fresh (not always the case) for a longer period of time than local producers. Much of this packaging ends up as waste that is often very difficult if not impossible to reuse or recycle. This is another reason to support local food suppliers…less packaging, less storage, less waste and you can take your own bag.

What else is part of the local food movement?
I had the privilege to grow up on a polyculture farm that used sustainable approaches to crop rotation and the variety of crops and animals that were kept. My Grandfather was from the old school of bio-dynamic farming and used the principles of Permaculture long before this term became fashionable. As a beekeeper I began to notice that even in the middle of the summer months my bees would be starving when the reality of monoculture farming and the indiscriminate use of pesticides, herbicides and F1-hybrid seeds dawned on me. Crop rotation using winter intercropping with lentils, peas and beans reduce pest pressure and the need for artificial fertilisers and pesticides. As with animal/crop multicultural systems the on-farm by-products like manure is used to replenish the soil and of course on-farm produced silage and field beans are used to feed the livestock instead of imported, processed and often Genetically Modified feed from the other side of the plant.

Challenges to local food
Many of the opponents and critics of local food argue that by supporting local producers we damage the economies of third world nations who rely on foreign currency for their survival. There is indeed some mileage in their point of view if taken at a superficial level. Look a little deeper and what you will find is increased food and fresh water poverty in regions of the world where this should never happen. Secondly, these third world producers are seduced to grow high margin, out of season produce at the expense of growing staple foods for their own markets. And finally the manipulation of food producers by the agro-business companies selling GMO and patent seeds at unfair prices that force local producers into debt. For more information do a search for the brilliant work of Vandana Shiva.

The energy inputs of local food
As with any form of production and processing there must be an energy input and with modern motorised transport, carbon emissions are inevitable. Locally produced and consumed food greatly reduces these costs and emissions and we are all familiar with the concept of food-miles. But we also have to look at some of the wider economic factors. For example, study by Lincoln University in Christchurch, New Zealand found that, "New Zealand agriculture tends to apply less fertiliser (which requires large amounts of energy to produce and cause significant CO2 emissions) and animals are able to graze year round outside eating grass instead large quantities of brought-in feed such as concentrates. In the case of dairy and sheep meat production NZ is by far more energy efficient even including the transport cost than the UK." As vegetarians we have another suggestion, stop eating meat that takes roughly four times the energy to produce one calorie as it takes to produce the same calorie from a vegetable based diet.

The best parts of buying and eating local food
So local food is not always perfect, but what is? Anytime you can support local producers and maintain local and regional diversity whilst reducing packaging, waste and storage, not to mention the CO2 reduction and the end to endless spaces given over to monocultures then that for me has to be a great idea. For us the challenge continues – we grow as much as we can and where that is not possible we share with neighbours and try to keep within the 150-kilometers. We celebrate with every meal that our food comes from land near us, grown by us or by people we know or are getting to know. Because the food is local it is always fresh and it isn’t picked before its ready and it certainly has more flavour. If you would like to learn more about eating local food, growing your own food, then come and visit us in Portugal and learn how we use a combination of bio-dynamic, organic and permaculture techniques to grow our own food.

Blooming Polytunnel

2011-04-03T06:23:00.000-07:00

With our first helpers arriving for the work retreat activity in the garden got serious. We got lots of planting done this week, experimenting with local as well as heritage seeds. The first task was to erect the frame for our poly tunnel and cover it with UV resistant plastic, which will be able to withstand the hot summer sun. We prepared hundreds of pots with herbs, flowers, beans, chillies, tomatoes and peppers, which will stay in the poly tunnel until the last night frosts have passed. This gives us time to prepare the land. There is lots more digging to be done to make space for all our crop.

Liquid Plant Manure

The first spring green like nettles, dandelions and wild mint make an effective fertiliser for our cabbages. They will appreciate the extra nutrients for a healthy growth. You can see the foam of the fermenting brew as Bruni gives it a good stir.

Throughout the year, we will be using a combination of bio-dynamic, permaculture and traditional approaches, using organic fertilisers, brews, tonic and tinctures in the gardens and with the fruit tress. If you would like to know more, please contact us at info@ahimsa-portugal.com

Colony Rescue

2011-03-26T09:41:00.000-07:00

Garri was called out by some friends Scott and Lynn to rescue a bee colony which had made their home in their compost toilet. The bees have now been moved to a newly made top bar hive. We will be running several workshops throughout the year on Natural Beekeeping using top-bar, conventional Langstroth, Warre and Portuguese cork hives. The bees have started to build their own natural comb and to ensure they get a healthy start we applied a wintergreen grease pattie to keep the varroa down and protect against Nosema in the final damp period of the year. They are already bringing in nectar and pollen for the new season. By April, most colonies are well into their stride. April is really the time for the spring inspection and you really need to choose a day that is sunny with a light wind and around 16°C.

There are a number of things we need to check at this time of the year – Is the colony queenright, i.e. do they have a queen and has she recently laid any eggs?. Are there any occupied queen cells in the hive? Never destroy any queen cells until you understand exactly why they are there. What is the general size and health of the colony; is it as large as expected? Does the queen have enough space to lay? Is there enough space for the storage of honey, if not we will need to add additional bars if using a top-bar hive or frames if use frame-box hive. Are there any signs of disease and what is the varroa status of the colony? And finally, if that wasn’t enough, does the colony have enough stores to see it through until the next inspection.

Pizza Day

Despite the rain, we lit up our outdoor bread oven last weekend. It had not been used throughout the wet winter months and took considerably longer to heat up than we expected. With a bit of extra help of Garri with his hose pipe trick, we managed to bake all of the pizzas and bake rolls for Sunday breakfast. They had a rather smoky flavour, but were enjoyed never the less.

The New Arrivals
These three female goats are only 10 days old. They will join us in Fonte de Baixo at the end of May when they are old enough to leave their mother

Building the Solar Oven

2011-03-20T13:14:00.000-07:00

Inspired by the warm sun, Line and Bruni decided to spontaneously build a solar cooker. After a little research on the internet and gathering all the necessary bits and pieces together it took less than an hour to construct this great piece of Danish-German engineering! We did not need to buy anything. We had plenty of cardboard boxes, aluminium foil, a black cooking pot and tray, glue and plastic from cheap picture frames. All the materials were recycled.

The first experiment was to cook some simple rice. At 10 am we positioned the cooker toward the sun, filled the pot with cold water and rice and set off to the market in Serta. We tried not to have any expectations as our constructions was less than perfect, but as we returned for lunch three hours later, the pot was too hot to touch and the rice steaming and cooked. Now we are hooked on the idea of cooking with the sun and will experiment with different models and cooking ideas. We will keep you posted about our experiences in the solar world. Since then we have cooked muffins, baba ganosh and several other culinary delights. Ove r the coming weeks we intend to improve upon our design and use more robust materials, but for now, it works a treat.

Ayurvedic Spring Greens

2011-02-27T10:25:00.000-08:00

Spring has arrived in Fonte de Baixo this week. The vegetables grow with new vigour in the warm sunshine.

In Ayurveda this time of the year is the end of the Kapha season. Kapha is composed of earth and water and keeps our immune system strong throughout the winter. It promotes healing, provides moisture to the skin and digestive tract and gives vitality to the lungs and heart. Kapha is promoting growth and with it many of us put on some extra weight or develop excess mucus in form of colds and coughs.
Spring is a time of new beginnings and a release of the energy stored during the winter. As the sun becomes stronger we naturally feel the urge to get rid of the accumulated toxins, excess fat and tiredness.

Forget about the fitness studio! Avoid radical diets and artificial supplements! Do not set yourself targets and give yourself a hard time if you do not keep up your programme! Instead enjoy the awakening of nature with all your senses. Make your own spring tonics out of dark leafy greens, which are already growing in abundance. This will stimulate the liver and kidneys to move out the accumulated debris of the cold wet months and make you feel lighter and cleaner.

Everything you need is in front of your doorstep. Nature provides us with what we need when we need it. Here are some suggestions and recipes you might want to try. They cost no money and are more effective than any pill you can buy in the shops.

As the days get longer, get up a little earlier and stretch your body.
Take a walk every day, watch young plants unfold, listen to the birds, smell the earth.
Get to know your local “weeds”. They contain more vitamins and minerals any vegetables from the supermarket.
Gather nettle tops (Do wear gloves!) and wild garlic to make a delicious bowl of soup every day. The high iron content alleviates tiredness.
Find young leaves of sorrel, dandelion and wild cress together with the first flowers like daisies and primroses for a fresh salad.
Sprout your own seeds. Alfalfa and mustard seeds are perfect for this time of the year. It is really easy to do - even if you live in the middle of a city. The vitamin content quadruples in the sprouting process in just a couple of days.

Wild Spring Salad

Gather any dark green leaves in season, e.g. dandelions, cress, sorrel, chick weed as well as early meadow flowers. Wash well and chop up coarsely. For the dressing combine 1 tbsp of lemon juice, 3 tbsp of olive oil, 1 tsp honey and a little salt and pepper.
Add sprouted alfalfa, cress, mustard or sunflower seeds if you like.

Nettle Soup

Wearing rubber gloves pick two good handful of nettle tops or leaves, avoiding the hard stems. Wash and drain in a colander.

Heat 3 tbsp of olive oil in a large saucepan and add 1 large chopped onion. Soften for 5 min. Add 1 l of vegetable stock and the nettles. Simmer for about 15 min. Remove from the heat.

Crumble 2 rice cakes into the soup, puree with a hand held blender and season with salt and pepper.

Spring Cleaning

2011-02-05T01:47:00.000-08:00

This week has seen a wonderful change in the weather here at Fonte de Baixo. The rain for now at least has subsided and we have been blessed with warm spring sunshine and crisp evening frosts and clear skies. A stroll around the terraces revealed new growth, buds breaking, the occasional butterfly, and the buzz of the honey bees collecting nectar from the loquate trees that are in flower.

The most remarkable discovery was to be found in our rhubarb patch - strong clean crimson stems and vivid green leaves basking in the early morning sunshine. We are really looking forward to our first crumble and stewed rhubarb with our own honey and yoghurt for breakfast...yum.

We finally got the chimneys in the main house installed which makes it feel more like home and soon we will move from the small stone grainstore which has been our base for the last two years whilst we got about renovating the four small stone barns into one living space. This will be both exciting and a little sad as we say goodbye to the little house we have been calling home. The grainstore will be renovated and become our small meditation and therapy space. We have used the evenings, now that we have light and heat to update the website with some of the workshops and events we will be hosting over the coming months.

Wild Zen Mind

2011-01-27T03:38:00.000-08:00

For quite a while now we have been working with individuals and groups on the subject of 'Dis-connection'. Disconnection with our environment as many of us live, work and travel in hermetically sealed environments; with our food - where much of it is factory farmed, adulterated and modified without us knowing or being explicitally informed; with other people, where we hardly know our neighboures and spend more time in front of the television and computer screen than contact with people; and often with ourselves, with the increase in depression, isolation and lonliness.

Since the beginning of recorded human history, we have planted and harvested our food by the passage of the moon, celebrated the sun's journey through the seasons and come to be able to feel changes in the weather without the aid of TV-celebraty forecasters. This feeling of dis-connection is having such a negative impact on our psychological and physiological well-being that we decided to offer four retreats to celabrate the Spring and Autumn equinox and the Summer and Winter solstice.

Spring - 23rd-27th March; Summer - 21st-24th June; Autumn - 21st-24th September; Winter - 20th-23rd December

These retreats simply offer the finest of Fonte de Baixo – Buddhist practice, wilderness walks, wonderful vegetarian meals, and silence. We will explore Zen practice and the natural beauty of Fonte de Baixo through daily meditation, group discussions, and day hikes on wilderness trails. This is a time be fully alive, celebrate spring’s abundant emergent growth, and appreciate the elemental grandeur of nature. The cost of the retreat is 160-Euros plus accommodation which is published on the website.

If you would like further information or to book a place, then please drop us an email

An Investment in the Future

2011-01-15T09:24:00.000-08:00

When we first arrived at Fonte de Baixo it was overgrown (parts of it still are) and covered in self-set pine trees. These type of trees are not so good for burning in stoves, the wood was of poor quality and not useful for building, we decided to clear them. In all, about 50 trees of various sizes.

We felt very guilty for doing this, Bruni was really upset at the time and we made a collective decision to replant, this time with fruit or medicinal trees that would add beauty to the landscape, resource to the kitchen and a long term benefit to the bees and birds. This week we purchased another 12 fruit trees to replace all the pine we chopped down. We have now added 3 kiwi trees, 2 apples, one eater and one cooking variety, a plum tree, a kaki tree (similar to a sharon fruit) and 5 olive tree saplings. We still have some way to go before we replace all the trees we cut down, but we are making progress.

Whenever anybody comes on a work retreat we will ask them what tree they would like us to plant and then make a plaque to dedicate the tree to their contribution towards making Fonte de Baixo an even more beautiful place and Ahimsa-Portugal a place to remember.

Planting time

2011-01-10T08:12:00.000-08:00

Boa Ano Novo - Happy New Year

We have made an early start with planting our spring crops. So far this past week we have planted cabbages, broad beans, peas, lettuce, raspberry canes and strawberries taking full advantage of the mild weather and rain to wash them in. The potatoes are chitting away and whenever there is a break in the weather we are out getting more seeds in the ground. When the rain has been too much, taking cover in the basement to linseed oil all the beehive boxes ready to go back out into the apiary in the next couple of weeks. We have an abundance of citrus fruit, kiwis and kaki (sharon fruit) to keep the vitamin c levels up.

Next week we hope to have our Spring, Summer and Autumn programme up on the website so keep a lookout at http://www.ahimsa-portugal.com/ We still have spaces for our free Spring Working Retreat if you are interested...just visit the website for more details.

Olive Harvest Underway

2010-11-19T01:56:00.000-08:00

The olive harvest is underway at Fonte de Baixo. As the autumn mists and mild frosty mornings arrive the olives are ready to be harvested. Picking is a slow but leisurely meditation, a time to chat with friends, neighbours and family; share lunch and a glass of wine and at the end of the day rest wearily in front of the fire.

To pick the olives we place nets around the base of each tree and pick and prune as we go along. The olives fall onto the nets and are then gathered up in wicker baskets ready to be taken to the grinding mill. The goats love the pruned branches and eagerly munch their way through the cuttings.

Once the buckets are all filled we take them down to the village olive press in Pedrogao Pequeno were friends and neighbours come together to help each other with the grind, filtering and bottling processes...another wonderful opportunity to chat, nibble of a variety of snacks donated by each local house hold and drink another glass of wine or two. It has been known for a song or two to break out...obviously encouraged by the wine and good company.

The olives in Pedrogao Pequeno are crushed between a large stone grinding wheel and a granite rolling bed the same way it has been done for hundreds of years. Each batch of olives are ground 3 times to produce different grades of oil:

Extra Virgin oil - first grind

Virgin oil - second grind and,

Base oil on the third and final grind

Each grade of oil is used for different culinary and domestic uses.

Attached is a useful link for some of the many uses of olive oil:

http://www.onlinedegree.net/40-cool-and-surprising-uses-for-olive-oil/

Bringing in the harvest

2010-10-24T04:45:00.000-07:00

We have several different types of hives at Fonte de Baixo which we use on our Natural Beekeeping courses. We use traditional Portuguese cork hives, long top-bar hives and boxed Langstroth hives. Because we keep our bees as naturally as we can, we don't take all the honey away from them and as a result, we don't have to feed them either. We believe that feeding granulated sugar deprives the bees of their natural food, nectar which is more than just sugar - it contains minerals, vitamins and essential natural oils which the bees use to maintain natural good health.

We also follow the bio-dynamic calendar and only work with the bees on certain times and days of each month depending on the cycle of the moon. We have just brought in our final crop of honey for the year leaving over 30lbs in each hive for over-winter feed. Over the next few days we will treat the outside boxes with a winter protective layer of boiled linseed oil, natural bees wax and wintergreen oil. This will keep the water out and keep the bees dry and watertight during the wet winter months.

Next year we will be running four natural beekeeping courses where you can watch and learn how to build a top-bar and natural Portuguese hive, learn our approach to beekeeping and honey extraction. If you are interested to learn more, please drop us an email to: info@ahimsa-portugal.com

Ananda Spa chooses Ahimsa-Portugal as Thai Yoga Massage Training Partner

2010-10-07T00:53:00.000-07:00

This month Bruni has gone to Ananda Spa in the Himalayas. Bruni is one of the senior trainers for the therapists of this No.1 destination spa. For the last 6 years she has been teaching Thai Yoga Massage and some signature treatments (which she designs). Every year there are newcomers from all different parts of India and Tibet, but with some of the students she has been working for 5 years to refine their skills. Ananda attracts an international clientele and are proud of their flawless reputation and continuing excellent feedback.

Ananda is located in the tranquil Himalayan foothills, close to the mythological cities of Haridwar and Rishikesh, surrounded by graceful Sal forests, overlooking the peaceful Ganga as it meanders into the distance. Ananda is the spiritual pathway to the ultimate, discovered through the union of body, mind and soul. It is not just a retreat that will leave you breathless with the enchantment of its surroundings, but assists in redefining lifestyles to include the well-known traditional Indian wellness regimes of Ayurveda, Yoga and Vedanta to bring about the union of mind, body and soul.

Bruni’s reputation as leading teacher of Thai Yoga massage and Ayurvedic massage in both India and Europe is widely recognised. Bruni will be running both beginner, intermediate and advanced programmes during 2011, for further information please contact her on info@ahimsa-portugal.com

Ahimsa-Portugal joins the Quince Group at Schumacher College

2010-09-27T12:55:00.000-07:00

Global sustainability and the education of our children are central themes in the work we do at Fonte de Baixo, and when Garri was invited to join a number of leading thinkers in this field we immediately accepted the invitation. Teachers, educationalists, activists, systemic-thinkers and ecologists came together for 3 days to explore how we can place global sustainability at the heart of our children's education. Throughout the 3 days participants explored areas such as:

What is education for in our society?
How do we place global sustainability at the heart of education?
How do we develop our teachers, trainers and school leaders to feel confident to explore an holistic education agenda?
How do we link our local schools into global networks of best practice and environmental and social initiatives?

A number of participants ran breakout and special interest groups exploring different aspects of 'learning'. Garri ran one of these groups in a exercise exploring using nature as the classroom with the theme of creating a magic carpet. Schumacher College sits in the magnificent grounds of Dartington Hall. Schumacher is a dedicated center for holistic and global sustainability enquiry, for further information visit http://www.schumachercollege.org.uk/. Over the coming month we will build on the foundations set over the weekend and we plan to run a number of developmental workshops for anyone involved or interested in global sustainability, ecopsychology and education. For further information contact us on info@ahimsa-portugal.com

Showering Delight

2010-09-11T14:25:00.000-07:00

The new shower, toilet and vanity block is now complete with a hot walk-in shower, flushing toilets and vanity unit, one side for ladies and the other for gents. Built with a traditional Portuguese roof and Moorish influence tiles in terracotta and azure blue and decorated in the local shade of white.

The block is just a few meters away from the Mongolian yurts and African tents where our guests stay. On the far side of the block there is an outside tap and stone basin for washing and rinsing. The whole system is connected to our grey-water irrigation system, so none of the water goes to waste. Each guest receives a free soap made from our own olive oil, honey and herbs and as all of the water comes from our own well we are sure you will enjoy the experience.

Its been a while - sorry

2010-09-09T16:46:00.000-07:00

Its been a while since we have posted a new blog, sorry.

We have been so busy getting ready for 2011 and receiving guests.

Things have moved on and we are now in a position to receive guests and we look forward to seeing you in 2011. If you are interested in in our 2011 programme, then please email us at info@ahimsa-portugal.com and come and experience the morning sun.

Smile

2010-03-07T04:19:00.000-08:00

Smiling has lots of benefits:

Thinking of things that make you smile - usually the little but sweet stuff of everyday life, like people you love, things you are glad about or grateful for, silly moments, funny stories - make you feel better right on the spot. Plus it calms down the stress response - which is toxic to physical and mental health - and releases wholesome neurochemicals like dopamine and natural opioids like endorphins.

Researchers have found that the physical, facial movements of smiling by themselves - independent of what a person feels inside - cause people to evaluate the world more positively.

Smiling and feeling a little better promotes "approach behaviours," a fancy term for paying more attention to the opportunities around oneself, going after one's dreams with more confidence, and reaching out to others. Through what is called emotional contagion, when one person smiles and thus feels and acts a little more positively, that influences others to feel and act better, too. Then positive cycles start rolling through a group - could be a family, a workplace, or simply a bunch of friends - in which your smile gets others to smile and be more positive, which stimulates and even bigger grin for you.

When you smile, authentically, not in a false or Dr Evil sort of way - that tells people you are not a threat, which calms the ancient, evolutionary tendency to guard against things that could harm us, and thus leads them to be more open and less reactive to you.

This is definitely not about putting a happy shiny face on depression, grief, fear, or anger. Smiling then would be phony, and probably feel awful. But when you feel neutral or in a state of mild well-being, or even if you feel kind of frazzled, stressed, worried, or irritable - shifting into a small smile while thinking of the good facts that make it real can naturally lift your mood and help you act more positively and effectively.

So - in your mind or on paper, make a list of things that automatically make you smile. It's fine if those things are relatively small; this is about positive feelings that are relatively mild, but also deep, such as gratitude, caring, friendliness, peacefulness, or contentment. And this week, several times a day, look for moments to bring that list to your mind ...and a soft smile to your face.

Then notice the results. In how you feel inside, and in how you then act towards others and how they respond to you. The results will be good! Then savour those good feelings and successes, staying with them for ten, twenty, thirty seconds, taking them in, gradually weaving them into the fabric of your brain and your self.

Smiling a few more times each day may not seem like much, but you can be sure that doing so will send wonderful ripples through your brain, mind and relationships.

Now, isn't that something to smile about?

Are you tired? Get more sleep.

2010-02-28T04:39:00.000-08:00

Without enough sleep, risks go up for car accidents, diabetes, heart disease, depression, and unwanted weight. Yes it's true, you eat more if you are tired. In addition, your performance goes down in paying attention, learning, and staying motivated. Plus, it just feels bad to be foggy, groggy, tired and irritable.

People don't get enough sleep for a variety of reasons. In many regions of the world a go-go culture prevails, and the workday keeps getting longer, pushing its way into the evening. It's common to stay up too late and get up too early, feel stressed and overworked, and drink too much coffee to get going in the morning and too much alcohol to relax at night. Once we are in bed, many of us can't fall asleep in the evening, or go back to sleep if they wake up in the middle of the night.

The right amount of sleep varies from person to person (and from time to time: if you're stressed, ill or working hard physically, you need more sleep). Whatever it is that you need, the key is consistency - getting good rest every night, not trying to catch up on weekends or holidays.

Two things get in the way of sufficient sleep - not setting enough time aside for it, and not having deep and continuous sleep during the time allotted. To address the first problem, decide on how much time you want to set aside for sleep each night. Look at your schedules, see when you need to wake up, then work backwards to give yourself a bedtime. Figure out what you need to do during the hour before your bedtime to get to sleep on time; it probably includes not getting into an argument with anyone!

Observe the 'reasons' that come up to go to bed past your bedtime. Most if not all of them will boil down to a basic choice - what's more important, your health and well-being, or (fill in the blank), finishing emails, watching another hour of TV, doing house work, etc? Whatever is actually more important to you, choose it consciously, and act on that choice (hopefully, to get more sleep).

Really enjoy feeling rested and alert when you get enough sleep. Relish those good feelings, so your brain will want more of them in the future. In terms of the second problem, issues with sleep itself, here are some suggestions; pick the one or few that work for you - have a bedtime routine, relax in the last hour or two before bed (which means switching off the computer, TV and mobile phones), stop eating (particularly chocolate), drinking coffee or alcohol, exercising, or smoking cigarettes at least 2-3 hours before bedtime; make sure the environment of your bedroom supports sleep (e.g., cool and quiet, good mattress).

Do what you can to lower stress. Chronic stress lifts hormones like cortisol which will make it harder to fall asleep or wake you up early in the morning. Make a deal with yourself to worry or plan in the morning. Shift your attention to things that make you feel happy and relaxed, or simply to the sensations of breathing itself. Bring to mind the warm feeling of being with people who care about you. Have compassion for yourself.

Relax your tongue, lips and jaw, and eyes; take five to ten long exhalations; imagine your hands are warm, imagine you are in a very peaceful setting; progressively relax each part of your body, starting with your feet and moving up to your head.

Good night, enjoy the sunshine tomorrow!

When is Enough - Enough?

2010-02-22T08:36:00.000-08:00

I have just finished reading a great book called 'Enough' by John Naish, which for me, brought into sharp focus the inevitable failure of economic policy that pursues the notion of ever increasing growth and consumption. As biological creatures, we depend on clean air, clean water, clean soil, clean energy, and biodiversity for our well-being and survival. Surely protecting these fundamental needs should be our top priority and should dominate our thinking and the way we live. After all, we are animals and our biological dependence on the biosphere for our most basic needs should to plain for all to see!

The economy is a human construct, not a force of nature like entropy, gravity, the speed of light or our biological structure. It makes no sense to elevate the economy above the things that keep us alive. But that is what global organisations, international banking and commodity traders and many of our so called political leaders do when they claim that meeting climate-change targets will have a detrimental effect on the economy.

This economic system is built on exploiting raw materials from the planet and dumping waste back into or onto the planet. There is no 'away' when we throw something away. Conventional economics dismisses all the "services" that nature performs to keep this planet habitable for animals like us as "externalities". As long as economic considerations are primary in our decision-making processes, then we will never work our way out of the environmental and social problems we have created.

We often describe the triple bottom line - society, economy, and environment - as three intersecting circles of equal size. To my mind this is a nonsense. The reality is that the largest circle should represent our environment. Within that, there are 30 million species, including us, (1 species) that depend on it. Within the environment circle should be a much smaller circle, which is human society, and within that should be an even smaller circle, the economy. Neither of the inner circles should grow large enough to intersect with the bigger ones, but that is what is happening now as human societies and the economy hit their limits.

We also draw lines around property, cities, counties and countries. We take these so seriously that we are willing to fight and die to protect these borders. But nature pays no attention to human boundaries. Air, water, soil that blows across continents and oceans, migrating fish, birds and mammals, wind blow seeds cannot be managed within human strictures, yet all the discussions that take place are centered on countries, that in turn are labelled rich and poor. To address the problems we currently face, we need to take down these lines, evaporate the boundaries and take our place alongside all peoples and all species and not as an economic master.

Nature is our home. Nature provides our most fundamental needs. Nature dictates limits. If we are striving for a truly sustainable future, we must subordinate our activities to the limits that come from nature.

Take More Breaks

2010-02-20T01:28:00.000-08:00

The modern, pedal-to-the-metal lifestyle produces chronic stress and tension, and related physical and mental health issues. It also crowds out creative pursuits, friendships, recreation, spiritual life and time for children. As a therapist, I often see families where one or both parents work 50+ hours a week; the job is an elephant in the living room, crowding everything else to the margins.

Imagine for a moment that you are sitting comfortably somewhere during the last year of your life, and looking back and reflecting. Do you think you are going to wish you had spent more time at work or doing housework? Or wish you had spent more time relaxing, being with friends, and watching the sunsets?

This week, promise yourself that you will take more breaks.

In Praise of Slowing Down

2010-02-14T09:51:00.001-08:00

These past couple of weeks we have been paying attention to 'slowing down.' Below are a just a few suggestions for you to try for yourself. I suggest doing just one or two of them: don't rush to slow down!

Do a few things more slowly than usual. Leisurely lift the cup to your lips, don't rush through a meal, let others finish talking before jumping in, or stroll to a meeting instead of racing. Finish one task before moving on to another. A few times a day, take a long slow breath.

Back off the accelerator peddle. One time, as I sped down the dual-carriageway, my partner murmured, "What's the rush?" She made me realise that slowing down a few miles per hour meant arriving just a few minutes later, but with lots more ease along the way...and far fewer points on my licence.

When the phone rings, imagine that it is a church or temple bell reminding you to breathe and slow down. (This suggestion is from the Vietnamese monk, Thich Nhat Hahn.)

Resist the pressure of others to get things done sooner than you really need to. Their lack of planning does not create your emergency!

Find what's good about this moment, as it is, with less need to zip along to the next thing. Recently I was stuck on hold on a phone call, but then I saw two squirrels playing in the branches of an adjacent tree; watching them made me feel less impatient.

For the long-term, wrap up existing commitments, and then be more careful about taking on new ones. Notice and challenge any internal pressure to be always doing and getting more and more; what's the net bottom-line effect on your quality of life: Does racing about make you happier? Or more stressed and worn out?

All the while, recognise and soak in the relaxation and well-being in slowing down - which, besides feeling good, will naturally incline your brain in that direction. Plus, don't be surprised if people say you look more confident, rested, dignified, or happy.

It's your life, no one else's. Slow down and enjoy it!

Traditional aboriginal knowledge is critical to conservation

2010-02-06T08:50:00.000-08:00

The United Nations has declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity. It would be great if the year could be simply a celebration of the Earth’s biological richness, but Biodiversity Year is occurring while non-human life on our planet is in a more perilous state than ever before.

Experts believe the world is in the midst of a biodiversity crisis on par with earlier mass extinction events. Some 17,000 of the plant and animal species that we’ve identified and assessed are now in serious decline, including many that are well-known and well-loved, such as caribou, polar bears, and many fish populations. So what can we do? Well, a simple action would be to visit one of the many wild seed and plant specialists and plant some wild flowers, plant a tradition fruit tree or keep some old breed chickens. If this all seems like too much, then why not just let one small piece of your garden go wild so that nature can at least have a foothold.

Climate change is a symptom of economic madness

2010-01-24T03:03:00.000-08:00

After the Copenhagen summit it seems to be that the vast majority of our political leaders are primarily focused on the economy. Thus, they dismiss concerns about the war in Afghanistan and have ignored the fact that for many of us world citizens, we see climate change, globalisation, corrupt banking systems and political hypocrisy as more important issues. Political leaders of all the major parties often use the economy as an excuse to reject our international obligations as signatories to the Kyoto protocol and to rebuff serious discussion about the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, develop renewable energy, and create green jobs.

As the UK gears up for the election of a new government, once again the three main parties are reaffirming the economy and continued growth as the top priority. Raising the spectre of economic disaster is a convenient way to downplay or ignore other issues, but global ecological degradation has enormous economic implications. Former World Bank chief economist Lord Stern, in his groundbreaking analysis of the economics of climate change, concluded that taking action to keep heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions below levels that would cause catastrophic climate change could require investment of two to three per cent of annual global GDP. That’s a huge amount of money, but such a massive investment would create jobs and move us to a sustainable and healthy energy future. Lord Stern also pointed out that failing to bring down greenhouse gas emissions will destroy the economy, costing more than the First and Second World Wars combined!

How can anyone who claims to be concerned about the economy ignore this? The challenges we face are far more profound than just economic collapse. They threaten the very existence of civilization. The environmental crisis is not just about greenhouse gas emissions, toxic pollution, disappearing forests, or vanishing species. It’s about whether the biosphere can continue to support top predators, and no species is higher up the food chain than we humans.

In a debate in the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper between George Monbiot and Paul Kingsnorth (Aug. 18, 2009), both well-known writers and environmentalists, Mr. Kingsnorth refers to a set of graphs with the same horizontal axis measuring time from 1750 to 2000. The graphs measure "population levels, CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, exploitation of fisheries, destruction of tropical forests, paper consumption, number of motor vehicles, water use, the rate of species extinction and the totality of the human economy’s gross domestic product."What’s amazing is that although they measure such disparate factors, the graphs’ curves are almost identical: "A line begins on the left of the page, rising gradually as it moves to the right. Then, in the last inch or so – around 1950 – it veers steeply upwards."We are familiar with these curves, especially for population. Try this: Take a piece of paper and draw a horizontal line representing time, but now ranging from 150,000 years ago (when our species appeared on Earth) to the present.

For more than 99 per cent, the curve is virtually flat, rising imperceptibly until finally reaching a billion in the last pencil-width of time around 1830. Then the curve leaps straight up off the page to 6.8 billion now. Nothing can rise so steeply without hitting limits, resulting in rapid collapse. Mr. Kingsnorth’s conclusion? "The root cause of all these trends is the same: a rapacious human economy bringing the world swiftly to the brink of chaos."He argues that many of us, including "much of the mainstream environmental movement", ignore this reality because we "are still wedded to a vision of the future as an upgraded version of the present. We still believe in ‘progress’, as lazily defined by western liberalism." Although I lean toward Mr. Monbiot’s somewhat more optimistic arguments in the debate, I fear Mr. Kingsnorth makes some undeniable points."Climate change is teetering on the point of no return while our leaders bang the drum for more growth," Mr. Kingsnorth argues. "The economic system we rely upon cannot be tamed without collapsing, for it relies upon that growth to function."We cannot keep fooling ourselves into thinking that simply recycling and composting, replacing light bulbs, and buying hybrid cars will get us out of the jam we’re in. These are important, but they’re only a start.

Our blind and relentless commitment to continued growth is the very heart of the crisis. If the UK Political leaders are serious about the economy being our highest priority, they’d better start to address the state of the global ecosphere. Climate change is the place to start.

Feliz Ano Novo

2009-12-31T07:35:00.000-08:00

Boas festas feliz ano novo.

We would like to wish everyone a very warm and tender New Year. May you find peace, joy and happiness in 2010. Thank you for all your love and support in 2009.

Muito obrigado

Garri & Bruni

Winter Solstice

2009-12-22T10:08:00.000-08:00

Around 2000 BC, the Ancient Mesopotamians marked the Winter Solstice with a festival celebrating their god Marduk's victory over darkness. The Early Egyptians welcomed Ra's triumph over death. With the Daygan festival, the Persian Zoroastrians dedicated the day after the Solstice to Ahura Mazda, the Lord of Wisdom.

In the Ancient Greek festival of Lenaea, wild women tore the harvest god Dionysus to pieces and ate him, then presided over his rebirth. On the Winter Solstice the Romans honoured Saturn, the God of farming, with the Saturnalia. They also celebrated 'Dies Natalis Invicti Solis', the birthday of the invincible Sun, which came to Rome via Syria.

The Ancient Celtic Druids celebrated Alban Arthuan, the 'Light of Arthur'. They believed that during the 3 days before the Solstice, the Sun God journeys through Annwin, or the underworld, to learn the secrets of life and death.

In China and East Asia, the Winter Solstice is the occasion for one of the most important festivals, called Dong zhi, 'the extreme of winter'. The Ancient Chinese believed that the yin qualities of darkness and cold were at their most powerful point at the winter solstice, but it was also the turning point that gave way to the light and warmth of yang.

The Native Americans had Winter Solstice rites, as is attested by the painting of the Chumash people of California. So too did the Incas: their festival called Inti Raymi honours Wiracocha, the Sun god.

In Iran, there is the observance of Yalda, in which families kept vigil through the night and fires burned brightly to help the sun battle darkness.

I will end this journey with the simple ceremony of Apple wassailing, the medieval winter festival custom of blessing the cider apple trees with songs, dances, decorations and drink of cider to ensure their fertility. However you choose to celebrate the turning of winter, may the holiday be rich and full for you and your family.

Eating Close To The Earth

2009-12-05T06:44:00.000-08:00

The food we eat is a multidimensional aspect of our lives. Food provides us with the energy that enables us to grow and prosper. Yet it can be, and frequently is, much, much more. Our food can be an experience in and of itself if we allow it to be. The dishes we remember from childhood offer unmatched comfort. The act of preparing meals can be an art form of the highest calibre. And the nourishment we derive from this fare promotes wellness within us. But many of us, distracted by daily affairs, forget that the profound pleasures of eating go beyond simple sustenance. We eat foods that are convenient or we eat unconsciously, snacking on whatever happens to be on hand. To understand the true value of food and the impact it can have on our lives, we should acknowledge and honour it by eating close to the earth. If you have ever shelled and eaten garden-grown peas or bitten into a sun-warmed apple freshly plucked from its tree, you likely understand that there is a marked difference between these foods and those that are processed and stacked on supermarket shelves. Food recently picked contains more of its original life force and thus has a greater store of energy and nutrients. You can ensure you are eating close to the earth—and enjoying the many benefits of doing so—by shopping at a local farmers market and getting to know the individuals who grow your food. If you make the experience of shopping in this way enjoyable, you will be more apt to reject more convenient canned, packaged, and frozen foods in favour of the real delight you feel while browsing stalls of fresh foods nourished by the same soil you can find in your own backyard. You will soon learn what foods are in season in your area and how to prepare them. As you savour the vivid flavours of juicy ripe fruits and the hearty crunch of unprocessed vegetables, you can also take pleasure in the fact that, by eating close to the earth, you are supporting farmers in your region, connecting with your local ecosystem, discouraging those who would waste precious fossil fuels by carting produce cross-country, and helping to preserve healthy culinary traditions that have existed for centuries.

What is Ayurveda?

2009-11-26T03:00:00.000-08:00

The principles of Ayurveda are one of the main influences of the Ahimsa-Portugal project and inform much of what we do and the way we do it. Several people have emailed us to ask more about Ayurveda - so I am using the blog space to share some of the main areas of Ayurveda.

So what is Ayurveda? Ayurveda is a Sanskrit word meaning the ‘science’ or ‘wisdom of life’ – it is an ancient philosophy based on a deep understanding of eternal truths about the human body, mind and spirit. Unlike orthodox medicine, it is not based on the frequently changing findings or specific research projects, but rather on permanent, wise, eternal principles of living.

Although it originated in the East several thousand years ago, Ayurveda could not be more appropriate for present-day Western society, where so many people suffer from stress-related conditions which conventional medicine has been unable to remedy. It is the oldest healing system known and also the most complete. Its logical, common-sense approach to health and living is combined with philosophy, psychology and spiritual guidance.

Ayurveda has an armoury of physical treatments, from medication to massage, yoga, cleansing and detoxification programmes, and remedies for such disorders as infertility, impotence, arthritis, hyper-tension, gastro-intestinal problems, chronic illnesses and infectious diseases. It offers natural herbal remedies which counteract imbalances in the body and can successfully treat most health problems encountered in the West today. Ayurveda does not treat cancer, but it is believed that following the Ayurvedic lifestyle can reduce the risk of contracting the disease. It also offers counselling for a range of conditions, advocates meditation and has recommendations for harmonious living and good relationships.

Wild Mushroom delight

2009-11-15T03:45:00.000-08:00

The weather has slowly started changing and the warm damp climate has produced an abundance of wild parasol mushrooms growing in the woods all around Fonte de Baixo. Never being one to decline nature's gifts we have been gathering to both dry for the future and create some wonderful wild food meals. We have so many favourites and variations on themes that it would be difficult to narrow it down to a firm favourite. If one real comfort food was to have a narrow edge it would be creamy risotto. With simple ingredients and a 'slow' cooking style it's really simple, tasty and nourishing. We found these mushrooms just several yards from our front door.
Ingredients:I tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
50g butter
30g shallots finely chopped
1 clove of garlic finely chopped
A good pinch of fresh herbs such as thyme or rosemary, finely chopped
100g of wild mushrooms (in our case parasol) gently pulled apart
50g Arborio rice
175ml hot vegetable stock (mushroom if you want to make it)
125ml dry white wine
Dashes of single cream
2 fresh bay leaves
30g of grated hard cheese (Parmesan style) shaved
Salt and black pepper

Method:
Heat the oil with half the butter in a large heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat. Add the shallots and herbs, and gently fry for a few minutes until the shallots are translucent. Now add the garlic. Add the rice, stirring constantly to the pan and allow the rice to be coated by the oil and butter and slowly become translucent (about 1-2 minutes) now add the white wine and bay leaves and over a low heat, allow the wine to be absorbed into the rice. Slowly add the stock a ladel at a time to allow the rice to slowly cook and absorb the liquid. When the rice reaches an al-dente texture, add the mushrooms and stir in the dash of cream and the remaining butter. Season with salt and ground pepper to taste and scatter the chesse wafers over the top and serve.
Enjoy!

Where are we going?

2009-10-26T09:51:00.000-07:00

"Fashion is a form of ugliness, so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months" Oscar Wilde.

"The modern consumerist lifestyle has consequences, for there is no such thing as a lifestyle that is free of consequences. They are three-fold: stress on the individual, stress on society and stress on the environment. Trendy, fashionable consumer-oriented lifestyles are the cause of this three-fold crises. The first is the environmental crisis, where over-exploitation of resources causes climate change. The second is the social crisis, where resources are appropriated by the few, and large numbers of people are deprived of their essential rights, which causes poverty and social injustice. The third is the spiritual crisis: the crisis of disconnection and loneliness. Consumerism and addiction to 'fast-fashion' undermine the values of friendship, family, neighbourliness and humility.

Simplicity is not about looking backwards or turning the clock back to a pre-industrial past. Elegant simplicity is about a post-industrial future where technology is at the service of the Earth and humanity. We can benefit from our scientific and technological discoveries without compromising ecological, social and spiritual integrity. Progress without principles, science without spirituality, consumerism without conscience, money without morality and knowledge without wisdom destroy social cohesion and human relationships. When we move away from simplicity and focus on the accumulation of more and more material as well as non-material possessions, we lose the centrality of human relationships, and loneliness results". Satish Kumar

2009-10-17T09:24:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin & Potato Roast
Serves 4

We have an abundance of pumpkins at the moment – a favourite with guests is this easy yet tasty roast dish which we cook in our bread oven.

8 slices pumpkin, unpeeled
4 potatoes cut into quarters
8 cherry tomatoes
2 heads of garlic
4 small onions, peeled and halved
30 ml olive oil
30 ml finely chopped thyme
2 cloves garlic, crushed
5 ml garam masala
8 fresh sage leaves
Coarse sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
5 ml ground cinnamon
30 ml of runny honey
Sprinkling of balsamic vinegar

Combine into a marinade the olive oil, thyme, crushed garlic, garam masala, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix well.
Add the pumpkin and potatoes and toss in the mixture
Place the slices of pumpkin, potato wedges, tomatoes, heads of garlic, and onions in a roasting tin, and pour over the remaining marinade.
Drizzle the balsamic vinegar and honey over the vegetables and sprinkle with the ground cinnamon. Finely, mix in the fresh sage leaves.
Bake at 180°C for 40 – 50 minutes, turning the potatoes after 25 minutes, until golden and crisp.

Delicious!

2009-10-10T04:19:00.000-07:00

Great news! Our visitors shower and toilet block is almost finished which hopefully means we will be open for workshops, classes and retreats in 2010 sometime.

As Fonte de Baixo develops it looks more like a home and although we still have a long way to go, establishing the foundations for personal and household strategies for sustainable living are really essential and important.

Sustainable living begins at home. It’s a constant matter of how to work with nature and how to value renewable services. This encourages less consumption and a better quality of life – it’s about change, not about doing without.

We all need food – every day. Globally, some people don’t have enough while others get too much. At Fonte de Baixo we aim to eat as much as we can from our land. The food we can’t grow ourselves we get through local sources wherever possible – neighbours, bartering farmers markets, often swapped for our labour or our own surplus.

Growing our food is a high priority at Fonte de Baixo – not only for the consumption but also the nutritional value for mind, body and soul. In the various programmes we will be running working in the garden, with the livestock and in food processing will be an integral part of daily practice. At the moment we have about an acre and a half under food production and we will look to expand on this in the future. We don’t expect to grow all we need there, however we aim to get a lot of fresh vegetables, fruit and herbs.

We grow more pumpkins, squash and garlic than we actually need as these do well on our soil and will keep for 12 months. Wherever there is some spare space we aim to plant either food for us, our livestock or the bees. So what makes our land so productive?

1. Good soil – we use as much mulch, compost and manure as we can get our hands on

2. Minimal digging and weeding – use of mulch and dense combination planting to leave little room for weeds

3. Lots of fruit trees and bushes – some planted, some self-seeded. As these trees become more mature they shade the veggie areas, therefore our annual production is gradually becoming a perennial system.

4. The use of chicken and goats to convert food scrapes and weeds into compost and eat insects like slugs and weevils.

5. Plenty of things in flower, like nasturtiums, calendula, dill gone to seed which attract beneficial insects like honey bees and hover flies

Despite our urban society and lack of connection with the earth, increasing numbers of people are questioning the quality of life in a high-consuming society. Small groups of committed individuals are taking an ethical standpoint and putting positive, practical alternatives in place. Growing your own food, even if it is just a few herbs in a window box is such great fun and for the price of a packet of seed you could have parsley, basil and coriander all year round. Try it!

2009-09-20T14:32:00.000-07:00

Come and join us to build a Global Village

From 1st to 31st April 2010

This work period is open to anyone interested in sustainable building and leading a simple life with good vegetarian food.

We will pay for all the meals, transport to and from the train station, a day out to the sea side or to visit Coimbra.
You have the opportunity to learn some ancient building skills with hands-on experience and clear guidance.

A typical day will look like this:

6.45 Wake up bell
7.00-8.00 Yoga and Meditation (optional)

8.30 Breakfast
9.00 to 12.45 Morning work period
11.00 Refreshments (Tea and Biscuits)

13.00 Lunch

14.00-16.00 Afternoon work period
16.00-19.00 Free time (for walking, swimming,
Hot shower, singing, dancing, massage,
more Yoga…..)

19.00 Dinner
19.30 Work meeting to review the day, voice any
Concerns and plan the day ahead
Time for story telling, games, drumming…..
21.00 Quiet time

Jobs to do:

Build a tree house
Build a wooden log cabin
Build a base for the Mongolian yurt
Build a cob cottage
Resurface the threshing floor
Build a bamboo roof for the Zen do
Build simple wooden furniture like benches, tables and chairs
Re-roof the goat shed
Repair walls of the outdoor bread oven

Create paths
Supply each hut with electricity from the mains

Clearing land of bracken, brambles and gorse
Planting bushes and flowerbeds
Clearing and planting up vegetables patch
Collect herbs to make liquid fertiliser

Cook meals
Bake bread
Saw wood for the wood burning stoves

If you are an expert in any of these areas, that’s great. If you are not, you are still welcome! You learn as you go along and the more helping hands we have, the better.

Things you will have to bring:

A tent
A warm sleeping bag (nights are still cool in April)
An iso mat
A torch
Good working boots
Comfortable warm clothes, but also sun lotion for hot mid-days
A towel (Our shower and toilet block will be done by then!!!)

2009-07-15T06:20:00.000-07:00

July Update

Hello and welcome to our July newsletter.

This month has been a really busy month working on the various facets of Projeto-Ahimsa and Fonte de Baixo. We hope to be able to start the serious work of converting the 80 year old threshing floor and stone cottage into a zendo and yoga space from which our yoga, meditation and recovery work will emerge. It is our intention to adapt this traditional Portuguese space with influences from Japan and India and be able to extent our offering to weekend retreats, trauma-release work, recovery and ecotherapy workshops.

Many people have already voiced their interest to come to Fonte de Baixo to attend workshops and meditations and we hope to provide all the meals from our gardens and kitchen as well as from the wild larder. We ask each participant to wash his or her own dishes and utensils after meals and return them to the dining area. For each meal, we assign a different person to help us and give sole responsibility to two other people for cleanup. The helpers rotate until everyone has worked on both kitchen prep and kitchen cleanup. Since we are cooking all the meals, we make sure the kitchen is in order before we sit down to eat; this makes cleanup easier, especially for those not familiar with the kitchen. All our meals are vegetarian and we also cater for vegan, gluten free and Jain diets too.

This month we extracted our early summer honey crop and the golden nectar is a wonderful gift in the kitchen with many different recipes for the Fonte de Baixo menu.

A Day of Mindfulness
We are now setting aside one day of the week that accords with the retreat schedule for a whole day of mindfulness. We forget about the work we are doing on the other days and focus on being mindful. We don’t organise any activities, meetings nor have friends over. We undertake the simple chores of making our personal living space neat and tidy and then focus on irrigating the vegetable plots and taking care of the goats and chickens. On this day we have decided to have a juice and raw-food diet and so alleviating the need to cook and have a large cleanup afterwards. Throughout the day we take the opportunity to be quiet and mindful, sitting quietly, reading, or taking a walk in the hills or down to the lake and around its shore.
Our meals are a healthy combination of raw-food, fruit and a variety of freshly made juices and smoothies. During the day we take 2 walks of approximately one hour, one before breakfast and another before sitting in meditation for an hour before going to bed. Every movement during this day should be at least two times slower than usual.
Some of you have been asking for Autumn dates for workshops. Here they are:

Ahimsa-Kitchen

Ginger Hummus – Serves 6-8

None of the hummus you buy will be as satisfying as what you mix up on your own. Even if you’re using a can of cooked chickpeas, homemade hummus is far superior to shop-bought varieties. A can of beans is a more sustainable choice than a plastic package that has to rely on refrigerators to stay fresh. Serve this with freshly made warm pita breads.

Ingredients:
370 g chickpeas, checked for grit, washed in several rinses of water, and soaked overnight (if not using a pressure cooker)
50 mm fresh ginger, peeled and grated
4 garlic cloves, peeled
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted and ground
Juice of 2 lemons
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
65g to 130g light tahini
Salt and black pepper

Preparation:
Simmer the chickpeas in a large pot with ginger and enough water to cover by 100mm for about 2 hours (it may take as many as three or as little as 1 hour, depending on their age). They should be perfectly soft and mushy. Drain chickpeas and reserve any cooking liquid. Purée chickpeas with remaining ingredients and about 8gr of the cooking liquid. Taste to see if you want the higher quantity of oil or tahini.

Pita Bread – Serves 6-8
This recipe for pita relies on a poolish - a mixture of equal parts of flour and water with a tiny amount of yeast added – made the day before the final dough is made. By adding the slowly fermented poolish to the final dough, we improve the texture and flavour of the bread without a lot of extra work. Making the poolish is quick and easily done by hand.

Poolish
175 ml warm water
175 g bread flour
Pinch of dried yeast.
Dough
½ tablespoon dried yeast
250ml warm water
375g bread flour
375g whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
Poolish (See above)

Make the poolish the day before making the dough; use a container large enough to allow it to double in size. Add the yeast to the warm water and let it sit for 10 minutes. Add the flour and mix with your hands or a wooden spoon until all the flour is incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature.

For the dough, add yeast to 50ml of the warm water in a large bowl; let it sit for 10 minutes. Add the remaining water and the rest of the ingredients. (Don’t forget the poolish!) Mix together by hand until a shaggy mass forms.

Put dough onto a floured counter or board and knead until smooth, about 12 minutes. Put into an oiled bowl, turn once to coat. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap, place in a warm spot in the kitchen, and let the dough rise until double in size, approximately 60 minutes. Turn the dough onto a counter. Divide into eight pieces. Round each piece into a ball, cover and let rest for 15 minutes. Roll each piece into a circle about ¼ inch thick, cover, and let proof for 20 minutes. Bake in a 250-degree oven until lightly browned, about 12 to 15 minutes.
Fonte de Baixo Salad with Radishes, Oranges, Feta and Mint – Serves 4
This Moorish-inspired salad can be tossed and served in a bowl or made as a composed salad arranged on a platter and drizzled with the vinaigrette. In the later form, the salad presents a more traditional meze, or appetiser. For different combinations, consider including wedges of hard-boiled egg, black olives, or thin shavings of bulb fennel.
Ingredients:
60g pistachio nuts, shelled
3 blood or navel oranges
1 bunch of radishes
450g Rocket leaves
100g feta cheese
Handful of fresh mint sprigs
North African Vinaigrette
3 teaspoons orange zest
50ml orange juice
1 teaspoon salt
A good pinch of cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon runny honey
½ teaspoon paprika
175ml olive oil

Preparation:
Peel and de-pith the oranges and separate into segments. Wash the radishes and rough slice them. Arrange the washed rocket on a large platter. Layer the oranges with crumbled feta cheese. Top the platter with the sliced radishes and pistachio nuts and a handful of torn mint leaves. Whisk the vinaigrette and drizzle over the platter and dust with coarse sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

Fonte de Baixo Ratatouille – serves 6/8
All summer we benefit from the abundance of our vegetable terraces and this dish is always a favourite.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried rosemary
½ teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 aubergines cubed (1-inch cubes)
3 peppers, cut into 1-inch squares
2 or 3 thick slices of summer squash, peeled and chopped
1 Kilo peeled, seeded, and chopped tomatoes
2 bay leaves
Handful of chopped fresh basil

Heat a large skillet and add the oil. Sauté the onion, dried herbs and salt over medium heat until the onions are soft and just beginning to take some colour. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute before adding the aubergine and peppers. Cook for 10 minutes, or until vegetables are getting tender, then add the squash, tomatoes and bay leaves. Simmer over a low heat until the squash is tender and the flavours have all come together, about 20 to 30 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper, stir in the fresh basil and serve.

Sweet Tapioca Soup with Honeydew Melon – Serves 6/8
At Fonte de Baixo we serve this dessert soup with Thai, Chinese, and Japanese meals. As desserts go, it requires very little work.

Ingredients
50g small pearl tapioca
250ml water
500ml coconut milk 4 to 6 tablespoons sugar
250ml milk
1 vanilla pod
1 large, ripe honeydew melon

Soak the tapioca in the water for about 45 minutes. Drain the tapioca and combine it with the coconut milk, vanilla pod and sugar. Heat over a medium heat until it begins to thicken. Remove from the heat and pour in the milk and let the mixture cool. (It will form a skin on the surface if you don’t cover it with plastic film.)

Cut the honeydew melon into chunks and purée in a food processor or chop very fine. Combine the honeydew with the tapioca mixture and chill. Serve in individual bowls with a fresh sprig of mint.

Sustainability Tip
One of the core values at Ahimsa-Portugal is that we try as much as possible to live and work with nature. We are very conscious of our foot print, not only the energy we use but across everything we do. Ahimsa means to do no harm or at least to minimise our impact as much as we can. Below are some of the ideas that we are putting into practice and perhaps you could try some of them too?

This month’s section is less about specific ideas on sustainability but more about some of the general principle that underpin the Permaculture approach to the food we consume. We pay a high price for convenience foods – both financially and nutritionally. The packaging can be very attractive but the quality of the highly processed contents is sometimes questionable (e.g. ‘mechanically recovered meat’ is an ingredient is some processed foods).

Each artificial sugar ‘high leads to a low’, which creates further cravings. The result is to disrupt the body’s chemistry and create mineral imbalances and further chaotic eating. Excess sugar also tends to encourage the growth in the body of the yeast, Candida Albicans. Try using natural sweeteners such as honey or apple juice, but better still try to control your sweet tooth.

Beware of another common additive -MSG or Monosodium Glutamate – which is added to many processed foods as a ‘flavour enhancer’. Unfortunately, for some people MSG appears to be an ‘ill health enhancer’ which among other things worsens catarrhal conditions. Look out for it also as ‘hydrolysed vegetable protein’.

It is very confusing trying to find our way through today’s dietary maze with the mass of conflicting advice. Eating at Fonte de Baixo is not just a matter of what to eat in terms of foods, but also how we eat. Here are six general principles to consider, whatever the details of your diet:

1 Eat well and eat thoughtfully.
We are what we eat and what we eat is up to us. Whatever we decide, we should consider the quality of what we are eating and how it got to our plate. Is it good food prepared with love or is it adulterated junk made solely for profit?

2 Eat regularly.
It’s best to make time in the day to eat, sit down and relax, especially if we tend to rush. Regular meals mean we eat less because we’re less ravenous and less likely to binge. It’s a way of imposing order amid the chaos of daily life. (See our daily routine plan at http://www.ahimsa-portugal.com/)

3 Eat less, eat slowly.
Generally, we eat in a rush and overeat. By chewing our food thoroughly we not only taste it better but we become satisfied with smaller portions. Eating slower gives us a chance to reflect on our relationships with those around us and our connectedness with the planet. It’s the opposite of the common ‘fast food as fuel’ idea.

4 Eat joyfully and without guilt.
If we are not enjoying what we are eating and we don’t feel it is doing us good, why are we eating it? Eating should be where possible a social occasion and a time of bonding with the bounty our environment provides.

5 Balance the six flavours
The six flavours are sweet, salty, sour, pungent, astringent and bitter. The idea of balance includes the principle of eating according to what is local (at Fonte de Baixo we have set the limit at 50 kilometres) and in season and of changing methods of cooking and preparing food according to the time of the year.

6 Diets don’t work.
By definition, habits are hard to break. After all, food is closely linked to our personality (or dosha) and our view of ourselves. Dietary changes which are introduced gradually are more likely to last than big changes or prohibitions made quickly – be patient, be slow!

Recommended reading is the wonderful book by Carl Honoré – In praise of slow.

Beauty Tip:
After Sun Skin Savers We all know we should not do it, but some times it still happens: We stay in the sun for too long and get red hot burning skin. Here are some instant sunburn solutions which don't require a trip to the pharmacy: Yogurt Use plain full-fat yogurt if possible straight out of the fridge to smear on pink skin. Let it sit on your skin until it warms up, then rinse with tepid water and reapply. It will draw the heat out of the skin and re-establishes the vital pH balance which makes it heal faster. Aloe Vera Invest in an Aloe Vera plant and keep it on your windowsill. It is excellent for all kind of burns. Just slice a leaf in half lengthways and slide it slowly over the affected area. Repeat as often as you like. Inside the leaf is a gooey gel, which is instantly cooling, healing and moisturising. Mint and Black Tea: Pour one litre of boiling water over 110 g fresh mint leaves and 3 black tea bags. Cover; allow to stand for 10 minutes, strain and cooling. It will keep for several weeks in the fridge. Apply to sunburnt skin with cotton wool pads. The tannic acid in the black tea draws the heat from the burn restores the skin's acid balance, while the mint has an immediately cooling effect.

If you want to add anything to our newsletter, events, workshops, ideas or services for sale or trade, please don’t hesitate to send them through and we are happy to add them to future newsletters. If you would like to go onto our newsletter list then please send an email to: garriwiest@aol.com

From Projeto-Ahimsa and Fonte de Baixo -

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2009-06-19T06:13:00.000-07:00

Projeto-Ahimsa, Portugal

May/June Update

Hello and welcome to our latest newsletter.

It seems a while since we wrote the last one. These past couple of months have been full-on with loads of small but essential building projects being started and completed, on time and within the budget, which is always a good sign. A special thank you has to go to Renato who worked like a Trojan and really made things happen.

The next stage of the project is to renovate the main house which will require extensive land work and demolition before the rebuilding can take place.

The credit crunch, if ever there was an example of an unsustainable system, this is it. One of the principal techniques of systems thinking - very familiar to us Buddhist thinkers - is the practice of going outside the system and looking at it from that viewpoint. This detachment allows one to see the workings without being personally involved. Looking in on the finance system we can see immediately that the credit bubble was unsustainable, self-evidently now, because it has burst. But did we see it coming? And if we did, what could we do about it, mere bit-part actors in a global theatre dominated by the rich and powerful? The troubling aspect of this current global problem is that the same people are busy trying to put the same system back in place.
Sustainability Tip

One of the core values at Ahimsa-Portugal is that we try as much as possible to live and work with nature. We are very conscious of our foot print, not only the energy we use but across everything we do. Ahimsa means to do no harm or at least to minimise our impact as much as we can. Below are some of the ideas that we are putting into practice and perhaps you could try some of them too?

Helping the Land

We are blessed with wonderful soil at Fonte de Baixo, and because we are nestled into a hill side the soil changes as you move through the levels. We have adopted a ‘no-digging’ and bio-dynamic approach to our gardening which means that mulching is absolutely essential. Understanding the soil will probably need a lifetime, and then more. It is essential that you get a sense of the structure within the soil, and the texture – this means you need to get your hands dirty! Soil comes from two places: in situ – from the breakdown of bedrock and organic matter; and from imported material – blown in, washed in, from gravity and from the compost we make.

There are many influences on soil and over time, the following things determine the type of soil you will have:
parent material (the original bedrock material)
climate (wet or dry, hot or cold)
topography (the shape of the land – you should look at this both at a local level and a wider regional aspect)
organisms (life that is active in the soil)
Soil composition is made of:
organic matter (humus which is decaying biota)
minerals (from parent material)
air (oxygen is present)
water
life (biota, both visible and invisible)

Another important aspect of the soil is its profile – structure and texture. A cross section through the soil shows the profile – the ‘best’ bit (the organic matter) is near the top. When you are building or gardening, be careful not to bury it! – this is why we don’t dig the soil as this method buries the organic material which is vital to healthy plant growth. Remember, the rain forest is the most prolific growth medium and there is a no digging policy there too.

However good your soil, you will have to add to it to grow annual vegetables year after year. When harvesting a crop you remove nutrients, mainly from the top soil. It is only in fertile soil that vegetables thrive and resist pests and disease.

Every garden needs compost and there are many ways to make it, including worm farms, bins, heaps and chickens. You will have to experiment to find a compost method that suits you. We use a combination of methods, but the chickens do much of the work on our land, eating food scraps and pecking at weeds. I heap the litter in their house into one of the bins on our three year rotation method. As the pile gets hot it kills off weed seeds as the temperature rises. We also use our own waste from the composting toilet to dress our olive and fruit trees.

If you are a beginner at gardening or composing, find someone to help you. There may be a local gardening or permaculture group not far away. Whichever method you choose, all your household food scraps and all the weeds and old plant material from your garden are composted and returned to your garden, as is any other mulch, grass clippings, waste paper that you can get hold of.

If you have poor soils or are just beginning, it may be worth buying in some compost. Most local authorities sell compost which are either certified as organic or use ‘earth-friendly’ methods of producing their materials. As before, do your research with the local permaculture or gardening group to find out who is going to sell you the ‘good stuff’. There are always energy costs (i.e. environmental costs) in having someone else make your compost. Best to get your own system going as soon as possible, even if it is just piling up your peelings and grass clippings and letting them rot down.

From Projeto-Ahimsa and Fonte de Baixo -

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