We Totally Transformed Our Land - Permaculture and Keyline Design in Portugal
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- Опубліковано 9 лис 2020
- After our best week yet here in Portugal we start to see some MAJOR changes take place. After months of only small jobs we finally start seeing some big jobs take place. All at once as our land gets designed and reshaped using the Permaculture and Keyline design techniques. Watch as the homestead changes from a baron, arid, neglected valley into what we hope is a future Paradise for birds, mammals and amphibians.
For those of you that haven't yet heard of Keyline design it is a landscaping technique of maximising the beneficial use of the water resources of a tract of land. Perfect for designing a farm/resort in Portugal!
We hope you enjoy watching this episode as much as we did making it. We are really trying hard to step up our UA-cam game so let us know what you think of this video. Subscribe and tick notifications to receive all of our future content and if you have any questions about Keyline design or Boreholes please reach out in the comments.
Thanks,
Hannah and Jack
P.s. See Nuno's work at en.terracruadesign.com/
Follow and support us at:
📷 / life.re.imagined
📝 www.montecalma.com
🌱 / lifereimagined
Can you believe it....3 years ago. Well we just finally received approval of our engineering drawings and are allowed to begin construction! Still interested in seeing how we get on? Subscribe for new videos as we restart filming again now we have some progress!
This is just amazing. And for anyone who frowns upon using fuel and heavy machinery: It is entirely acceptable to do this in order to to change and improve a landscape for literally hundreds of years to come for the better.
Isn’t it great to see youngsters putting it in and risking, gives me some hope
Absolutely EPIC! I did the same, but not on such a large scale and it completely rejuvenated my land. Thanks for your video. It certainly inspired me.
This is great, thanks for sharing! I'm looking for projects in the same climate as we have here in Perth, Australia. I'll follow your journey. Cheers!
I would love you hear you speak about the high level costs for doing such a project, how you found the various service providers to do the work that you used, and what counsel permissions you needed to make such big changes to your land.
Same!
Prices in Portugal are quite reasonable, something like €30 to €40 per hour for man+machine
45 per hour for the big machine yes! Terre e brita in portimao have been fantastic!
This project was such a great improvement to this land, good job
I have never heard of Keyline design. I will be googling to learn more. It seems to me that it is just common sense. Diverting the water to where you need it. My husband & I did this using water barrels. They are filled with the rainwater that comes off the roof of our house and the excess is diverted away from the foundation by the use of a PVC pipe that is on the side of the last barrel. The collected rain is used to water my plants. I am looking forward to how you transform this land. Bless you for vision & hard work.
thanks for the tips and for watching!
That's so exciting to see the earth moving and then to see the rain collection work!
See our latest video. Its soo green already!
Grande trabalho ! Muito inspirador !
This is a fascinating project; I can’t wait to see how your land evolves and develops!
thankyou!
Great!
Good stuff! I love it when a plan comes together. 👍🌞😎
You got that right!
Exciting!
Parabéns pelo vosso projeto de manter e segurar as águas das chuvas.
Wow! Such a courageous step! We are just getting ready to do this kind of work on our land here in the northwestern USA starting this next summer. We're both nervous and excited about our project, and it's really encouraging and exciting to seeing others' projects taking shape the way we hope ours will one day. Congratulations and KEEP GOING!
Best of luck!
Bom trabalho! Thank you for all the info! I am exited to see what this land will grow to look like! I was very happy when you mentioned the seed mix which you covered the soil with as the sight of bare soil scares me haha! Really awesome! Nice style of videography and story telling as well, a pleasure to watch. Bom fim de semana
Most excellent!!!! That was so gratifying seeing the water going where you wanted it to go. Permaculture for the win!!! Again and again and again and again and.....
Thank you! Cheers!
Don't be dogmatic
@@dungeonmaster6292 where are you getting dogma from my statement?
@@culbinator worship of permaculture. It's just a design metric and has many flaws
@@dungeonmaster6292 where am I worshipping it? I give praise to it as a design science and a lifestyle. Everything has flaws. It’s meant to be worked out by the practitioners. Take your nihilism somewhere else.
Well done guys, looking forward to your beautiful green paradise
Us too! See our latest vid its already crazy green. 12 months and it will be magical
Any updates on these waterworks? I am so curious to see how this went and developed in the past two years.
I'd love to see how the progress has come after a couple of years would be great
Tx for your videos and journey it's something that I am looking at doing also but in a few years ,if I can muster the courage cheers best of luck for the future
Beautiful topography!
So amazing you guys. !!!! I hope you have an amazing successful life and plentiful.
Amazing! 👏🏼👏🏼
Thankyou 😊
quite amazing how well that worked out ... well done 👍👍👍
We kind of were too
Wonderful ‼️🌳🌴🌱🌿🍀🌾
Great Job with your project!!!!! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching!
Wow that's some real plowing.....🙂
Terra Brita were very skilled
Some exciting transformations! Congratulations 👏🏻
Thanks so much! 😊
Just found your vlog, we must've just driven through your area yesterday as we hiked atop Foia for the day. Best of luck developing what looks like a beautiful piece of land!
Thanks, you too!
What can I say, you are a queen.
Totally cool
Thankyou
Amazing !!
Thanks!!
Definitely got me interested I’ll be subscribing 👍 🇦🇺
This was great! Save this footage for some before and after shots every few years as the changes happen!
Great idea!
Same!🙋
Congratulations! Looks like the design works great!
Thank you!
Amazing, never imagined to see permaculture in Portugal, such great news
Thank you...it's actually super popular now down here. Quite the movement is starting
:D A weak imagination perhaps?? On a mediterranean climate keylines and swailes are very much applicable and, in particular, in Portugal a millennial tradition...you would be surprised ;).
Awesome method of shaping the hill. Next time when I am in Portimao or Ferragudo I come to take look :)
Sounds good!
Awesome video
Looks great
Congratulations
Well done it looks good.
Thank you! Cheers!
❤️❤️❤️
Hope to see a future video of all this land in Green, things here grow so fast.
Neither can we. Subscribe and we'll make sure to take you with us
We are sat watching the grass grow :)
Ancient landscapes don´t. This one is being ruined.
It has being a pleasure to work with you guys, thank you for your will and motivation!
Thank you! Same
Olá! Está espectacular! Trabalha no Alentejo também?? Se sim, queríamos muito o seu parecer. Obrigada desde já.
Thats a great job, love to see everything growing.
good job
Very nice job!
Thank you!
Thanks for popularising Permaculture and Keyline Design. One may use the slight slope to run the water out to the end of a ridge to help water sink into the soil, one of the best ways to water ridges.
Did you start at the keypoint where the slope changes from Convex to concave? It is hard to tell from the video, it would be nice to see a topographic map of the land and your plan.
Are you aware of the keyline plow and how it works to help the water infiltrate into the ground to reduce runoff?
Love to see your garden, my aim is to create food forests and help others see the possibilities, thanks again for your sharing!
Hi Y'all! Awesome job! How is it looking now, have a nice drone shot to share? I know this year we don't have a lot rain but would be great to see it anyways.
It would be lovely if we would change our language by changing which words we use to describe a situation like: 'We transformed OUR LAND', to: 'We took part of the transformation of the land we steward.' It is amazing to see the transformation by the way! Thank you!
LOL I hope you're not a teacher!!!
Where I'm from we build rock retaining walls for our terraces. They last a few hundred years until there are parts that need repair. What is the plan for erosion before the trees and plants take root?
well... they are planting it all up for one...rock retaining walls are a community thing right :)
You probably use the rocks you found on location?
Takes some time for enough of them to pop up.
@@aproksha -. Curiously rock retaining walls in Portugal traditionally were a farmers thing! Although it's true that many have been a community affair!
A good example is the entire High Douro region in the North of Portugal. Where the famous Porto wine originally comes from. The terraces are first of all everywhere, second their impressive! Specially if we set them in time, since they're centuries old. Meaning from the time of "hands and sweat" no buldozer's at the time! ;-)
But not just terraces! Most farm houses and property limits in Portugal were made of stone and by hand! Usually the farmer and it's family did it all!! Hard working people! The old expression was "working from Sun to Sun", meaning from the Sun dawn to the Sun set! Years ago I helped a colleague building some stone walls... A lot of sweat I tell you! LOL 😂
@@aproksha in most of portugal cover crops are not enough to prevent erosion... you need stones...
Beautiful now you are self sufficient. But you will have to do hard work. Now your property is your new boss. Keep some animals also. Like to see when the seed grow.
That's the plan! Thanks for watching
♥️
Hope all is well and hope there will be an update soon! Even if it's just a quick chill one where you guys just talk
We released an update on the water and borehole shortly after you posted tis Raymond. Let us know what you think. Thanks for watching
Awesome, please do a Follow-up and show us the results and improvements
"Jill " whit my clay people can help you with those products and slope trench containment base permutations and pinnings stuff also. Or she will put someone on it. We have lightnig rod stuff too , they will explain the technicals on it for you.
That camera work and editing tho. Well done.
Much appreciated!
I've just discovered your channel, I wanted to thank you, though it's just a backyard, this video has given me some ideas on giving a better usage of the land and how to work with water.
Thanks for watching and it makes us so happy to hear your found something of use in what we made.
Wow. This looks really amazing. Wanted to say thanks guys. I already learned a lot from your videos. Keep them coming. Beside being entertaining its really a lot of valuable information. All the best from Berlin
Danke Joshua! Feel free to reach out with any questions!
Start adding trees and ground covers you can always chop them down and at fruit trees later. Subbed for more updates 🙂
Thanks for the tip!
Good job.
I noticed that a small gully has formed at the point the water has entered the lake. With greater this could be problematic. Consider planting vetiver to stabilize the sloping walls of the lake.
TY.
Interesting! thank you
brilliant and great job, let´s where this goes, hopefully meeting the desired objective!! I will keep whatching.
Please do!
I would like to know all the seeds you planted as cover crop. I am doing some swales in my urban garden and neet to plant the berms. Fantastic projek. Well done
It would be great to see a site layout drawing to see how the terraces fit in to the overall plan . . . . .
Because you asked. We recently used our drone to 3d map our property. You can see the 3d height map at drive.google.com/file/d/10ppc2NxYNg1Mn8FPxozv6PU38rxZf2xe/view?usp=sharing
@@Life.Reimagined That looks awesome :)
@@Life.Reimagined wow looks awesome! Could you make a video on how you did this 3D mapping as well? 🤓
Also, why didn't you guys make the pond on the lowest part of the land for water collection and build the buildings on top of the hill (for view) instead?
@@WanderingLucy you can't just build where ever you want, a part of the terrain is designated for building, so if there was a ruin or a house already present and legal then that is the only place one can (re) build.
Great Video!! This is something i need to do but on smaller scale. Is nuno still in operation, as te link to his work does not work. We live in Central Portugal.
🤸🤸🤸👏👏
7:19 58 mms at one night :). We expect it in 1 month and feel lucky if it rains that much. (Ankara/Turkey)...
Can you tell me where you are, so next time I’m in Portugal I can come and look? You should look at some of the work in our Kiewa Valley
we are in Rasmalho, Portimao, Algarve jack@montecalma.com
Beautiful 💚 work!
U guys R genius.
Ha not quite. Learning by doing... The best way!
thanks to share your experience
My pleasure
Awesome Vid team, love it!! Keep them coming :)
Thank you x
Hello! I am building a farm in portugal and interested in planting on the contour. Can you share the contact of who helped design and install? any info would be amazing. Thanks andy
Wow I just found this chennel and I'm really intrigued! such great quality vid!
Thanks Niko. Means a lot... Seriously!
Great work guys, please keep us updated, probably more videos 😉
We will try. Life has a habit of getting in the way!
Bem vindos a este nosso e vosso país,
Obrigado!
If you have any problem with dam leaks, give me a yell, we have specifically developed techniques to stop that.
thanks anthony. lets see how we do this year
Lovely! Well done.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it Cathy
And I think waterfalls and sort of a down flow rockbeded crick in the V line between the hills suale meeting(curve) vertical permeable clay plate waterfall stoppers and side lined permeable clay sort of wall. If you know what I mean?
Nice video. I did enjoy it! GOD BLESS. 🙏🙏🇺🇸⛵⚓
Thank Melinda ☺️
Hi, found your vlog by accident, intensely interested, I’ve been a permaculture and key line advocate for over 40 years. I’m interested in precisely where you are, my hunch is Portugal or Spain, can you tell me where, I’ve often had holidays in both (I live in Australia). Please tell me where you are, what you plan to plant. If you have climate info in some detail, that as well.
In the end you mention Nuno. Is it Nuno Silva? : )
No, his name is Nuno Santos :)
Wow, how did you get permission for all the work done to the land. It will bring much benefit, good luck with the project, I will follow with interest
The land isnt the problem, its the building thats taking for ever!
Surely you don’t need terraces that deep & you lose a lot of topsoil . I’m a forester from Kenya , the very dry part but we would never terrace the land like that, we would’ve liked to contour plough the land and make shallow terraces around the trees but with area we were planting this wasn’t feasible but we planted the trees along the contour & mulched them. You will have to water the ground cover you put to prevent soil erosion on the face of the terraces preferably before you plant your trees , the rain in Portugal can be very heavy but recently the rains have not been so good so you’ll probably have to water your trees after planting for at least two years , the mulch should be at least a radius 10 cms. around the tree . Nice indigenous trees are the oak & lentisc which are drought tolerant once established but all trees should be mulched & watered & not allowed to dry out. Sorry if I sound bossy but I lost many plants when I first came to Portugal & hope this helps .
Thankyou. Lots to think about here. I can say that the rain is almost completely slowed down now and almost none overflows out of our land. As for topsoil the front edge of the terrace is where the trees are planted and that's where the top soil all is at the moment. We do still need plenty of mulch and cover crops to help build up more over time
@@Life.Reimagined Hi, Roderick has a good point on the downslope edge of the keyline, if you don't have a well established grass cover before the monsoon, march to april, that edge will erode away and you'll expose your tree's roots. I'm guessing you were aware of this but make sure it's a strong grass, sorghum sudangrass is very good for Beiras, Alentejo e Algarve. Good to see more regenerative agriculturists here in Portugal, welcome!!!
really amazing work!!
Thanks ellie.really enjoyed making this one. Can't wait for the next few years!!!
I can't wait to see the hill full of green.
Neither can we! Thanks for watching
It was green, before !
Good video guys! Will you be needing to add topsoil or was it deep enough anyway. Looked like where the terraces were cut it went down to rocky soil. Will things still grow there you think?
Didn't realise you had brought so much land, awesome project!
Cheers Vern! Took your advice and decided to try up the quality and focus on one person film while the other talks...much better than looking at the screen.
So yeah in part the top soil has eroded to the bottom of the hill over the last 100 years so this is our next job. What hannah mentioned briefly in the video known as chop and drop. We will be planing some seeds that can grow in this soil and we will be letting them grow high and also root deep before chopping them down. We also plan to get some sheep to help add fertiliser too in the long run. In the mean time though we are looking to source some hay and manure to help things along.
Things are already sprouting here. we have little 1inch shoots all over the hill and ive noticed some beans already "standing up" on their roots so fingers crossed it continues!
You are doing a great job, Its going to take a lot of work but Im sure it will be worth it. The before and after photos will look amazing. :)
That's so true. We just keeping moving forwards - plenty to do here :) thanks for watching!
Great project
Thanks adi!
Looking good , great job . That's a great idea terracing the hill .Our homestead has a hill and i thought doing the same the gain more surface to plant cork trees , also we need to fix our dam because it leeks and in the summer dries (severe dried summers) .
Go for it! Sounds like we were in a similar situation. Heres hoping the dam is fixed but also with extra surface area it should get much more water when it does rain!
Lake ? Try pond.
But, I like it. So does the biota.
Wel done gyus 😀
Thank you 👍
Are you going to hugelkultur the terrace? Will create better soil and moisture retention.
Yes, we want to do a part of it with Hügelkultur for sure 💪🏻☺️
Good progress guys! German terrace engineering 👍
Thanks Kev!
do you know who did the engineering?
I'd bet it is portugal 🇵🇹❤️
Love this video aspect ratio view. You guys are fast and focused. Better save a plot for that space station down the road.
Haha cheers daybe. We do seem to go in sprints. Hope to find more time for videos. Thanks for watching
Great content. The terracruadesign website doesn't work though...
Try now www.terracruadesign.com/
Hannah, how has it been going since the issue with the fire re-districting impacted your plans? Have you been able to work it out with the municipality?
Unfortunately not. Each communication takes months and then never correctly seems to understand or address what we've put forward. But we have time and we have plans! We will get there!
@@Life.Reimagined best of luck. I admire how you graded your property for precision slope. Well done. I am studying permaculture and love your dreams.
@@2010katak thank you! Congratulations on doing your PDC . I haven't managed to do mine yet!
Wow alot of info and that land is beautiful! This was shot like a mini doc, what camera crew worked on this with you?
Ha you're to kind. Just me (Jack) filming and editing in and around my day job. Glad you enjoyed it! Will try keep the quality high
@@Life.Reimagined =O =O =O What camera and settings did you use to achieve this quality?
Looks like your lake will soon fill up with soil erosion. I hope you planned to keep digging it out.
Soil is eroding way less now thanks to 1% than before with 35-45 grade. yes some goes into the lake. but that will normalise once we get ground crops etc...and in the mean time hopefully the lake will settle and become 100% water tight thanks to the clay
@@Life.Reimagined Very good, you can also dig a small silt catching basin which becomes a great addition for adding to you mulch. The know it all's must be tiring :D FORÇA!!!