Cork Harvest
This year we harvested some cork from our forest for the first time. Cork is widely regarded as one of the most ecological and sustainable materials available. Here in the Alentejo region of Portugal (the epicentre of global cork supply), it is part of a rural...
Waiting for Rain
This is my third summer here at Monte da Vida, and the driest and hottest so far. It is now early October and we have had one proper day of rain since May. Our stream only ran for a few weeks in the spring. I read that the local reservoir has dropped to 17 percent of...