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Fernanda Botelho is one of Portugal’s most well known experts on medicinal plants and herbs. We invited her to come and share some of her knowledge with us.

      

Gathered to share and learn were a group of enthuasiastic plant lovers from various places here in Portugal, Australia, Latvia, Germany and England. The workshop began with a walk to identify various useful species.

   

With a bunch of plants we retreated to the cool of the ‘N’jango’, our beautiful natural building by the pond to continue with the learning and sharing. Fernanda had set out a herb spiral and participants introduced themselves through the plants in front of them.

Wild lavander, St. John’s Wort, Lime Leaf, Calendula, Plantain, Lemon Balm, Fennel, Nettle, Thyme, Sage, Rock Rose, Blackberry – to name but a few of the plants we discovered more about!

 

We were inspired to prepare a colourful and healthy vegan and vegetarian meal for lunch. We used many wild and cultivated plants and herbs from the garden and the farm for the salads.

In the afternoon, in the common space Fernanda continued to share about the different ways you can process the plants to extract the goodness. She explained how to dry plants to make teas, and also how to prepare decoctions, tintures and macerated oils. We were all inspired!

                

The little shop we created for the day sold products from the Mount of Oaks and also Fernanda’s informative books and essential oils.

We shared goodbyes with most of the participants and felt assured by a common love of the natural powers of plants to heal. Over the summer months we will continue to harvest and dry many of the medicinal and culinary plants we are growing. Get in touch if you would like to buy or learn more about the plants that are growing locally in central Portugal.

As a little PS – a bunch of us headed to the annunal local cherry festival in Alcongosta after the workshop. We encountered some of the wonderful folk from the village – including the last of the basket makers who makes his baskets from chestnut wood. Fernanda loved the visit and for sure we will invite her back next year!

Last week we began the EPIC mission of clearing out the inside of the kitchen and starting to make some needed improvements.

In this year where we are celebrating our 10th Anniversary it is really fitting to be going back to the original structure which holds SO many MEMORIES for the wider Mount of Oaks community.

Stripping back the shelves, taking everything out to prepare for power washing the walls showed us just how beautiful the space actually is! The simple stone building has a lot of character.

The floor came off too……

and then Barbara had a lot of fun with the power hose outside and inside!

Power washing the floor boards – with ‘safety goggles’!!

Next task was to make a temporary kitchen outside…..

This week we will work on cobbing the walls – we will keep updating with the progress of the kitchen. If you feel to donate a few euros towards the project, click on this link to see how to do that.

We are entering a new season, while appreciating all that has gone before!

 Annual Porridge Party in Povoa de Atalaia

On the third Sunday in January every year, the village of Povoa de Atalaia, walking distance from the Mount of Oaks, prepares to cook the maize porridge (papas de carolo) and receive hundreds of visitors.

This year, Eric, Marica, Samuel and I enjoyed the afternoon with the neighbours, basking in the sun!

So, what is the Festa das Papas about?

Everything began with a legend…..

According to the legend, a long time ago, there was a very serious plague of grasshoppers in the region. Everything farmers cultivated was eaten by the grasshoppers. The farmers asked Saint Sebastian to help them getting rid of those insects. They promised they would build a chapel in his honor and, yearly, each third Sunday of January, they would make a pilgrimage there. In this pilgrimage, farmers promised also they would distribute white maize porridge (papas de carolo) freely, as well as fritters, to all the local inhabitants.

The grasshoppers disappeared…

 After a mid afternoon mass in the main church in the village, the families who have the responsibility that year for sowing, growing and making the traditional maize porridge dish parade in front of the priest and the band to the chapel of St Sebastian. 

 

 

Our neighbour, Tia Adelina was delighted to hold Samuel during the festa. Samuel also loved the Papas!

If you read Portuguese, here is the link to an article about the Festa das Papas. The article is very informative about the history of the tradition.

There are more images in the 5 min long youtube video made by a few girls in the village for a school project. The music is traditional to the area and the video gives a real sense of the festa, and what it means to the locals. Click here to see the video.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2016 was an amazing year:

We hosted 2 natural building courses, 3 open days, went to 3 local markets, hosted a local market, received dozens of volunteers and guests, printed our own calendar to remember our beloved donkey, welcomed baby Sammy, build 2 houses, renewed another, planted trees and more…. looking forward for 2017!