I thought the hay/straw mulch I used in the raised beds last year was just brilliant. It dramatically slowed water loss from the soil – summer watering was cut from a daily ritual to a weekly one – and it suppressed an enormous amount of weed growth. So this year, as the area under cultivation has spread, so (thanks to 12 bales I managed to secure at the back end of last year) has the straw.
One was clearly not enough. There was the thought of them all being uprooted for firewood. Then an olive tree-shaped space presented itself. And then there were the logistics of fitting in other deliveries of building materials … So we went right back for another.
Olive tree number two before leaving home. This is one I only narrowly rejected first time around
On a dull morning with rain threatening, we went up the mountain to the village above the quinta to meet the man with the digger. He had some olive trees he was digging up to plant a vineyard and he knew I was looking for one. We followed him up the mountain tracks to a slope above the village and he threw his arms wide. ‘Choose!”
I looked at the sorry-looking specimens, some of which were still hiding beneath a choking mantle of brambles and bracken, and wondered whether I should just say no thanks right away …
What a difference a fortnight can make. True to the Portuguese saying “Em Abril, águas mil” (lit. in April, a thousand waters), April showers began on April 1st, breaking the long spell of drought we’ve had since a few downpours in early November. Really though, it hasn’t rained ‘properly’ since last May. The amount that’s fallen so far is still small and only the top 8cm or so of the soil is damp, but the difference it’s made to the vegetation on the quinta is remarkable. A month ago, the raised beds looked all but empty bar the few stunted cabbages and remaining mangelwurzels that had managed to hold on through the dry winter and its frosts. None of the usual early vegetables were showing any signs of breaking dormancy and only the fruit trees were blossoming.
Now everything is transformed.
Today I took the horticultural fleece off the citrus trees. Not that the danger of frost is past, but it felt like the right time to do it. It’s warming up now and Spring is in the air, even if the drought conditions mean that very little is actually growing. Onions have yet to make an appearance. Last year they were already up in January. No sign of asparagus yet (also up in January last year). The cabbages that have managed to hold on through the combination of desiccating frosts and drought are small and look pretty sorry for themselves. The crab apple is in bloom though, primroses are everywhere and the self-seeded nabos are appearing, though less prolific than in previous years.
Back in October last year, I began an experiment in pond building. As I wrote then, it’s part of a strategy to retain water for longer in its passage through the quinta. Not just for irrigation purposes, but to increase the range of environments we have for growing and to support a greater diversity of wildlife.
But the ponds are rapidly becoming part of a developing long-term drought mitigation strategy as well. There are evidently years of severe drought here once every decade or so and at the moment it looks very much like that cycle is about to deliver another challenging year.
It’s not just been about the chickens. It’s been the plan this winter to extend the growing areas and to clear them of nettles, brambles, couch grass, bracken, etc, before planting a lot more trees, shrubs and fruit bushes.
The new fruit-terrace-to-be in January 2011
The next stage in the construction of our suite of deluxe chicken accommodation is to provide them with some outdoor space. The chickens have arrived, but they’re not ready yet for free-ranging as it will take them a little while to get imprinted on coop = ‘home’.
Our hens! The two in the background are crossbreeds between Cochins and the local Portuguese pescoço pelado or bare-necked hens. The two in the foreground are Green legs.
While they’re getting to know their coop, we’ve made a start on both a permanent pen surrounding the coop and on ‘tractor’ accommodation for putting them to work round the quinta.
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