Finally! After a lot of trial and even more error over the last 2 years, it looks like we have the hydro generator we need for this site. As I write, it’s contributing power to the batteries, something that none of the previous generators have managed to achieve. Not a lot, because of the present meagre flow of water – for the second winter in succession there has so far been very little rain – but the wheel IS contributing for the first time.
Not only that, but it’s a supremely funky addition to our power generation capacity and is also, like the water wheel, proudly made in Benfeita! (Benfeita means ‘well made’.)
The axial flux alternator on the back of João’s quad bike in its green and orange paintwork
Permaculture, yes, but this is only the beginning. The first baby steps. To truly work with nature, not against it, we need to listen to our elder brothers …
As mentioned at the end of the recent post on the ponds, I wanted to make the top pond larger and deeper to provide more variety in aquatic environment and a larger area of water around and in which to grow. It’s now twice the size it was, with an area twice the depth.
I have been thinking for a while now about ways 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. The extent to which we can emulate strategies like Sepp Holzer’s at the Krameterhof and Tamera is constrained by the vastly smaller amount of land we have to work with, not to mention the topography and difficulty of access, but even on a much smaller scale, the principles ought to be similar.
The heating system I first put together in May has proved itself workable. With a few adjustments of radiator position and the purchase of a self-standing garden shower that fits into the garden hose system I’ve used for the pipework, the system gives us enough hot water on a sunny day for anything between 2 (luxurious) and 4 (frugal) showers, but until recently the only way to use it was to stand on the bare earth out in the open. The quinta isn’t a particularly public place, but we all agreed we needed a cubicle to enhance our bathing experience …
A view of the whole system with the cubicle partially complete – radiator, tank above, shower and cubicle
Water coming out of a tap into a kitchen sink. A very ordinary photo of a very ordinary process. But it’s had me shrieking with delight for the best part of the last hour, standing at the sink turning the tap on and off, and and filling all manner of receptacles with water just for the hell of it, all the while giggling insanely. Who would have believed so much fun could be had with a tap and a kitchen sink? If me 5 years ago had seen me now, I would have immediately taken out life insurance and given up the wine.
One of the greatest delights of living on the quinta so far has been our water. Not only does it taste delicious, and refreshes in subtle ways that tap water just doesn’t (forget the Heineken!), but after a couple of weeks of using it to wash with, the difference it makes to skin and hair are also very noticeable.
This is something we’ve been planning to do for quite some time.
After I first shook hands on the purchase of the quinta, I wanted to carve something for the place, and specifically for the niche behind the waterfall on the middle terrace. The idea was that it should carry the energy and intent that water should always run on this land (as it evidently always has).
