What to Sow and Plant in April — Serra de Monchique & Western Algarve
April in the Serra de Monchique means one thing above all else: it is time to head to the market. Every month at the São Teotónio market you will find…
Watering Your Vegetable Garden in a Warm Dry Climate
For anyone starting a vegetable garden in a warm dry climate — like the Serra de Monchique where we live — watering is where most beginners go wrong. Not because…
Easy Vegetables to Grow for Beginners in a Mediterranean Climate
One of the most common questions we hear from people starting their first vegetable garden is this: what should I actually grow? There are hundreds of vegetables to choose from…
Basil Recipes
Basil straight from the garden tastes completely different to anything you buy in a shop. These are the two recipes we make most often at Monchique Homestead — a simple…
How to Prepare Your First Vegetable Garden Bed
There is one moment that every vegetable gardener remembers. It’s not the first harvest. It’s not even the first seedling breaking through the soil. It’s the moment you look at…
When to Plant What: A Vegetable Planting Guide for the Serra de Monchique
One of the most common questions I hear from people who’ve just moved to the Serra de Monchique is this: “I want to grow my own vegetables — but when…
March Vegetable Garden Checklist for Planting and Sowing
After the heavy rains in February and a flood in the vegetable garden, we’re starting March with a bit of a delay. Fortunately, we dodged serious damage and now the…
Crop Rotation Explained for the Vegetable Garden
Crop rotation is one of those gardening ideas that sounds simple, yet makes a huge difference once you truly understand it. Many problems in vegetable gardens — recurring pests, declining…
Organize Your Vegetable Garden for Higher Yields
Many people think gardening is hard because they don’t have enough time, energy, or experience. In reality, most gardens become exhausting because organizing your vegetable garden has never been done…
How Much Should You Plant for a Vegetable Garden
If you want your vegetable garden to really feed you, knowing how much to plant is essential. It’s one of the biggest questions in vegetable gardening—whether you’re growing food in…
What to Sow and Plant in November
November brings a calmer rhythm to the garden. In mild winter climates, it’s not the end of the growing season, but a time to settle cool-weather crops into the soil…
What to Plant in October for a Winter Harvest
Many beginner gardeners believe the gardening season ends in September. They stop planting, put away their tools, and wait for spring. But here’s the truth — in mild climates like…
Take 2: How to recognise good soil
Soil is the basis for gardening. When the soil in your vegetable garden is healthy you will have good results in your garden. Healthy soil What is healthy soil like?…
Start your vegetable garden in only three weeks time.
Three weeks is enough time to go from bare ground to a planted vegetable garden. It does not require experience, a large budget or special equipment. What it does require…
What Feeding Goats Costs
Do you want to buy goats for your homestead or small scale farm? Do you wonder if it would be worth doing so and what it would cost you to…
What Not to Feed Goats to Avoid Accidents
Where does the myth that goats can eat anything come from? And does that also mean that you can feed goats anything? Fact is that goats are not only picky,…
Feeding Goats, Some Things You Didn’t Know.
Can you give me the name of a country were there are no goats? No? Why not? Because they are very flexible in their diet. Does that mean goats eat…
Cooking Cheese and Spinach Quiche with Fresh Farm Ingredients.
This blog is written by Anna Tonk. She volunteered at Terra do Milho for two month. What happens in the kitchen during winter on a Homestead? Living on a Homestead…
4 Easy to Learn Homesteading Kitchen Skills for Starters
When you want to start your own Homestead (or just started one) you can feel overwhelmed with all the things you need to learn. This is how we tackled the…
The Advantages of Dehydrating Fruit and Vegetables
Don’t you know what to do with an overload of fruit and vegetables in summer and fall? Do you only have little time for preserving your dear harvest? Is your…
Why using a Steam Juicer is a good idea.
Do you have a lot of soft fruit at once in your Orchard? Do you find it hard to process it all at the same time? In that case using…
What You Need to Know About Canning
Do you want to learn easy Homesteading skills? Don’t you have a Homestead yet? No problem. You don’t need to wait, you can start right now. This is what you…
Float Gardening in British Columbia
A guest post written by Margy Lutz. Margy describes her life on a float Cabin Home on Powell Lake in Coastal British Colombia. She has a very special float garden….
Where to start your vegetable garden, some things to consider.
Deciding where to start your vegetable garden is the first and most important step. Picking the right spot takes a little time upfront, but it saves a great deal of…
