Jujubes

Last winter, our jujube collection (Ziziphus jujuba) has enriched itself with a few more cultivars. We have more than 20 of them now. The freshness of their leaves and the vigor of the trees are stunning. We are impatient to taste them all at the end of October... Below are two trees planted last summer and then a few examples of the variety of shapes and sizes of the different cultivars.

Induced meandering through one rock dams

This summer, we experimented a new low tech solution to contribute to the rehydration our dry Alentejo landscape. It is inspired by the work of Bill Zeedyk and Van Clothier and their experience with temporary streams. We prepared two trucks of heavy stones, discharged them into a straight segment of our temporary river. The next morning, our quartet of four enthusiasts went up the river, arranging these stones into four little, oblique, five rows "one rock dams" (ORD). The first rains will tell us how successful our test dams will turn out to be... And we'll be curious to see how the bee-eaters will react to it too - see their nest holes below.

Dry stone wall

In the village garden, time has come to slowly replace our straw bales as structure elements with dry stone walls. We spend three mornings in the hot summer harvesting large stones from the rubble at the farm together with Manuel, filling in five little trucks. In the meantime, Joaquim Inacio went on putting all these stones together in the most beautiful manner. Dream team. The curves are a tribute to my grandfather, Etienne, who was very much concerned about garden aesthetics. Next step in a year.

O cavalo branco e o noitibo

We were in Cumeada, on our way back. At the roundabout, a nightjar was flying up and coming back to the road, and then flying again. I went out of the car, following its ballet, trying to approach it. And in the middle of the night, the white horse suddenly appeared, with the nightjar back to the road a little bit further. Magic...

O grande Chaparro e a pequena Zambujeira