Running on synchronicity, rice and beans.

Rolling the dust from my last tabacco and savouring the last glass of red from the wine box I felt confident that cold turkey would not be too hard.
Back in November I did 3 weeks of off grid, by that I mean no money, no outside inputs.
Christmas came and I was invited graciously back into the busom of consensus normality which I accepted with appetite. January, so far has been a continuation as Ive slowly drained my funds, glug by glug.



I am a creature of habit and if my 42 years has taught me anything its that changing my environment is much easier than changing my habits. A terrible weakness of spirit I know, but im a product of my environment, a mind controlled drone. Connecting the dots of my life, my personal history, have shown me that if I force myself into strange and alien environments they force me out of strange and alien antilife programming without the whailing of spirit, so in a way I relish the challenge. I wish I was a more balanced person that could do it without the environmental extremes. Balance is what I seek but its atypical to my nature and I know I would not be here today, on the ragged edge, if I had ever achieved balance without the extremis of my life.

An expert in solitude develops the ability to hold interesting debates with onself.
Somedays my mind runs riot like Alex Jones on speed, my head propped on a spade handle or saw half way through a tree trunk, the debate arises like the Mondego river in spate.
The Prussian education system oposed the Trivium and Quadrivium; 911, but thats a short one not worth debating. Is the New World Order a physical blood line or an off planet DNA controlled manifestation aka Ickes philosophy?, or both?. Fractional reserve banking, Freeman on the land, propoganda; am I a mind controlled slave?, DNA, quantum physics. Keylontic DNA upgrading.
The white noise reaches a cresendo, then thankfully its outplayed by the waterfall and bird twitter. Breath deep, study nature, draw up some maharic current, protect and appreciate. Start digging.



My conviction to extract my energy from the parisitic status quo system means off grid and no money, with my definition being: permaculture lead self sufficiency. How the future will pan out I dont know, Im not a fortune teller. The system is coming down and with it what most take for granted, thats not conjecture but well documented fact. Visit transition towns or the oil drum web sites and you will get consensual reality and collapse in equal measures. It all seems rather doom and gloom unless you look at the expansion of consciousness which is the road I arrived from.

After a triple heart attack and 10 day coma in 2006, my Near Death Experience (NDE) slowly started to permeate my being at about the same rate as my physical recovery to full health. A full and very powerful kundalini awakening happened in 2008 and repeated connections with the gnostic galactic internet, as I call it, from then till now has opened me up to the limitless possibilities of consciousness and the human condition.

As I fully connect to my dharma; doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right way for the right reason, vibrating in positive and loving energy with harmony in nature, in a state of statelessness and moneylessness, Im relying on syncronicity and the gnostic connection, and if thats no good, theres always rice and beans.

If you feel a connection to project Senda Verde and would like to volunteer, contribute, learn or just spend some time on the farm please leave a comment on the blog with your email.

Ducks, Rape and Cabbage.

Day old ducks are cute.
They spent their first 6 weeks in relative obscurity in the chichen run, captured by a sun drying screen propped against the chicken keep wall, keeping them and their special food from the grabbing ckickens. I visited once or twice a day. Water change and food top up.


Week 6, solid birds, big beaks, varacious appetites.

The palacial duck palace finished, they moved.
A home of round wood construction, pine plank flooring, watertight iron roof, an impressive split level ramp good for small gauge wheel chair access. A stream of water from the the laid played melodies on the flow form as it replenished the pond that dominated their environs. No better in duckism was seen.

Week 9.

Big birds, big beaks, varacious appetites, big shitters.
Just 6 of them convinced me with their never ending quacking and the two rivers just a lob away that they should range free, free as a bird, free as a duck. Off they went. For a week it was as shephard and flock, a handfull of grain and they came, with a terminator like destructon through the veg garden. Chickens peck, Ducks muller, no way back for a cabbage.

Week 10
My shepharding abilities seemed demeaned, a handful of grain or two? who you kidding. 3.30 pm I saw them last, happily mullering another raised bed then no more.
Downriver they went never to be seen again.
Its a real hungry gap this year.

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Property for sale in Ribamondego Quinta Pimpao, close to Gouveia.

1.1 hectares with very good access and electricity near by.

Recently dug 125 meter bore hole providing year round fresh water and great views of the Estrellas and down into the Mondego valley.

Quinta Pimpao, Ribamondego, close to Gouveia.

Various trees including mature pines and cork oaks with good flat areas for cultivating. The quinta would make an ideal on or off grid property with heaps of solar and wind potential.

There is a small 40 sqM ruin with a unique and huge rock making up one of the walls, the granite stonework is sound but the roof needs new timbers.



The land has planning permission to develop a home with a footprint of up to 200 sqM in addition to the ruin.



The property is 1km from the village of Ribamondego, a smal friendly and helpful community and only 5 mins from the train station in Gouveia which links to Coimbra and the rest of Portugal.



The property is also for sale with Belaserra, a local trustworthy estate agent in Seia, go to belaserra.com for more pictures. However if you would like to contact the owners directly you can email them at notbob33@hotmail.co.uk
This is a great opportunity to deal direct with the owners, no hassle or complications. The owners, an English couple, live nearby and will make sure the sale is smooth and hassle free.

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Crystal at 7 weeks, Itsy at 4 months

Crystal is about 7 weeks old now, how time flies.

She is a beautiful puppy and going to make a fantastic farm dog.

She and Itsy the kitten have bonded and play for hours daily.

Carbon “Fixing” Plants

Mulch from carbon “Fixing” Plants

Most gardeners are aware of “nitrogen fixing” plants; those plants, typically legumes, that have formed symbiotic relationships with soil bacteria to take airborne nitrogen and fix it into water-soluble form. As far back as the Romans, humans have fostered this natural occurrence to increase yields and increase fertility. What we hear about much less is carbon “fixing” plants – in Permaculture speak – biomass or mulching plants. In the past year, as I have learned more and more about soil ecosystems, I have become far more convinced that these “carbon fixers” are even more important in early successions as we heal our suburban ecosystems.

I have developed a mantra over the summer as I have worked to sloganize what it is that we are doing. The result has been my oft-repeated imperative to: Heal the Soil, Store the Water, & Plant Useful Plants. In a nutshell it is a roadmap to maximize the potential of any garden space – if the soil is alive it has more nutrients cycling in it, if the soil has sufficient water stored under mulches and in humus then the potential increases again. And once these two are in place, one can maximize the solar potential by filling in the canopy. Of these, I feel the first is the most important as it makes the others possible. And to heal the soil, you need carbon (organic matter).

Plants are truly the conduits of energy into the earth – by capturing solar energy and turning it into simple sugar they supply the foundation for 99.99% of all life on the planet, whether it is through root exudates in the rhizosphere or nectar through their flowers, plants make life possible. But life also needs carbon, and most life on the planet gets its carbon from plants in the form of organic matter – the main food source of the bacteria and fungus in the soil. But some plants do this better than others.

There are the grasses with their dense root systems that build soil visibly every year, and there are trees that cover the ground in a thick blanket of leaves every year. Finally there are other plants that form stalks and stems that form significant amounts of soil as well – the tall grass prairies, corn/sunflower stalks, and windblown branches from softwoods such as willows, sycamores, and poplar. What these have in common is tough, long carbon chains in their cell structure that resists decomposition. This resistance to decomposition -in lignin, cellulose, etc- is what forms humus. And it is humus that forms rich soils. This is something to be very mindful of as we mulch our gardens.

If you were to build a compost pile of nothing but greens, with only the barest amounts of “browns”, the pile would heat up very quickly, but would decompose down to almost nothing – 75-90% of the bulk would be gone. That is because greens lack cellulose and lignin and are mostly water and nutrients – vital to soil life, but almost completely consumed in the decomposition process. Compare this to a similar sized pile of shredded leaves. It will take 4x as long to decompose, but the result will be 400% more humus with only a 25% reduction in size.

In most of my permaculture guilds I have stressed the green mulches of comfrey, sorrels, chives, etc to pull and cycle nutrients, and for several years I have imported my cellulose and lignin in the form of dozens of yards of wood chips. Now that my gardens are maturing, I am starting to pay more attention to including plants specifically to “fix” carbon to maintain soil humus levels. In the 6 years I have lived here I have lost about 1-2″ of total height in our 3 oldest perennial beds compared to the sod. That is because the humus in the perennial beds is degrading over time, while the roots of the fescues in the lawn are forming .25″ of humus a year. I had not been mulching these beds much as they have almost completely closed “canopies” of thyme ground cover that I didn’t want to smother. I will try mulching more aggressively this year.

Nitrogen fixers such as Russian Comfrey

While all my guilds include nitrogen fixers such as leadplant, false indigos, New Jersey Tea, Serviceberry, etc and green “mulch” plants such as Russian Comfrey, I am beginning to either add in “carbon fixers” and am planting guilds specifically to grow brown mulches. Some of this I am accomplishing by letting box elder seedling mature in my guilds as they sprout in the wood chip mulch. In one spot, I have planted a 20 tree “short rotation coppice guild” of willows, poplar, and box elders. In my annual gardens I am taking much inspiration from John Jeavons and planting “stalky” plants such as corn, sorghum, and sunflowers specifically to produce compost carbon in addition to edibles. Once you change your mindset it isn’t overly hard. Of course, having a chipper to use can become important as well – though many plants such as sunchokes, and weeping willows produce stalks and “leaf” mulches that are laid down without chipping and fast growing trees such as Empress and Sycamore have HUGE leaves that really add up.

Nitrogen fixers such as Serviceberry

As my gardens have matured, and I seek to support the soils I have built using primarily the inputs of my site, I find myself planting more and more of these carbon trees to grow my soil. In doing so I help to maximize the potential of my site by using these fast growing plants to sequester carbon to build the soils beneath my edibles, while also pulling carbon from the air to heal our climate.

Prime Short Rotation Coppice Trees: Black Locust

Willow, Hybrid Poplar, Black Locust, Box Elder, Empress, Sycamore, Ash, Hazelnut, most Standard fruit trees (annually pruned)

Sunflower prime “Carbon Fixing” Annuals/perennials

Prime “Carbon Fixing” Annuals/perennials:

Sunflower, Corn, Sorghum, Cupplant, Sunchoke, Small Grains, Amaranth, Quinoa, etc.

Many of these trees are useful in many other regards – Black Locust is a nitrogen fixer, provides rot resistant wood, and its flowers are a great early nectar source. Black Maul willow is one of the most striking plants I have ever seen and the new growth makes incredible baskets. Hazelnuts and Sunflowers are some of the best ways to grow healthy fats in the northern hemisphere. Carbon gardening is by no means boring or a wasted effort!

Productive soils need to have all their nutrients cycled, not only the water soluble ones, but also carbon to replenish that which is lost due during the respiration of the soil organisms. If we are to truly garden in the spirit of nature, we need to make sure that the carbon is replaced with the same diligence that we give nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and the 96 other macro and micro nutrients.

Posted on September 3, 2010 by onestraw- Rob

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Crystal, new life for Joe and Carmela and fat as butter

Crystal new life arrives as old life is consumed, a good start for Senda Verde

As fat as butter and she is packing on the oz, carmela is a great mum

Crystal, yes after three weeks of my amateurish inspections and two outside opinions, shes a she and she is called Crystal.

In honour to the crystal pool where im drawing my life saving water and to the fact that she cried and cried yesterday till I lifted her out her basket and she let a big crystal stream go on the floor, what a dog, house trained, all be it her house is the dog basket, but house trained at 3 weeks.

Welcome Crystal.

My friend told me she was sheep dog stock with 4 white paws which fires the ball right back into Joes court, she was also early as I caculated 6th to 12th of August as delivery date but Carmela delivered 29th July, again firing the ball back into Joes court, Carmela escaped once, the penultimate day of her heat, Joe followed and came back wrecked, battered bruised and scarred so obviouslly defended Carmela till the end, but with a 29th delivery date that would put conception right into Joe and Carmelas honeymoon period, no other dogs around, just the two of them glued at the hip.



My boy Joe and my new sweetheart Carmela are the proud parents of Crystal a fat as butter, as my friend is fond of saying, Pyreness Sheepdog, Griffon, Portuguese Setter, Estrella cross.

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The Biggie 2...just when you thought it was safe to go back on the farm

Sunday 13th August, day two of the biggie.



The far bank of the Mondego had practically burnt to a cinder, there was not much left to go and I was feeling like I might have escaped. Rob had been over to inspect the damage, we had been for a cofeee and smoked a cigar and congratulated ourselves on getting away with it. At around 2pm the wind did a complete reversal from blowing from the South West to howling like a banshee from the North East. It skipped over the Mondego river without pause and started in my direction in earnest.

I was sitting on the computer, drink in hand thinking that Senda Verde was a blessed place when I started to see horrid acrid smoke fly past the window. I ran outside and onto the house roof and realized that it wasnt over the nightmare was only just starting.

I managed to wave down a helicopter, Id see this guy many times pulling water from my river over the last two weeks and always gave him the thumbs up and a cheery fist salute. This time I had a sheet and was waving it madly and pointing to the ridge line, jumping around like a mad man. He did his best, he pulled 8 bucket loads from the river in front and dropped it on the lower ridge line, the area that would potentially stop the fire from crossing the small river where I draw my drinking and irrigation water from. He circled me after 8 loads, seemingly saying, "sorry mate I can do no more" and headed off to save a village or something.

I turned the landrover for a fast getaway, started her up, put the wee man and carmela in the back, shut the caravan, loaded the tractor and all I could find into the barn, gave the cat a bucket of water and chucked two buckets onto her mezzanine floor area. I ran with lilly down to her animal house and did the same trying to clear as much loose hay and burnable crap out of the stall. I left her with a kiss, some water and a prayer.

I took my last photo as the fire engulfed an old ruin that sits at the same hight as my water fall pool. I decided that when it reached there I had to go, I wasnt so sure about the geography on this one and the road out of Senda Verde runs very close to the ever rising fire line. I realized I was pushing my luck, so with one more snap I got Joe in the car and we raced upwards to the village and the community center for another 24 hours of nail biting waiting.

I was allowed back down at 4am Sunday morning, I managed to kick the door in on Lillys house, it was burning up when I got there and I got her out, the poor thing was in shock but shes gone to Rob and Fis with fresh green grass and lots of love. Im going to visit with Maggie on Wednesday and I hope theres no lasting damage and Maggie can give her a good check up, physically she was fine on the outside.

The cat seemed like nothing had happened which is a blessing, the barn and the house got hit very little, a tribute to swales and decent irrigation.

I have some videos which I will post when I have some time, some powerful pieces of nature red in tooth and claw.

Life goes on, ive still got 5 or 6 raised beds with plants growing and tomorrow I hope to fix some sort of irrigation system so they dont die a slow death, Im down to my last 500 lts in the tanks so its a water tonight and tomorrow and then I better get some water from somewhere.

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