PORTUGAL The seasons are changing on our mountain farm in Portugal, and it’s time to start shaping the outdoor living spaces around our old farmhouse.
Using rubble from an old chimney and demolished wall inside, we begin creating the base for what will eventually become our outdoor kitchen area, a place to cook, gather, and enjoy the incredible valley views.
Before that can happen, there’s plenty of groundwork to do. I need to relocate some earlier plantings and start preparing a new footing, raising this section of ground by around half a metre to create a usable terrace.
Over time I’ve also been removing the heavy concrete posts that once held aluminium poles attached to the house. The final one still needs to come out, and like most things here, nothing goes to waste, these will eventually be reused in future landscaping projects around the farm.
In the coming episodes we’ll start sharing the direction we are leaning towards for the final design of this outdoor space.
With summer slowly approaching, now’s the time to get these outdoor areas organised before the heat arrives.
Life on our mountain farm continues, one project at a time.
0:00 Intro 2:17 In this video 3:25 Taking out the last concrete post 7:46 Digging a veggie garden bed 8:44 Sowing chamomile & phacelia seeds 10:32 Digging courtyard footings 12:36 Spring blossoms by the house 13:12 Bathroom work 15:41 Burning weed waste 17:27 Transplanting to make way for courtyard extension 19:15 Afternoon mountain views #nature#lifestyle
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Six months ago we packed our lives and moved into this abandoned stone farmhouse
in the mountains of central Portugal.
At the time the place had been sitting empty for years.
The land was overgrown, the buildings needed work,
and we had no real blueprint for what it would become.
But something about it felt right.
So we brought the dog, moved in, and started figuring things out one day at a time.
Since then most of our days have been spent slowly bringing the land back to life.
Opening access across the farm, clearing years of overgrowth,
managing water, and gradually removing invasive monocultural trees.
At the same time we're planting and encouraging native Portuguese to return,
reviving an old orchard, and now starting our vegetable garden.
Inside the house we've been focusing on making a small part of it livable.
We removed the old chimney, built an insulated wall,
installed a wood burner, and insulated the floor so we could get through winter.
We've also started work on the bathroom, the kitchen area, and the courtyard.
Around the farm there are several old sheds as well.
We're still figuring out what some of them will become.
But we're already started with the first one,
turning it into a small plant nursery where we're raising seedlings for the land.
There is still a lot to do, but slowly this place is starting to change.
And after six months here it's beginning to feel like home.
Welcome to Back to Basics.
The weather is taking a seasonal change. Things are heating up.
Time to spend more moments outside and getting our outdoor living space planned and underway.
We've used the old chimney and wall debris from inside to add fill
and lift up the ground level here.
Somewhere along here we'll have the outside kitchen.
Which is a bit of a priority now.
I need to shift some earlier plantings I've made and start work on another footing.
I've removed concrete posts, super heavy,
that have been upright and holding aluminium poles off the house.
The last one needs to be removed.
I'll recycle these for landscaping usefulness later.
Over the next few videos I'll update you on what direction I'm leaning towards
as far as the finished design.
As summer approaches,
the outdoor living spaces around our farmhouse need to be sorted before the heat arrives.
