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Eating for free—in Portugal’s Alentejo

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I recently bought half a butternut squash (mogango) from the local supermarket in Estremoz and was dismayed when I got home to see that it came all the way from South Africa! Why? When Portugal, and especially the Alentejo, produces pumpkins and squash in the millions. Annoyed with myself for not checking the label, I decided that having bought a vegetable with such a humungous footprint I would just have to make the most of it. Luckily for me, I follow a UK garden expert on Instagram who knows what he’s doing…

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Putt putts and petrol heads in the Alentejo

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Estremoz classic car show

Anyone who follows us on Facebook or Instagram will soon see that we are lovers of vintage bikes and old cars…in fact anything that is pre-computerised motors and can be tinkered with and fixed by a humble mechanic. So, we were more than happy to find that in Estremoz, and practically in all small towns and larger villages of the Alentejo, there are motor enthusiast clubs that are going strong…

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Three years into our move to Portugal…

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Van life Portugal

We made the big decision to up sticks and move to Portugal in May 2019 – before Covid, before the war in Ukraine and before Brexit happened! There were both push and pull factors at play, but fundamentally we were not happy with the hedonistic lifestyle in Marbella, had recently started our relationship and therefore a new chapter in our lives, and I had lost one of my best friends who passed far too young. On the pull side, we were on a castle-viewing road-trip around central Portugal in our old ’71 WV bug and were really enjoying the towns, monuments, weather, people, food… So, over a bottle of Estremoz wine, we reached a point of re-evaluation and the thought of spending another 10-15 years working in an office (and garage) lead us both to make a major change.

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Gratitude despite the flood

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Before the storms hit

This week the Alentejo, just like most of the country, suffered some really unpleasant weather. We had received warning SMS messages from the authorities alerting us to the heavy rainfall and storms that were on their way, but we still didn’t feel too worried about the impending deluge. We prepared the vegetable garden with soak-away channels, made sure the drains and guttering were free of leaves and debris, got in lots of firewood and settled down for the evening.

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First steps to self-sufficiency—potatoes

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Grow your own veg Estremoz

Growing your own veg in Estremoz can be hard work – the worst bit being weeding! We’ve found that the weeds in the Alentejo are relentless and grow at an astounding pace with the first sign of rain.

You can buy most fruit and veg at the Saturday produce market in Estremoz at really good prices – so it seems a lot of work to prepare the soil, plant the veg, water, weed etc. but on the other hand as my neighbour says: water and sunshine are free.

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