Gardening
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Tavira Climate Change Plan Consultation
If you have not already responded to the Tavira Climate Change Action Plan Consultation here are the dates, link to the plan and an English translation.Also an English translation of the presentation given in the library.You have till 8 April 2025 to respond. English translation of Tavira Climate Change Plan over 10mb download Participatory Public Consultation Sessions – PMAC Tavira The Municipal Climate Action Plan (PMAC) is still being analyzed and the Camara want your participation! Join the participatory sessions in villages and contribute to a more sustainable future for Tavira. Schedule of Sessions: Sta. Catherine F. Bishop – 25.03 | Parish Board | 18h00 đź“Ť Luz of Tavira –…
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Community Gardens available! Apply Now!
Do you want an opportunity to grow your own food locally around Tavira? Some community gardens are available but you need to act quickly. Angela Rosa, one of the promoters sent me this message. I have translated it from Portuguese into English. We are letting people know that registrations for the community food gardens in Santa Luzia, Santa Catarina, Cabanas, Santo Estevao and Tavira are now open. The closing date is soon February 3rd, 2025. Many people may not be aware of this initiative and that the registration deadline will be closing soon. So, there will be an information session later today, Friday January 31st 2025, 18:00 Lisbon time. Here…
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Community Garden and Mobility Plan Update
Yesterday, 13 April I was blessed (I am not sure that is the right word) but anyway it was a gift, to be able to go to visit Community Gardens in Spain. I will do a separate blog post and add more photos and write about the trip tomorrow. But for now the important message is about the CEAT Community garden. The regulations consultation finishes tomorrow. It has been an impossibily short consultation period. I hope the Camara extends the period. This is the message I received from Ecotopia Activa Association today. “As mentioned on the bus, Monday (15/04) is the deadline for participation in the Public Consultation of the…
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Community garden – regulations consultation Tavira
Community gardens are becoming the backbone of communities, which is no less the case locally in Tavira. I recently watched a video from New Zealand about community composting, and it has fired me up because the benefits to the soil and human interaction are enormous. I wonder if Tavira could add a community composting club/project to the community garden. I digress; more about composting in a future post. Today I noticed on the facebook page Os Jardins Alimentares a post by Angela Rosa. It mentioned a consultation document about the regulations associated with community gardens in Tavira. The message from the Camara says: i️ Edital (extract) n. the 495/2024 Submit to…
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Water, Water, not everywhere
It is raining so I am writing. Jim made a spreadsheet of our water bills yesterday and we talked about what we could do to reduce our consumption, which includes encouraging people who visit to use less water. Tavira Verde is switching off our second water meter on April 10. From June 1st through to the end of September we cannot use house water for the garden and we will potentially have no garden water as our bore hole is dry. Tavira Verde – website – Drought message Tavira MC has a limited statement about climate change on its website. It needs to be updated to reflect the drought situation.…
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Are the community gardens in Tavira under threat? – Voicing your concerns
I was contacted by the association ACTIVE ECOTOPIA to translate documents and help spread the message about a possible threat to the Community Gardens in Tavira. Jim and I were part of the protest a few years ago to save the historic Agricultural Centre in Tavira where the Community Gardens are now flourishing.I have translated the document from Portuguese into English with the help of DeepL and added some native English sense. Coming from a large city in England we know what traffic congestion really means and why it is important to maintain as much green space and promote public transport and not cater just to cars by creating new…
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Sorting a garden nuisance
It was 82F in the shade when I came back to the house. I am not sure what that is in C and I am too hot to check. I have been in my garden from 7:00am till 9:00am. Well, the part that has a few vegetables. We have 2 acres more or less of stone, rocks, trees, poor soil and areas where we have spent years improving the ground. I tend to ignore our early attempt at raised beds as they aren’t working that well. But this morning I decided to tackle a couple of strawberry beds. I hesitate to call them strawberry beds as they both have half…
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Sunday – planting trees in the Mata forest, near Tavira
Around twenty people came to the Mata forest, near Tavira, (including one family with two small children) to plant trees on Sunday, 26 November. Young people and some people with years behind them mingled and worked together on a warm morning and into the afternoon. Around seven nationalities were represented, including Portuguese, Italian, German, Belgium, Swiss, French and British. The focus was the land. The aim was to not only plant trees but to care for some of the existing trees and plants, by watering, mulching, pruning, and cleaning. The trees planted were native and have a good chance of survival in this landscape. They include Carob, Strawberry Tree (medronha),…
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G is for Gertrude and Gardening
“There comes a day towards the end of March when there is little wind…..The sun has gained much power so that it is pleasant to sit out in the garden or better still in some sunny nook…….” Gertrude Jekyll Gertrude Jekyll’s appreciation of colour within her flowering schemes is renowned. She knew what to do and when to do it. Further south from her England, there is what could be termed an expat gardener’s lament. It goes something like this; “I know what to do in England, (Holland, Germany, fill in the country), but here it is so different. When do I plant? When should I sow? How often should…
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Fracking, flowers and water
It is the time of year when the wildflowers come up on our hill. Yellows, mauve and every shade of green intermingle with reds and delicate orange. I have just been sitting among the flowers, thinking about this post. The theme is supposed to be fracking. It’s an unpleasant word with destructive consequences. I do not want to write about it, but I will mention what is going on, as fracking in the Algarve could potentially wipe out the abundance of natural beauty.
