Monchique Homestead (Terra do Milho)
Monchique Homestead is a self-sufficient organic farm in the Serra de Monchique, Algarve, growing vegetables and raising chickens and goats …
Permaculture
Permaculture found fertile ground in Portugal, from Várzea da Gonçala's smallholding in the western Algarve to Terra Alta's courses near Sintra. Design with nature, learn by doing, and visit the places where it works.
Projects in this focus
Lalaland Family Farm
Lalaland Family Farm is a family-oriented regenerative farm in Portugal built on permaculture principles, offering outdoor activities, works…
Quinta Vale da Lama
Quinta Vale da Lama is a 43-hectare regenerative organic farm near Lagos, Portugal, producing certified organic fruits and vegetables while …
Várzea da Gonçala
Várzea da Gonçala is a 7.5-hectare permaculture smallholding near Aljezur in the western Algarve, developed over 18 years into a thriving fo…
Permaculture in Portugal
Permaculture arrived in Portugal with the people who came looking for cheap land and long growing seasons, and it stayed because the design problems here are real ones: thin soil, hard summer rain that runs off instead of soaking in, and five dry months to plan around. Swales, keyline design and water retention landscapes get used here because they have to be.
Várzea da Gonçala works a smallholding in the western Algarve. Terra Alta teaches courses near Sintra. Between them sit farms, land projects and design practices at every scale, several of which run the full Permaculture Design Certificate.
If you want to learn rather than read, the project pages list who teaches and who takes volunteers, and our events calendar carries the courses with dates attached. Related focuses: regenerative agriculture, syntropic farming and agroforestry.