The Quinta Project

The Quinta Project is a 5.5-hectare farm and queer ecovillage nestled in the São Mamede mountains of Portugal. The land includes two vegetable gardens, olive groves, a young food forest, a Montado regeneration project, four streams, shaded woodlands, rocky outcrops and wild corners. It is home to its founder, his dogs and cat, and a rotating community of volunteers, guests and friends. Life at the Quinta blends practical land work—growing food, clearing land, cooking, and tending the food forest—with the pleasures of shared meals, coffee outdoors, and long-term friendships. The project describes itself as a home for queer changemakers, mavericks, treehuggers and dogooders working at the intersection of ecology and social economy. It has recently joined the WWOOF Portugal network to connect with volunteers interested in organic growing and permaculture. Beyond food production, the Quinta hosts a natural wine project (Promíscua/São Mamede Wine Project) and seasonal gatherings that bring people together for shared experience, creativity and connection. Visitors and volunteers are welcomed on a flexible basis: some come to work the land, others to join a gathering, and others simply to experience daily life on the farm for a day or two, without a fixed itinerary. Meals are largely vegetarian and often vegan, typically shared communally when people are present. At its core, the Quinta Project is both a physical piece of land and an online community, oriented around permaculture principles, queer ecology, and the slow, ongoing work of making a place—and a community—more fully itself.