Michel Siebenaller

Permaculture project with idea and space to create a eco-village.
águAmãe: The quinta is located in Alto Alentejo 2 km from Portalegre. Fifteen hectares whit magical forests and a beautiful valley provided by seventeen sources and several mines with healthy water.
Until now we are three people, who start the project, Michel from Luxembourg is a carpenter, already had a little eco business running for 25 years on making furniture. In 2015, he did a permaculture curse in Vale da Lama. Diana born in Barreiro. She is a mother, a master in contemporary jewelry, a veggie chef, and passionat by plants. Loki a 9 year old boy, he have a inexhaustible energy, and have a lot of imagination
We already have some gardens and numerous species of plants, shrubs and trees for local consumption giving us a lot of food. We have so far install a compost toilet, a shower, a community kitchen and we finish a room to stay for wwoofers in the big house.
If you want to learn about carpentry or doing gardening you are welcome. This sommer our plan is so far, fencing some plots for chickens and sheeps and we will need help to build platforms in trees for putting yurts and tens.
Attachment.
And now to our initial project of building a small community project.
When we bought this wonderful land in 2016 that was after Michel’s permaculture course, we knew that because of the size of the eco project, we would have to do a lot of work that could not be done alone. And that there is space and development opportunities for more than just a small family.
Now 5 years later this idea is still open and presenter then ever.
But how do you find the people who suit you? Therefore this little appendix here .. Maybe after Covid there will be more movement in this direction.
Our idea of ​​how this can work together is that we agree on a few basic life goals. Byond that there is plenty of space for private life. More like a village life with community projects such as maintenance, gardens and animals.
-Ecology: We would rather address people who share ecological values ​​without becoming too ideological (e.g. we now have a tractor and other small machines that make noise although we are convinced of the basic ideas of permaculture, we were more uncompromising at the beginning, we tried to get support from volunteer work, but we didn’t get the job done and besides, you cannot ask too much of the volunteer work, that comes very close to exploitation).
– Belief: Our main interest is the here and now in its perfect and imperfect condition. With very little spiritual activity, Diana does a bit of yoga and I may start meditating again when we finish the house. For the rest (that applies to me now: Michel) I am a seeker, I have a hard time believing in something supernatural, that does not mean that I totally trust science, which is unfortunately too often committed to the interests of the general public and the validity as at the time when religions explained the world to man.
– Valid: it would be optimal if you are financially secure when you get in here, but beyond that, with a little bit of savings for the start, you can start a small company, e.g. Brew beer, collect chestnuts and market them, or other agricultural products or whatever … ..
– Living: We still live in our small tree house. At the end of this year we wanted to move into part of the large house. The house, if it is really valuable, offers space for at least 2 more families (you live as a neighbor on rent) that would be legal, easy and fast to regulate.
The other would be a semi-legal hut like we are now in the trees, self-financed and built (we have been living here for 5 years and the people from the national park have been here once, but have not commented on our tree house, so we believe that there are no regulations Tree houses there.
Anyway, such a tree house has a maximum lifespan of 20-30 years.
– Digital: Since we both find it difficult to enter texts behind a screen, we are very little present out there on the internet, it doesn’t have to stay that way when someone joins who is willing to invest time regularly, this can be a lively place with a lot of exchange become. That was our wish at the beginning, unfortunately there is a bit of a problem here with the implementation.
Hope the text here finds resonance and something emerges …