First working day at the Quinta

in Homesteadinglast month

Tractor.jpg

Yesterday was the first working day at the Quinta. It's been raining quite a lot during the winter, and the grass is quite high. I hired a tractor from Andy, a British friend of Robin, who purchased an old tractor a few months ago. The foggy morning offered me a new and different view of the area.

1000011234.jpg

Robin came with his old bike. I called him to ask if he wanted a ride but he is used to riding the bicycle and kindly refused.

1000011258.jpg

After unloading the tractor from the trailer, Robin started taking care of the grass and got most of the land mowed, except for some minor areas around the trees and the corners.

1000011233.jpg

1000011238.jpg

I got all wet while pruning the olive trees when Robin was taking care of the grass. Here's a photo of my feet wet due to all the moisture.

1000011249.jpg

Around noon half of the place was mowed and the sun started coming out and the place looked beautiful again. I walked around the land while working to see how most of the fruit trees are blooming and it was a nice surprise to see how the fig tree is already full of small figs.

1000011263.jpg

1000011265.jpg

I also took the opportunity to charge my portable battery with the portable solar panel. I am using it only for my cellphone, my computer, and a small light but it was already halfway down. After charging for 4 hours I got it all full again.

1000011288.jpg

There was a stork on the abandoned soccer field in front of the farm. Due to the rain, there are big parts full of water and you could see how it was picking and "hunting" warms.

1000011299.jpg

After most of the day working at the farm, I decided to go to a local agricultural store and get a grass trimmer to manually take care of the areas the tractor could not reach.

1000011301.jpg

but that will have to wait for next week as today's plan is to work online with the team to get everything ready for tomorrow's launch at the Beer Festival. I will drive to Lisbon to spend the night there and catch a flight in the morning.