Reinstating original window openings - renovation of a stone built Spanish farmhouse

[@old_con]

I love the way right from your first video’s you have never let anything phase you. Problems big or small have always been overcome and each project has been finished beautifully and successfully. Well done Andy and Sharon for all your hard work. 👍🏽😎

[@suecole8200]

Love the window opening

[@roberta1678]

I always enjoy your garden updates and there is something strangely soothing about watching Andy throwing his mix and tapping in stones. Looking forward to seeing the finished room. It is easy to tell that the heat has been wearing you down. Fingers crossed for cooler weather and rain for you.

[@jaymurtagh]

Sharon love the garden updates, I think you are doing very well, it's a case of trial and error, to see what grows well in your climate and your soil. Andy that window opening looked like a real bugger, you work so hard, and you get it done. That room is going to be great with the original window spaces opened up again.

[@inezmasefield3822]

Love watching you guys. Did you notice that there is a face on the outside area of the wall Andy is currently working on? right next to that piece of clay pot, it's a happy face .

[@katbar6066]

Love the garden updates. You are doing well Sharon. I think the Donkey poo might have been a bit too fresh and it needed a bit more time before putting it in the soil but we learn from our mistakes and it doesn't seem to stop you having a go. I also love how you repurpose whatever you can to grow stuff in.

[@paulinestevens9351]

Great work, must be hard in those temperatures 🥰

[@barbarashapiro7499]

Sharon, I've always been told potatoes thrive in poor soil and don't even need soil. They can even grow in straw. Next time you might save your good soil amendments for crops that need them and toss your potatoes in poor soil, as long as it's not dense clay. Potatoes do need good drainage. As always, you and Andy make steady progress, even in the heat. Every week your hard work shows.

[@lorraineelderhurst4199]

Many of the Italians who came to Australia to help build hydro scheme put potatoes all over their front yards to have a food crop but also break up the hard poor soil. They produced enough for the year and used tops as compost which they dug in.

[@carolleenkelmann3829]

2 tiny potatoes. 😂. Had that happen to me too. My best harvest was when I had a couple of volunteer bushes from potato peels in the compost which yielded poorly but bigger than tiny. This year I gave the potatoes a miss.

[@Juanfernandez-sm8jl]

😊😊😊😊😊😊Orgulloso de vuestro trabajo,, es un orgullo tener a personas como vosotros, seguís en la lucha y no os rendíes es fantástico.

[@annar6430]

❤Andy, you're an Archeologist 👍

[@Tigger4747]

Well done with the melons. They are far too close together so getting any is very impressive. You should give the melons and peppers some tomato food. All fruiting plants like it (except blueberries and crarnberries!). Had you thought of shade cloth strung up over the veg in the hottest part of summer? Lots of KZbinrs in Portugal seem to do that. Shame about the potatoes. Soil that rich is better for squashes, cougettes, melons, pumpkins etc. Maybe you could grow climbing melons and squashes (or beans?) along the fence around the chickens next year and give them some shade. In some very sunny places people grow crops under their solar panels, although maybe their panels are a but higher up off the ground than yours. Something to think about if you ever build them a new frame?

[@ColliWobblers-d1b]

Keep at it mate you are going great guns!!

[@katefinnegan8129]

Great work Andy. Can’t wait to see a window reaveal.

[@Albrecht_von_Preussen]

The structure of these walls is quite interesting! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@user-dr5lg6rd4z]

That's a other window in progress 😊. Keep the good spirits both

[@mafish7962]

❤❤❤

[@janhodgson1740]

Hi would shade cloth help.. when it’s intense heat.. not that I know anything about extreme temperatures.. I’m sure you have tried ❤

[@Guzzlinggas]

Great to see another episode this week

[@sue7190]

❤ good progress.

[@MarkOneMoto]

Wow, great work again. At 4.35, when Sharon was looking at the peppers..did you notice to her right, there’s a crack in the old render that looks just like Scooby Do?! 😆…ps, when you broke through the wall Andy..that was crying out for a ‘here’s Johnny’ lol..brilliant work and you absolutely made the right decision to shore up the wall first by the way, very wise move 👏🏼👍

[@FincaLife]

lol, cheers Mark

[@Rickilyn]

Just love your updates! Blessings

[@LookingForLloyd]

👍

[@Davewislon]

Great stuff Andy couldn't you remove some of the little stones and fit one big one as there's hundreds of little ones to point round just a couple of rows maybe.from Dave north Yorkshire I'll seezthe

[@FincaLife]

You making more work for me :D

[@goertz8939]

I live in the interior of Canada so you might want to take this advise with a grain of salt because my growing conditions are completely different. However what particular plants like will be he same no matter where they grow. I use straw as a layer on top of the soil because it slows down evaporation from the soil, makes it more difficult for weeds to grow and keeps the soil cool which most plants like. The pots you plant in may work better if you protect the outside of the pot from the sun. I’m wondering if that may be why no potatoes grew in the bathtub. Does the soil in the bathtub remain cool?

[@murdomacinnes6176]

👍😎🍻

[@coby6417]

🌟👏👍🍀💐

[@portugal1969]

😁👏👍🤔😘

[@SmithsdaleFarm]

Sure we’ve asked before but my memory is terrible. thehydrated lime you use, are you buying hydrated lime or are you slaking some in a barrel somewhere? You don’t stop you two, even in the height of summers heat 💪

[@FincaLife]

We buy it bagged and ready to use. We don't really see the point in slaking it ourselves, let someone else do the nasty work :) It's cheap enough and widely available and you want hidroxido de cal or sometimes it's called hidroxido calico.

[@SmithsdaleFarm]

@@FincaLife ye I’ve used the hydroxide to do some white washing but wasn’t sure about any kind of mortar work with it. Will definitely give it a try, the NHL stuff is $$$

[@FincaLife]

@@SmithsdaleFarm We don't particularly like NHL and much prefer hydrated lime. We find it easier to work with and the results are great but bear in mind, it can take a few weeks to carbonate to full hardness. We generally use hydrated lime 4:1 (4 sand, 1 lime) although if you need a really sticky mix (sticking stones to ceilings etc), go to 3:1 Our local merchants sells both. Hydrated lime is about 5,50€ for a 12kg bag and NHL 7,50€ for a 25kg bag. Make sure everything you are wanting to stick is wetted down and you should be fine. Have a practice first lol.

[@SmithsdaleFarm]

@@FincaLife thanks a lot for the advice guys ☺️ we keep looking at slacking some lime but it looks a faff and we’re not exactly water rich up on the mountain. Will definitely have a go with some of the hydrate 👍

[@user-vy3vk2sb8p]

❤