Seeds, rain and cover crops - Daily life on my off-grid farm in Portugal

[@danthanhcg]

Everything seems to be ready for a thriving vegetable garden. Wishing you a successful harvest season 😊

[@Itsirislisette]

@@danthanhcg Thank you 😊 I can’t wait for the first harvest 🌱💚

[@501jamir]

Hard work there hun!!must buy a small tractor to turn the earth properly!i m sure no one has touched this land for years so anyway congrats for everything you achieve!!!!!!you have my total respect!!

[@Itsirislisette]

@@501jamir Thanks 💪🏻💪🏻 It would be faster with a machine for sure 😅 But I don’t mind the work and the environment and my wallet are happy with that too 😉

[@truusvdkraats3260]

After years of struggling with drip irrigation I now work with the traditional pt way of watering with irrigation channels where you plant the veggies next to, much more control about the amount of water and you dont need al this plastic shit for the drip irrigation. And when the Channel is filling up with the water I always do some little jobs that has to be done. And also I learned to keep everything close by for the watering, exspecially the first years, much nicer to keep up with everything and gives you much less stress, it can be very overwelming if you spread everything, better to keep it in sight;)) good luck and enjoy your time on your homestead!

[@Itsirislisette]

@@truusvdkraats3260 Thank you for sharing your experience. Those are definitely thoughts I also had regarding the irrigation set-up. I fully agree with the plastic aspect as well. Not the „nicest“ option for sure. I will keep thinking about this 😊

[@terryvarta9306]

this is wat am gonna do

[@diegocontipereira]

Well done Iris! I planning live off grid as well. I have a huge admiration for you. Hugs

[@Itsirislisette]

@@diegocontipereira Thank you 🤗 Lots of success on your journey 💚

[@diegocontipereira]

@@Itsirislisette Obrigado 💚

[@insAneTunA]

I love what you are doing with the wildflowers and the cover crops. I have a tiny garden and I have been trying to do the same thing with the wildflowers. But this year here in the Netherlands we had a terrible start of the season with far too much rain and clouds, and far too cold temperatures for the time of the year. And none of my seeds that I sowed during the entire spring season did germinate. Only two months after the recommended time of the year, when we were already two weeks in the summer season, I could get some wildflower seeds to germinate in pots and some planters. Which was a great success considering the fact that nothing else would work. A lot of them are still blooming. If you can rake or plow some rows, and carefully drop the seeds in those rows, and cover it carefully with the soil instead of spreading the seeds randomly and raking it, then you get a much higher success rate. But any type of sowing method is always better as not sowing any seeds at all. A big 👍

[@Itsirislisette]

@@insAneTunA It really can be quite challenging with the unpredictability of the weather. I am glad to hear, that in the end you still had some nice results 🌱🌸

[@brigittekuss9205]

Hi Iris, greetings from Germany! I like the idea, that you gathered seeds while hiking to sow them in your garden! But I am not sure, if it is a good idea to bring german wildflowers to a portugese ecosystem. You see, insects are quite often very specialized, they need specific flowers as food... So portugese insects will need portugese wildflowers... I don't think, that it will be a problem for having an flowerpatch in your garden, but if you want to do something good for the ecosystem, try to find portugese seeds! Another tip: leave some time between putting the dolomite/magnesium mix and the seeds into the soil, so that the mix can spread into the soil. Seeds don't need that much food, only when the plants get bigger, they need additional food. For this reason, you can buy special seeding soil in Germany with less nutrients... Well, let's see, how it works! Ich bin gespannt, wie sich Deine kleine Farm entwickelt! Viel Glück!

[@Itsirislisette]

@@brigittekuss9205 Greetings back 🙋🏼‍♀️💚 They were all wildflowers from my hiking adventures in Portugal. So, very regional seeds 🌱 I am curious too, how this will all develop 😃

[@mariliaamaral4921]

Ola Irish Lisette nice to see you. Preparing your terrace for the crops, good job. After a hot summer good the rain is coming the soils will appreciate. See you Sunday have a nice week 😊

[@Itsirislisette]

@@mariliaamaral4921 Ola 🙋🏼‍♀️ Yes, the rain was so needed 🙏💚🌱

[@ciprianoneves7246]

I admire you Iris. Muito bom trabalho rapariga.

[@Itsirislisette]

@@ciprianoneves7246 Obrigada 🙏💚

[@gustavovazq]

The rain must have felt so good! I planted some cover crop seeds in Portugal and the ants carried most of them away! Do you have any advice?

[@Itsirislisette]

@@gustavovazq Yes, such a relief 🙏Two possible ideas to try out: Keep the ground were the seeds are as wet/moist as possible. Ants tend to enjoy more dry environments. And a wet soil is important for the seeds to develop anyway. Have you used diatomaceous earth before? This might be worth looking into. It has many benefits for the soil (more minerals) and can act as a natural „repellent“. There are a few nice videos on KZbin about it. Hope this helps 🌱💚

[@MariDorot]

Great progress Iris. Can you share the brand of the organic pellets please? Really looking forward to seeing what you'll sow/grow next :-)

[@Itsirislisette]

@@MariDorot I believe it was „Biofert“ from Tradecorp

[@MariDorot]

@@Itsirislisette Thanks for replying. Fairly new to growing veggies so I'm always looking for organic fertilizers that are tried and tested :-) since I have no idea what the best ones are.

[@Itsirislisette]

@@MariDorot Happy to share 🤗 I bought it for the first time, so not „full“ experience yet. However we were using a very similar product on one of the farms and we had great success with it.

[@MariDorot]

@@Itsirislisette I'm sure it will be a great success for you :-) Loving your videos.

[@antoniocarvalho6160]

EXCELLENT, HEALTHY FOOD, PURE AIR, PHYSICAL EXERCISE. YOU DON'T NEED TO GO TO THE GYM AND BREATHE OTHER PEOPLE'S SWEAT. THE ANCIENTS SAID, YOU CAN EAT 1 DOG FOR 1 DAY AND YOU HAVE 1 FRIEND FOR LIFE, YOU EAT 1 HUMAN FOR YOUR WHOLE LIFE AND IN ONE DAY YOU LOSE IT. HUGS

[@Itsirislisette]

@@antoniocarvalho6160 Nature and some physical work are great for a healthy body and mind 💚 I am not sure about the „eat“ my dog part 😅🤣 Might have been a typo or lost in translation. But a dog is for sure a best friend for life 🐾

[@victorjoaquim2813]

So you got nothing local, that is proper for the soil and weather

[@Itsirislisette]

@@victorjoaquim2813 I’m happy to get your recommendations on organic/heirloom (cover crop) seeds from Portugal. Still trying to find all the right local shops and brands for it 💚

[@Atimatimukti]

​@@Itsirislisettemost cabbages frim gernany will not grow here. Remrmber, Germany has mostly clay/calk soil. I font know wgere you are but except tge south, tge rest if Portugal tends to granite/acid. If the brassicas are not the chinese type that grow in less tgan 60 days, they will not grow abd gi to flowers after january. If you are close to Porto/Minho I csn help. Im a seed saviour fir 40 years

[@truusvdkraats3260]

Sementas vivas ins organic and good quality seeds, you can find them on the internet, and they are based in Idanha-nova, not so far from you.

[@Itsirislisette]

@@truusvdkraats3260 Yes, thank you. That is indeed a great brand 🌱💚

[@oneworld1160]

@@truusvdkraats3260Yes, I also use them. Seeds and plants from Germany mostly dont make it here. Worthwhile to learn the Portuguese names of veggies and buy small plants at the local farmers market. Usually more reliable than growing from seeds.

[@antoniodasilva1230]

You basically got everything that's already available in Portugal 😂😂😂

[@Itsirislisette]

@@antoniodasilva1230 Yes and no 😊 I am slowly finding organic/heirloom seeds from Portugal that I would want to use in the future. But with the language barrier as well as my remote location, it was easier to do a big order back in Germany.

[@antoniodasilva1230]

@@Itsirislisette yup when you are outside the normal area you will be having difficulty finding stuff that in normal situations is easy

[@lobaton]

I'm Portuguese, my parents have a small farm, I can provide some seeds for you. we save seeds every year for next season.

[@Itsirislisette]

@@lobaton That is a really sweet offer, thank you. As for now, I will use what I‘ve got first. But I might come back to your offer 🙏💚