We’ve had our busiest start to a year so far, with two solid months of new arrivals coming in almost daily. Some guests stayed for a few weeks, and many left us lovely reviews. It’s always nice to see familiar faces returning—and even nicer knowing some new ones will be back.

It’s also been the coldest and wettest winter we’ve experienced here, with some saying it’s the worst in 20 years. The rain has kept the land very green, and on the drier days we’ve been back out strimming again. We’ve closed off our first line of pitches for now, as they’ve had the most use over the years and need time to recover. We’re giving the ground a chance to regenerate and strengthen. Fallen carob pods and olive leaves have been gathered and spread over bare areas, and we’re doing the same with most of the cuttings from the land. This approach has worked well in the past, with more grass and wildflowers gradually returning.

After many years of hosting volunteers, we’ve decided to move away from that system as the project evolves. Instead, we’re now looking for caretakers—people who would like to stay longer-term and take on some responsibility for the land. The aim is to build a small, steady community, while also allowing us a bit of time away now and then.

The agave has continued flowering over the past few months and is now starting to fade. A new pup has appeared at its base, ready to take over when the main plant dies back.

We’ve also been having a bit of a clear-out. Some old furniture has been recycled or donated, and we’re gradually reducing the amount of leftover building materials around the site.

One of our old table tops, which had been badly damaged by water, has been given a new life. We’ve upcycled it using broken tiles, and it now looks great.

The pool has continued to give us a few challenges since last summer, but things are slowly improving. We’re hoping to have it fully up and running again from April.

We’ve started planting some food and seeds again, and for the first time, we’ve used the spiral snail for growing herbs.

The olives have now been picked. We only had around 15 kilos this year, but it was enough to exchange for 2 litres of organic olive oil, which we’re very happy with. We’re now busy pruning the olive trees. The hedges have been trimmed and the carob trees pruned too. We’re just waiting for the other trees to drop their leaves before we tackle those as well.

We’ve planted three more false pepper trees along the hedge between the pitches, filling in a few gaps. They’re fast-growing, drought-tolerant, and should provide welcome shade for the pitches in just a few years.

With the summer fire-ban now lifted, we’ve been burning the weeds we’ve cleared. The ash is full of nutrients and will be spread around to benefit the plants.

We held our third seed swap social event recently, and it was a great success. It was lovely to catch up with others working on similar projects, and everyone went home with something new to grow.

One of our oldest agaves has sent up a huge flowering stem, and it’s slowly starting to bloom. The plant will die back afterwards, but for now it looks absolutely incredible.

We’ve covered the chicken coop with netting to prevent wild birds from mixing with ours, in line with current requirements in Spain to protect against bird flu.

We wish everyone a very happy festive season!

After a long, hot, and rather slow summer, it’s time to get back to work. The chickens, plants, and land have all been ticking over nicely, but not much else has been happening. We’ve had the odd bit of rain, which has helped keep the land fairly green through the last few months.

Now that summer’s coming to an end, we’ve packed away the outdoor furniture and started preparing for winter—our busiest season here. Most of our guests at this time of year come from Northern Europe, heading south to enjoy the milder temperatures.

We’ve also held our third AGM for the Association. Membership is open to everyone (€30 per year) and offers discounts on stays as well as access to all our facilities and events. Please get in touch if you’d like to know more.

An old wheelbarrow has been given a new lease of life—it’s been painted up and now serves as a sign outside the entrance to promote our fresh eggs.

A few members have decided to store their caravans and campervans here for a while. It’s a service we’ve always offered, but not one we’ve really publicised until now.

The acacia trees we grew from seed—originally from one of our seed swaps—have outgrown their pots and been planted out in areas where other saplings haven’t survived.

And finally, we’re now enjoying our own figs and grapes, freshly picked and wonderfully sweet.

The chillies, peppers, lemongrass, and tomato plants are all doing well and producing nicely.

The whole site has had its first full strim, which made a big difference. Half of the land has already been done again, and the second round is much quicker—everything’s looking far more presentable now.

We’ve put up the sail shades and made up the outdoor beds to create two shaded chillout areas for the summer. The chickens have been given a bit of shade too, so they can stay cool.

We’ve been trimming back the hedges and bushes to give them some shape and help them grow better.

We’ve also had some cotton VerdeVeras t-shirts and bags printed to help promote the project locally, which we’re really pleased with.

After a long run of pool issues, we’ve finally managed to get it repaired and properly cleaned—so it’s now ready to enjoy for the rest of the summer.

Wild rabbits are still darting about the land, which can be a bit frustrating, but thankfully they haven’t managed to get into the fenced-off food growing area.

We’ve planted tomatoes on one of the horseshoe mounds, with some basil and comfrey seeds mixed in to keep them company. Last year’s pepper plants are coming back to life, and we’ve got asparagus coming up nicely in one of the raised beds.

A bell tent has been put up, ready to house any volunteers who join us over the summer.

Strimming continues across the land—we’re about halfway through now, and more of the plants are starting to show themselves again.

The wildflowers, though a bit overgrown, are attracting loads of butterflies, and we’ve noticed a big increase in bird activity this year. Some are pinching the chickens’ food, while others are moving back into the nests they built in our laundry room in previous years.

We’ve recently installed a few security cameras to help us keep an eye on things around the land.

We’re also in conversation with a local musician about working together to manage and promote a series of summer events. It’s an exciting new direction for the project, and one that we hope will be rewarding for everyone involved. Watch this space!

After several weeks of rain—and two bouts of flooding—the wildflowers have sprung up all over the land and are growing fast. Strimming the driveway and camping pitches is our main focus for now, so there’s space for guests, but we’re leaving the rest to the pollinators for the time being. Once the flowers have finished, we’ll cut those areas too. All the cuttings are left on the ground, and we’re working to cover bare patches so that something more permanent can take hold over time.

We were kindly given an apple tree, only to learn they need a second one nearby to produce fruit—so we’ve now bought and planted a second. Along one of our ridges, we’ve also planted some rosemary. If it does well, we plan to add more and form a hedge for extra structure and scent.

Our avocado tree, still in its pot, has been cut back to half its height. It’s responding well, with new shoots starting to come through. We’ll plant it out properly this spring. In the meantime, we’ve cleared a large, mounded area ready for growing tomatoes, and our chilli plants have been spending time outside each day to harden off before they go into the raised beds.

Last year’s chilli plants have been cut back, and new leaves are already starting to grow. This year, we’re keeping them shorter to help protect them from the wind and encourage a bushier shape.

We’ve planted two new fruit trees, a mandarin and a pear, both generously donated. The mandarin is already producing fruit, which is a promising start.

Just before the rain arrived, we managed to place some large stones in the soakaway and planted a mix of wildflowers in our little garden. Hopefully, they’ll establish well.

We’ve just had eight days of rain, with the land flooding twice and our electricity running very low. But we made it through, and now the ground is starting to dry out and turn bright green again. Before long, it will be overgrown and need trimming, which will at least provide more ground cover.

While the land is still soft, we’re taking the opportunity to dig more swales and enlarge the soakaway. This will help protect the most vulnerable areas by either holding water where it’s needed or diverting excess away from the land.

We placed leek ends in water until they sprouted roots and have now planted them in a new raised bed.

To provide wind protection for the crops we’ll plant this spring, we’ve positioned small cypress trees around two sides of two raised beds.

We’ve planted six new false pepper trees around the event space, hoping they’ll grow quickly and provide much-needed shade. This should also encourage the grass to spread further in that area.

It’s been quite cold here over the past few weeks, but temperatures are starting to rise again. With a bit of warmth, we should be able to start growing more food soon.

January and early February have been busy with guests, and we’ve realised that winter is actually our peak season. It’s been lovely to receive such positive reviews.

To improve waste sorting, we’ve created new recycling signs with pictures, as not all guests were familiar with our system. We’ve also added large male and female signs to the toilet block to make things clearer.

We’ve been cutting back some of our carob and olive trees, removing the leaves from the branches to use as mulch. This will help nourish our plants and cover bare patches of soil.

We celebrated New Year’s Eve in the bar with our guests. The wood burner kept us cosy, and board games kept everyone entertained. At midnight, we climbed to our highest ridge to watch the firework displays lighting up the surrounding area—it was a beautiful way to welcome the new year.

We’ve rebuilt our wormery using an old bath, which now lets us collect the nutrient-rich liquid produced. A bucket under the plughole catches it all, ready for use in the garden.

One of our larger succulents has been busy producing pups, so we’ve removed the smaller plants to give it more space. The pups have been replanted along the edges of our ridges, where we hope they’ll thrive.

The chickens are still laying well, producing four eggs a day, which our guests have been enjoying. We’re still harvesting tomatoes and rocket, but most of the other vegetables have slowed or stopped as the colder temperatures settle in.

The acacia tree seeds from the seed swap are growing well, and we’re excited to see them thrive.

We’ve germinated a fresh batch of chilli seeds, which are now sprouting. In preparation for next year, we’ve planted small cypress trees to form a hedge around the raised beds. This should help protect them from the wind and, hopefully, allow us to plant our chillies outside next season.

After the rain, we’ve been busy with more strimming and weeding, but it’s great to see everything looking green again.

We’ve planted some baby aloe vera and yucca cuttings from our larger plants, including a new row of aloes along the fence near the rainwater ditch. With some added letters to the fence to keep rabbits out, the area seems to be holding up well so far.

Three of our biggest palm trees, grown from seed, have now been planted in the ground. We’re waiting to see how they fare before planting the rest.

We’ve also taken advantage of the damp earth to spread another layer of cob on the stage.

While working around the internal perimeter, we discovered three random baby olive trees growing—it’s always a nice surprise when nature gives us something unexpected.

In other news, we’ve added a beautiful new painting to the female bathroom, created by one of our talented volunteers.

Wishing you all a happy festive season and a wonderful new year!