Information for participants

We are creating a beautiful ecosystem in the meditative silence of the Portuguese countryside. In our experience working on the land reconnects you with nature and helps you recharge your mental and physical battery. You can join us as a participant in May/June or October/November.

In 2024, we bought two connected plots of land near Penamacor in Portugal. One part is open countryside with a small lake in the middle and some 70 mature olive trees (Lago). The other part is 2/3 feral forest with cork oak, olive and lots of gorse and 1/3 arable land (Floresta).

Florago is an oasis of peace in one of the last quiet areas in Europe. Enjoy this meditative silence, being in nature and the great views of the surroundings and the Estrelas Mountains. We work on the land part of the day and also take our time to relax and explore. From the land you can do great hiking and MTB cycling in an undiscovered area. After the hike, you can take a dip in the small lake on the land or in the stream a little further away.

Travel a little further and visit beautiful authentic mountain villages like Montsanto and Penamacor. And within an hour’s drive you are in the high mountains of the Estrelas, Portugal’s highest mountains with numerous hiking trails.

We are developing the land at Florago based on the principles of permaculture design and organic farming. So working with nature instead of against nature and no use of synthetic fertilisers or pesticides. We are creating a diverse food forest with fruits, nuts, berries and herbs. Every year, we plant about 200 more trees and shrubs. So once the food forest becomes productive, we can all enjoy these yields. By eating them directly or if the production is high enough, by preserving them together for later use. Last autumn, we harvested and preserved our first olives and they are amazing.

Accommodation at Florago is basic at this moment. We sleep in tents and camper vans. There is a compost toilet available, solar for electricity, we cook on an outdoor gas kitchen, get water from the spring near the village and shower with a camping shower bag. In the near future we plan to build platforms for the tents, a toilet en shower building, tool shed, communal kitchen and some wooden cabins.

We are looking for participants who want to join us in enjoying this great place in nature and also put their energy and creativity into developing and preserving it. If you are interested, please contact us on info@florago.org and we can set up on online meeting to get to know each other.

You can also support our food forest by donating one or more trees.

Visit our blog to get the latest news about the Florago project.

We hope to welcome you soon in Portugal,

Joyce & Remco