I'm Thomas, and I live with my parents on Quinta com Vida. We have been redesigning our small quinta since 2019 and growing our own wine here as a hobby. We have over 80 olive trees that we harvest annually and have processed into oil in a cooperative, in addition to pickling olives. We also have over 200 different fruit trees and countless fruit bushes that we cultivate. We grow our own vegetables, keep chickens, sheep, and rabbits, and are increasingly trying to become self-sufficient.

We cultivate our quinta in harmony with nature, using only natural fertilization and avoiding the use of chemicals. A large area of the estate is left completely untouched. In the vineyards, olive groves, and orchards, we practice purely organic disease control and deliberate green manuring by allowing insect-friendly, flowering weeds to grow between the rows. Additionally, we fertilize in winter with compost made from the farm animals' own manure and our own composters, which is made all year round from the pomace from wine and olive oil production and the green cuttings from the soil, creating a cyclical process of growth and production back to nature. We run the Quinta more and more with solar energy and try to minimize water runoff by reforesting the barren meadows with rainwater basins and ponds, creating a small oasis for plants and animals that survive the hot, drought summers in the best possible way without straining the groundwater.