STORMS AHEAD - is our Portugal farm ready? EP99

The calm before the storm! We’ve had a few glorious October days here on our Portuguese farm — but with a week of heavy rain forecast, it’s time to make the most of every dry hour.

Our first mission is to gather enough olives for a year’s supply of table olives. We collect around 15 kilos of fruit, enough to fill four and a half five-litre bottles, and begin the soaking and brining process using pure local spring water. There’s even a surprise during the first water change, when one bottle fizzes over like champagne — proof that fermentation is well underway!

Next, we lift the old floorboards in the covered outdoor corridor of the main house and lay the first new board, marking the start of transforming the space into a cosy dining area for rainy days.

Finally, Jane tackles the overgrown stream at the bottom of the land. After drying out over the summer, it’s ready for a good clean, so that the water can run freely once the rain returns.

Life on the land never stops — even when the storms are coming!

#PortugalFarmLife #OliveHarvest #HomesteadLiving #RuralPortugal #sustainablelifestyle

📆 For the 2025 story so far https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnv5B7HgyhATwFKtDM5faErQ6ALvoflKu
🌳 For all that we do with our trees: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnv5B7HgyhASizIa-bFXHRAL88OcIpU_G

Episode 99 - Quick - it's going to rain!
00:00 Welcome to Portugal
00:55 Mini chainsaw
01:56 Up a ladder
03:13 Gathering olives
07:11 Sorting olives
08:33 Filling bottles
11:11 Corridor clear out
14:29 Water change
17:19 Lifting floorboards
20:20 Rotten joists
24:44 Replacement joists
26:28 New flooring
27:56 Jane vs stream

Music this week is from uppbeat.io and features:
April Showers by The Lakes

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