Casalinho e Escabelado

29/10/2025

Since our last progress update the clocks have changed, and that seems to have been the signal for the weather to change too. Gone are the balmy evenings, it's time to dig out the winter duvet and find some socks.

One of the things that we lost in the fire was our supply of winter firewood, so we've had to grit our teeth and buy some. We've been very kindly donated a pile of pallets - the cheapskate farmer's favourite thing after blue twine - and the first batch have already been repurposed into a winter wood store.

Another gift has been an abundance of apples to gather. We lost all our own fruit as the fire hit just before harvesttime, so we really appreciate these as a source of autumn food for the pigs (and for me!). That there’s not a market for apples that aren’t perfect in every way is a really sad reflection on our messed-up food system.

Chillier evenings haven't been the only weather change: we've also had rain. We always do at this time of year, but we'd been hoping it would hold off as long as possible this year to give vegetation maximum time to regrow and protect the bare soil from erosion. Sadly, there's still not much green on the hillsides, so our focus has shifted to ensuring that soil and ash aren't lost, and holding water in our landscape for as long as possible.

The risk of losing precious soil to erosion catapulted upgrades to our existing dams and swales from 'important' to 'urgent'. Thankfully, our fantastic volunteer has arrived and has been helping expand two dams on the far side of the road, both of which are now holding water and an astonishing amount of ash and soil that can be dug out and moved back up the slope later.

This is just part of a bigger water plan, and a great way to put ‘waste’ material from another project to good use. We’re making the most of what we have.

Continuing on the theme of water (and our long-running habit of starting multiple things at once!), the septic tank for the house is the next priority. Call me a princess if you insist, but I'm pretty keen to have a loo inside the house before winter proper sets in - particularly as both compost loos burnt to the ground! As always, it looks like it'll turn into a bigger job than we envisioned.

With the hillside so wet and slippery, work on burying the last part of the water pipe has had to pause. My chicken project is on the back burner for now too. Still, we feel we've made huge strides forward this week.

🌱🌿🌱🌿

We are hugely thankful to everyone who has donated and shared our funding appeal and offered practical help. Please, keep sharing!
https://gofund.me/c793b3274
IBAN: PT50000700000051108650223
MBWay 934348915

19/10/2025

Two months ago today we were shell-shocked. We’d driven back home not knowing what we’d find. It’s hard to believe how much - and how little - has changed since then. Things seem to be moving really slowly. But even though there's little visible progress, we’re still plugging away, bit by bit.

Jeroen's nephew kindly spent his holiday here helping us out, and the two of them spent their time digging, digging, digging - all to get our water pipes properly buried. We managed to lay the pipes soon after the fire and restore our water supply, but this time we were determined to bury them properly; we can’t risk them freezing in winter, or burning again in the event of another fire.

It’s been a mammoth task, but we’re very, very close to finishing it now.

Another time-consuming task has been administrative stuff. It's all out of our hands now though, so we're just keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that we've successfully dotted all the i's and crossed the t's.

So what's the next project? I’m writing this from the Alentejo - Jeroen is on a regenerative agriculture course with Darren Doherty. Hugely inspiring! I’m just enjoying a bit of 'rural tourism' in a non-blackened landscape.

When we get home, we’ll be welcoming our first Workaway volunteer in a very long time. It feels like a surprisingly big step, but we’re hoping that with his help we can keep things moving.

We’ve used some of our GoFundMe funds to buy a temporary pre-made chicken run. The plan is still to rebuild the structure that burnt, but this is a fast-track solution and can become a moveable trolley in the future. I’m itching to get it up and running - and then get some chickens in it, of course! I really miss our birds. Another fun and related project to dive into soon is a new incubator. Watch this space!

It may feel like baby steps at times, but each one is a little forward progress. Your support is helping more than you know - thank you for keeping us going.

We are hugely thankful to everyone who has donated and shared our funding appeal and offered practical help. Please, keep sharing!
https://gofund.me/c793b3274
IBAN: PT50000700000051108650223
MBWay 934348915

16/09/2025

It's been a month since the fire, yet patches are still smouldering. This was inside the chicken enclosure, yesterday.

10/09/2025

When I was gathering photos for this update, I called the folder 'hope'. We finally feel like we’re shifting out of ‘emergency’ mode and beginning to look ahead.

Three weeks post-fire brought two milestones: our first new tree in the ground — a curly willow planted beneath the water mine — and drinking water reconnected. It’s still far too hot and dry for general planting, but this one will benefit from the water overrun. I took the cutting at one of the drift events we attended last year, so it carries memories as well as promise.

We’ve had a little rain, and nature is starting to reassert itself with perennial grasses showing green and more plants sending out miraculous new shoots.

We are hugely thankful to everyone who has donated and shared our funding appeal and offered practical help. Please, keep sharing!
https://gofund.me/c793b3274
IBAN: PT50000700000051108650223
MBWay 934348915

03/09/2025

We know the pigs are the stars of the show!
This is the pig that sheltered in the water tank during the fire. He was understandably shocked and shaken, and we couldn't get near him. But since he's found his freedom he's been creeping closer and closer to the house. Here he's trashing the remains of the vegetable garden, having the time of his piggy life!

If you haven't yet seen our ´gofundme´ effort, aiming to support replacing trees and animals on the farm, here it is. Please share it if you can:
https://gofund.me/6303d23d
IBAN: PT50000700000051108650223
MBWay 934348915

A wildfire swept through Casalinho on 17th August. Some of our pigs were lost, but this one found his way to the water tank where he survived unharmed. Now h...

31/08/2025

The farm burnt two weeks today. It's been a whirlwind. Since setting up our plea for help and sharing photos, our inboxes have been overflowing with kindness and generosity.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed financially (below if you haven't!), shared our story, and sent messages. We're immensely grateful for all the support we've received. It will give us a financial kick-start, but the biggest boost has been knowing that people are thinking about us. We’ve also had the best of friends here in person – bringing muscle power, essentials and solidarity.

We spent the first few days in a state of shock. We reconnected water to the house so we could use the shower, an incredibly tough job digging out 200m of melted pipes, and we dealt with the dead and injured animals. We still don’t have drinking water, as we’re waiting for new pipes to be delivered.

The pigs, of course, continue to provide their own drama. We've got new electric fence systems ordered, but Portuguese couriers are legendary in their crapness, why would they change now?! Pig status is currently: two safe and contained, one injured but slowly improving, and two living their best lives as free pigs roaming the farm. There’s no point trying to catch them until we have somewhere to keep them! One of those is the pig who had escaped or fallen into the water tank. After getting bored of paddling he assisted us by constructing an escape ramp by collapsing one of the walls 😀

Our current task is reestablishing electricity to D's house. Another mammoth digging task.

We feel we've barely had a moment yet to plan our new beginning, but our first major project will be poultry. We need to see what can be salvaged from the previous structure and clear away the rubble ready for a new and better version to emerge.

The boys and Andrea have returned to work this week, which does bring a sense of normality, but means that clean up has barely begun. We’re also in a strange sort of limbo: we can’t clear away too much in case some authority still needs to inspect it for recovery funds eligibility.

Talking of, a few people have mentioned government help. Yes, it's been announced that it exists, and we've attended initial meetings this week. The wheels of Portuguese bureaucracy turn ponderously, so we’re bracing ourselves for what may be a torturous process. Only time will tell what comes out of it, but so far it looks like only a fraction of our trees will be included - just the 'productive' ones. Rather ironic, isn’t it, that the fire-resistant trees we planted don’t seem to count?

Photos:
1) This is the pig who spent the week following the fire in the water tank, now living his best life as a free-range pig scoffing all the fallen fruits. To his right you can see the only one of young pigs to have survived. Happy they've found each other.
2) I'm sure we used to have some white dogs, but we've not seen them for a while.
3) My most exciting moment of the last few days: fresh green growth! This is Acanthus mollis (bear's breeches) sending up new leaves near the house. There was enough heat to break the house windows, not looks like nothing'll keep this down for long.

If you haven't yet seen our ´gofundme´ effort, here it is. Please share it if you can:
https://gofund.me/6303d23d
IBAN: PT50000700000051108650223
MBWay 934348915

26/08/2025

Drone footage showing the desolation of the landscape around us. The fire that broke out in Piódão on 13th August raged for days, burning through Casalinho on the 17th and was only considered 'concluded' yesterday. In total, 64,000 hectares (over 158,000 acres) of land were destroyed

Please, if you can, support us by donating or sharing this appeal. We want to begin replanting and restocking our land with animals, the best defence against more devastation in the future.

https://gofund.me/3268a0c9
IBAN: PT50000700000051108650223
MBWay 934348915

🇵🇹 Filmagens de drone a mostrar a desolação da paisagem em nosso redor. O incêndio que deflagrou em Piódão a 13 de Agosto ardeu durante vários dias, passou pelo Casalinho no dia 17 e só foi considerado em conclusão ontem. No total, foram destruídos 64.000 hectares (mais de 158.000 acres) de terreno.

Por favor, se puder, apoie-nos com um donativo ou partilhando este apelo. Queremos começar a reflorestar e a repovoar a nossa terra com animais, a melhor defesa contra mais destruição no futuro.

https://youtu.be/vinQ9VtE69g

Drone footage showing the devastation to Casalinho caused by the fire of 17/8/25

24/08/2025

These are the ´Two Fat Ladies´ of Casalinho, and I'm very pleased to say that they survived the fire. They weren't in this pond at the time, but in a field with one very similar. The pond in the video was created by a group of scouts some years ago, and we'd like to see every group of pigs with access to something similar when we rebuild, with your support.

Please support our fundraiser:
https://gofund.me/3268a0c9
IBAN: PT50000700000051108650223
MBWay 934348915

23/08/2025

We don’t find it easy to ask for help, but reality is harsh. Until now we’ve been running on adrenaline and shock, but we can’t rebuild alone. We need support to get our animals and farm back on their feet.

If you’re able to donate, we are deeply grateful. If not, please help us by sharing this appeal as widely as you can. Every bit of support makes a difference. 💚
https://gofund.me/6e1d7155

If you prefer to donate without the platform (it charges a commission), you can do so directly to:

Andrea Lowson
NIB: 000700000051108650223
IBAN: PT50000700000051108650223
BIC/SWIFT: BESCPTPL

Or MBWay 934348915 (send a note 'fire fund', it's not my account)

🇵🇹 Não nos é fácil pedir ajuda, mas a realidade é dura. Até agora temos vivido à base de adrenalina e choque, mas não conseguimos reconstruir sozinhos. Precisamos de apoio para pôr de pé mais uma vez os nossos animais e a quinta.

Se puder contribuir com uma doação, ficaremos profundamente agradecidos. Se não, por favor ajude-nos a partilhar este apelo ao máximo possível. Cada apoio faz a diferença. 💚
https://gofund.me/6e1d7155

(Portuguese & Dutch below) On Wednesday 13th August dry light… Andrea Lowson needs your support for Rebuild Our Farm and Animals After the Piódão Wildfire

21/08/2025

Before, during, and the aftermath.

Thanks to Jeroen, our house still stands. Huge thanks to those friends who came when we called.
Currently we're a bit shell shocked and focusing on getting water reconnected and the remaining animals tended to.

We built this from nothing, and we can do it again.

Edit: We´ve now got a crowdfunding appeal up and running. Please, even if you can't donate yourself, please share far and wide.
https://gofund.me/6e1d7155