You can learn at our Sierra Retreat how to take care of your land with the most effective practices. The Dehesa ecosystem is a full self maintained agriculture exploitation system we practice at the refuge in Andalucia. Come and we will share with you our organic techniques.

Organic Dehesa practiced at the refuge

Turf is King:

The green lawn is no longer the ideal or the goal. Turfgrass is one of the most wasteful of our natural resources, not to mention high time-consuming to maintain by the owner. Today´s gardeners are looking at other groundcover choices including expanding shrub borders, installing edible beds, and hardscaping pathways.

Spray away:

Chemical used to be answer to all of our garden´s ills, but along with killing grubs, they were also taking a toll on your own health and that of the local environment. The key words today are diagnosis first, then exploration of chemical alternatives, second, living with some imperfection is very 21st Century.

Dig and Double Dig:

Just a few years ago, we were all urged to dig in that compost and fertilizer to really work it in. Researchers have shown that we are doing far more damage to the soil´s structure than any benefit. In addition, we are turning up new weed seeds that would otherwise be dormant. Stop digging and start layering on materials to decompose and work their own way.

Fertilize Everything:

Fertilizer spreaders are joining the VCR and transistor radio in scrap heaps. Most fertilizer applied on and around plants washes away and into our local streams. Today the word is to feed the soil, not the plants. Healthy soil promotes strong growth. Add your homemade compost and organic mulch to your beds to provide nutrients.

Water copiously:

The oscilating sprinkler is another dinosaur headed for the junkyard. Good gardeners know to group their plants by their watering needs and to use drip irrigation, not overhead sprinklers or hoses.

The result

the work of art

the magic

the romanticism

the purest and most infinite gift

Organic farming is a modern style of farming and livestock production system whose main aim is to provide high – quality food, while trying to protect the environment, in respecting the biological cycle, and without using agricultural chemical treatment or genetically modified varieties.

It is a way of fighting against the climate change, the exhaustion and pollution of natural resources. Moreover, the animal wellbeing is respected and the soil fertility is improved. Another important reason is that it is a way of recognizing the efforts made by farmers to care for our food and our natural heritage with professionalism and involvement.
Likewise, organic products are not more expensive if the benefits for the consumers, the environment and the rural population are highlighted.

Sierra Morena Mountain Refuge offers you guided visits to Andalucia as well as Extremadura certified organic producers. Both regions combined are the most important ones on organic production from whole Europe. All products consumed in Sierra Morena Mountain Refuge will come from our own farming or certified products labeled.

In the Tentudia region in the gardens in order to water the plants it was very common to find waterwells pushed with a donkey or a mule, turning around a well.

Usually there was a young boy in charge of the animal to make sure that it didn´t stop turning. The mule had its eyes covered to avoid distraction and dizziness. Today there is a few active waterwells. From Biensevive we intend to recover this tradition and we are undertaking and studying the possibility of bringing back the traditional use of mules to get water in our land.

When you come around for our walking and trekking holidays to Sierra the Tentudia we will make you part of this adventure. Remember that what we are doing in Biensevive is to go back to basics, and to do it is very difficult task for nowadays way of life, we believe that there are a lot of things yet to learn from our ancestors, and if we don´t do it now it will be gone forever.

It comes from latin: trans, meaning “from the other side” and humus, meaning “soil”, “land”.

It is a seasonal migration livestock, traversing from winter to summer “dehesas” (land from mediterrenean forest partly cleared of trees for graze pasture), and viceversa.

Trashumancia therefore is defined as a type of moving shepherding, where, unlike nomadism, the places for it in each season are always the same,. In Spain it has existed during seven centuries, and it is carried out through a system of tracks named Vías Pecuarias

Historically, transhumancia in Spain has been carried out on foot. It profits from spare or remaining pasture productivity available in different places and periods. It is a unique agroecosystem in Europe very important to maintain the environmental, and our cultural heritage, bringing outstanding biodiversity to extensive areas.

Once again we invite all of you to come to our walking holidays in Andalucía and Extremadura (walk tentudia) who are willing to know about, as well as to experience

Finca Biensevive has recently submitted a collaboration with the prestigious Permaculture Research Institute  of Australia. The following is the Questionnaire and its answers:
Questionnaire for PRI project development.
This document is a response to inquiries regarding PRI involvement in the establishment or development of permaculture projects, demonstration sites, and education centers. The answers help PRI get to know the project and decide the best course of interaction.
·       What is your current knowledge and understanding of Permaculture?
·       What sort of service or relationship are you looking for from PRI?
·       Do you have land?

Where is it?
Give exact latitude and longitude if possible, or give its location in Google Earth.

Climate details.
Mediterranean. Soft winters, hot summer
-Temperature highs/lows.
-Growing season, etc.
-How large?

What is it like?
-landscape profile, soil, water, access roads, structures, facilities.

What was the lands previous uses and development?

Can you send any maps of the property?
-Aerial photo
-Contour map
-Geological
-Survey

Can you send photos of the property?

Do you have a structure that can function as a teaching facility, or other structures on site?

Do you have a development fund, if so what is your budget, or proposed method of funding?

What organizational or legal structures do you control, if any, that are relevant to this project?
-Businesses
-NGOs
-Other

How many people are involved?
-What are their skills/experience level regarding permaculture?
-What other relevant skill sets does your group have?
-Accounting, business, legal, teaching, administration, education/teaching, farming, animals, forestry, computers… etc.
-How much time do they have to work on this project?

Please visit the Project Establishment Timeline for an overview and guidelines of creating a permaculture project.

Answers for PRI project development.
1.- Our knowledge of permaculture is through extensive reading and thanks to our site and the sourrounded country side. My skills though are yet quite limited. The area is very rural, although it is disappearing because young generation do not care about it

2.- We do not exactly know what sort of service we look for.

Our webpage (near full completion) www.sierramountainrefuge.com can show you our project basis.

I guess that our land is perfect to develop a full permaculture project because it is what has unconsciously been done by last land owner (old traditional country man), We have become close friends and a lot of feedback from him is available (although he is a native and very local old mind).

I guess what I can expect from you is real help to implement and/or execute things in the landscape because the eco tourism that we can do).

But to get the best from the land I need local help, and permaculture skills, I have someone that can be there (salary 1.200 euros a month this is our mayor obstacle to reach that amount to have someone to help us doing the work),… I already have my site in the wwoofing movement and people are getting in touch with us. We already had a german family a month and a half. But it is crucial to have local people as well doing the work,…

3.- Yes we have our own land. 17 acres

4.-Location N 38°-02.338´, W006-22.934´. You can take a look at www.walk-tentudia.com, maps and location for visual approach.

5.-  Thanks to its forested land, strategic location (south west, close to Atlantic sea, altitude between 700 m and 1.000 m, and in spite of being mediterranean climate (summer high temperatures and lack of rain, soft winter) it benefits of an extraordinary microclimate that allows an spectacular biodiversity in a relatively small geographic area.

- Average annual temperature is 15 C degrees
- Coldest month January with average temperature 7 C degrees
- Hottest month is july with average temperature 25 C degrees
- Period free of frost is 225 days from 4 April to 15 November
- Rainfall occurs mainly in winter (38%) and then spring and autumn (29% and 28% respectively).

6.- Growing season, all year round depending on what trees or vegetables or plants,…

7.- I believe that through our webpage you can have response to many of the questions on landscape profile, soil, water, access roads, structures, facilities,…

8.- Land previous uses where traditional dehesa uses (cork trees, goats, sheep, cow, olive trees, cultivation of wheat, vegetable garden, fruit trees, all with hand work and donkeys and mules, no trucks, tractor,… Soil has been arable.

9.- With the restoration of old building yes we will have a very nice, confort, stone made country house. It is currently under construction

10.- There is no development fund

11.- We plan to run it as a business (organizing walking holidays and renting rural house for weekends,…)

12.-We are a married couple with three kids (Javier and Sandra 36 year old, Sandra jr 5, Erika 4 and Javier jr 3 months). Our mayor skills are business, management (law degree, MBA, working experience as project manager,…),…

13.- Photos in the website www.walk-tentudia.com, maps attached. We have full time because we need it as a new incomes source

We are by 921 summit (on mapas pablo dos 005), on the right hand side, before Ayo. ( means stream) Valle del Moral. Ten minutes walking to the summit

Bye thank you very much

Javier, Sandra, Sandra jr, Erika, Javier jr

The fertilizer used is logically manure and it is spread in March or April, when the second soil working is done (bina), so it does not go too deep into the soil and the plant profits from it. Manure is generally mixed, it is a combination of either chicken, sheep´s, pig´s (very strong) manure with mule´s or cow´s (softer).

It also depends on the vegetable we are cultivating, for example for potatoes the best is donkey or cow manure because thanks to the straw in it the soil will be looser and the tuber will grow in better conditions. Manure is spread in the huerta in April but it is done throughout the year. We get it from “ zahurdas” (stable for animals), we turn over manure once in a while so it is fermented and properly mixed.

Once the land is prepared and manure is spread, Soon after we have to build the irrigation system for the vegetables. To be continued,…

As you can see this is a traditional agriculture system that fits perfectly in what today we define as permaculture: “ecologic principles derived from observation of natural sysyems”.

With walk tentudia holidays we look forward to share with you some little secrets about these mediterranean habitats of Dehesa, Sierra agroecosystems.

Just one hour from Seville arriving to Tentudia region, Ranch Biensevive and its organized holiday walkings you will be overwhelmed by beautiful scenery but above all by countryside local knowledge.

I call it “micro tourism” (to have access to local knowledge and experiences) Ranch Biensevive brings back to live traditional vegetable garden (huerta) agroecosystem. Most vegetable production arrives in summer season. Planting starts in spring and fruits come throughout summer. Before planting we have to prepare the land, with one previous soil working to oxygenate it and take off unwanted grass and later on another one to level the ground and leave it in the best planting conditions.

The first soil working (“alza”, meaning to remove soil upwards) in Sierra Tentudia is done in February and it is used the plough (carried with donkey). The second soil working is in march or april (“bina”, meaning in latin second), depending on each year raining weather conditions, although this time plough is introduced less deep inside soil (“menos tiro”).

At this time depending of types of soil it is also used “la máquina” (made of heavy iron sticks and wood) to break clods and level the ground Besides working the soil it is so important to fertilize it, because although vegetable gardens are located in fertile areas, with very rich soil, it is intensive cultivation, planting every year, and soil needs nutrients.

Walking In Tentudia region brings you back to traditional agriculture: it is very common in vegetable gardens to grow cereals and also raise pigs. It is a combined cultivation of vegetable, cereal and fruit trees with the raising of cows, goats and pigs. Mules and donkeys are very important for vegetable gardens (work the land, waterwheel, transportation) and also a source of manure to sustain this agro-ecosystem. Potatoes, tomatos, vegetables, green beans,… are  basic food  for a healthy diet

It is also a singular characteristic of this small huertos to have legume boiler (“cocedero de altramuces”). This is a small circular oven made of stone where you boil this legume (altramuz) and take off the acid taste. They are in the huertos because they need enough water to boil, It is used to feed the pigs.

Permaculture and organic farming is perfectly represented through this traditional way of managing agriculture and livestock in this huerta agroecosystem. Walking around Tentudia region will allow you to learn these things that are nearly gone.

Organic/traditional vegetable garden (huerta) existing in Tentudia in the fifties had such specific characteristics that made it a very particular organic agro ecosystem.

Today from spring to summer, we can fortunately still enjoy vegetable gardens while walking around Tentudia region.

Unlike extensive land exploitation, as Dehesa, vegetable garden (huerto/a) has always been based on intensive cultivation systems.

From fertile soil, water, and manure little oasis are created. With regard to water, it is hidden streams and river banks one of the main elements that determine the location of orchards and vegetable gardens in Tentudia region.

Rich soils with sediments are to be found close to rivers, apt to vegetable and fruit cultivation.

We can distinguish between huerto vs huerta. The latter has bigger dimension and produces enough to sell in village markets. They are nearly extinguished.

On the other hand, huerto, is a much smaller piece of land, and focused on family provisions and self consumption, still very popular around here.