The Landscape Farm

With Ghia, a young German shepherd, by his side and a panama on his head, Jorge Cancela welcomes us to The Landscape Farm. He begins by explaining that we are in the Bairro Ribatejano, one of the three natural

With Ghia, a young German shepherd, by his side and a panama on his head, Jorge Cancela welcomes us to The Landscape Farm. He begins by explaining that we are in the Bairro Ribatejano, one of the three natural regions of the waterfront territory, whose characteristics influence the type of farming: the Lezíria frames the Tagus, made up of plains with alluvial soils, which are very fertile; the Charneca, on the left bank of the Tagus, has sandier soils and merges with the Alentejo cork oak forest; and the Bairro, located in the northern Ribatejo, on the right bank of the river, got its name thanks to its muddy soils. This heart of the Mediterranean limestone echoes a past 10 million years ago when this land was the bottom of a lake. Despite these sharp divisions, Jorge explains that the landscape exploration to which The Landscape Farm is dedicated - which gave it its name - allows it to have 128 distinct landscape units in just 20 hectares.

"If I were in another latitude, I'd do something else. In Alcácer I'd produce rice, in Serra da Estrela I'd produce cheese. Here, we're betting on diversity, on crop rotation. It's a complex system, but harmonious, like a puzzle."

While exploring the farm, you notice that the vegetable garden combines with the tree plantations., enriching the landscape. There are no chemicals here, and the only plastic is limited to the essentials: tunnels and small greenhouses. They see the soil as a carbon trap, feeding it without stirring it up, a widespread technique, but one that impoverishes the land. "The main objective is to see the landscape as a heritage to preserve. If we protect the Jerónimos Monastery, why not defend the morphology of the Ribatejo neighbourhood?"

Every crop, person, animal and even machine plays a role in this delicate system. Rafi, Broa, Lua, Baui, Orelhas, Tonito, Caramelo, Madi and Flor are some of the names of the animals that populate this farm, be they horses rescued from the slaughterhouse, used for rides and to manure the fields, or the sheep that clear the weeds. Even the machinery was baptized: Natércia and Magda. "We try to create ecological, food, aesthetic, economic and cultural value in small-scale farming," explains Jorge.

Between pulses, vegetables, olive oil, honey and fruit, The Landscape Farm has more than 50 types of products. One of the few certified organic extra virgin olive oils in Ribatejo comes from traditional olive groves. There are various types of produce available, such as melons, pumpkins, green beans, cabbage, quinces, figs, blackberries, and wild oregano. There are also award-winning chickpeas and the traditional snow peas, which won a gold medal. There's also a focus on beehive honey, an ancient art and a more natural alternative to the standardized boxes and handle nets common in beekeeping. By recovering existing “cortiço” structures or using hollow cork oak trunks, it is possible to create natural hives, where the bees find habitats more similar to those they would build themselves in nature, structuring their combs without the intervention of predefined matrices. A traditional technique with cultural significance enhances resilience to extreme weather conditions and temperatures and promotes better harmony with the surroundings.

The Landscape Farm's activity doesn't end with production. The farm's products are sold in weekly baskets, but to avoid waste and attract customers, many are transformed and sold online or in the physical store - recovered from the former shoemaker, Mestre Domingos - or used for home-cooked meals that they prepare on request for groups of up to eight people. Pestos, jams, chutneys, pies, dried figs, dried tomatoes, among many others, have become a vital part of the business. 

Involvemet in the community, another of the essential factors for the survival of a business that, as well as being profitable, wants to be philanthropic, involves various synergies and partnerships - such as the SEMEAR baskets, a project dedicated to the integration of young adults with intellectual disabilities -; the restoration of old houses for tourism; a future school for caretakers - which will train people in the ancestral sciences of agriculture -; and the rehabilitation of Ti Chico, an old abandoned mill in Chã de Cima.

In addition to its weekly baskets, on-site store and online store, The Lanscape Farm sells its fresh produce at occasional markets and its processed products at Gleba.