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All is black...

Marije Passos

The day we will never forget...

The fires in Central Portugal on 15th October have been declared the worst fire in living memory and a national disaster and yes we suffered but nowhere near as much as others which is weird to write down.

It was during harvest of our Arbequina trees when I was on top of our tree seeing smoke coming of the hill behind our grove. I told Gui, "this is not good!" He was more confident thinking that it was still far away but unfortunately I was right. We already had a good evacuation plan in order because of the kids, so when the flames were hitting the top of the hill I decided to take the kids away and Gui started to prepare the house for what was coming.

You feel powerless standing just a few km away from what you have build up over the last years and having to play happy with the kids while you actually want to go back and be there. It's the weirdest feeling because in the end nothing is more important than family and still you want to risk your life to protect a few bricks and trees...

So, prepping involves putting gas bottles in rivers, get all the water pumps and hoses out and ready, tractors in safety, watering down the roof, planning evacuation & even cutting down some plants or trees when they form a risk. It was a long night with no sleeps and incredible smell of smoke. No firemen near until the very final moment when the shed of our neighbour was about to burn down, our heroes came since the houses on the other side of the hill were more in danger. There were over 500 fires burning in Central and just not enough firemen to help. A little while after the wind seemed to turn and the danger was gone. The next day my first concern was our ancient Galega grove which was right in the middle of the hill that was burning. I thought we lost it completely. The walk up was never so long but I was amazed to discover we didnt lost it completely. Our hard work and maintenance paid off. However still more than 50 trees were burnt to the ground. And imagine three days before we harvested the entire grove... we were the lucky ones...


Those fires of 15 oktober burnt 520,000 hectares in one night. Wherever I drive now, it is pretty much black & burnt but slowly there is hope...

So what can you do for us and the olive farmers around us?

Our Galega olive oil is a limited edition that will never taste the same...We sell them in small bottles with a number that correspond to the new tree that will be planted on behalf of you...


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