Our learning has been shaped by researchers including Christine Jones, Elaine Ingham and Walter Jehne. The objective is not to feed a crop — it is to create conditions in which the living soil can feed the crop itself.
Compost transforms the residues of one process into the resources required by another. Leaves are no longer waste. Manure is not waste. Crop residues are not waste. They are ingredients awaiting transformation.
Nature rarely leaves healthy soil exposed for long. Mulch reduces evaporation, moderates temperature, feeds decomposers and suppresses competition — but in Monchique, soil regeneration and fire safety must be designed together.
Biochar's porous structure provides habitat for microorganisms and can influence water and nutrient retention. For us, its greatest potential lies in combination with compost — and it creates a useful destination for woody material that might otherwise accumulate as fuel.