Many agricultural terraces around Monchique contain Cambisol-type soils [REF]: relatively young soils that can offer good agricultural potential but may be shallow, free-draining and vulnerable to erosion or compaction depending upon location and management.
At Quinta Picapau and Raízes da Montanha, our concern is less about trying to fundamentally change the mineral soil and more about rebuilding its living component. Our greatest opportunity is organic matter.
Where organic matter and biological activity are poor: water may infiltrate less effectively or drain away rapidly; soil temperatures rise; erosion becomes more damaging; nutrient cycling weakens; and resilience declines.
Our response is therefore to rebuild living soil through: permanent ground cover; compost; appropriately prepared biochar; diverse cover crops; living roots; carefully managed animals; minimal unnecessary disturbance; and the continual return of organic carbon to the land.
We regard each terrace as more than a cultivated strip. The retaining wall, bank, growing area, vegetation, roots, water, insects and microorganisms form one interconnected system.
Productivity becomes a consequence of ecosystem health rather than its sole purpose.