Our FIRST real summer in Portugal 🇵🇹 Harvests, heat & new beginnings EP136

This week we're discovering what our first real summer as Portuguese residents is really like! For the first time since buying our ruined farmstead in central Portugal, we're staying here throughout July and August, instead of returning to the UK. Everything is new to us – from working safely in the intense summer heat, to seeing just how quickly the land, fruit trees and vegetable garden burst into life. With temperatures soaring, we pace ourselves and tackle a collection of essential outdoor jobs around the quinta. We clear and level the courtyard ready for a social fire pit and terrace, cut up the remaining tree trunks left from the foundation excavations, build batter boards ready for the builders to set out the Tiny House foundations, strengthen the kitchen garden gate posts and finally fit the first gate, to help protect our precious crops from wild boar and other hungry visitors. Perhaps the biggest surprise of all is the garden. After years of being limited on what we could plant before leaving Portugal for the summer, this is the first time we've been here to watch our fruit and vegetables thrive. Seeing the harvest develop makes all the hard work worthwhile, and gives us a glimpse of the lifestyle we've been working towards ever since this adventure began. Thanks for joining us on another week of renovating, learning and adapting to life in rural Portugal. If you enjoy following our journey, please like the video, leave us a comment and subscribe to the channel—it really helps us continue sharing our story. #Portugal #PortugalRenovation #LivingInPortugal #OffGridLiving #Homestead #Quinta #SelfBuild #TinyHouse #VegetableGarden #CountryLife #DIY #ExpatLife #RenovationProject Episode 136 - Gate Closes in 30 Minutes 00:00 Welcome to Portugal 00:35 Lounger repair 02:15 Fire pit plans 05:07 Smiley tree 06:53 Terrace 09:10 Surfacing 11:22 Recovery 12:44 Batter boards 15:02 Posts 18:24 Power through 20:51 Gate post 23:45 Gate build 27:45 Gate fixing 29:39 Pears We have an extensive back catalogue, and have collected our experiences into themed playlists, such as: 📆 For the 2026 story so far    • 2026 Building at Last   🍏 To follow our work on all things food    • Produce   🇵🇹 😎 🍷 Life in Portugal    • Life in Portugal   Music this week features licensed material from uppbeat.io: 🎵 'All I Need' by Northwestern https://uppbeat.io/t/northwestern/all... License code: U91MWGL1ZEG3WJJW 🎵 'Time Traveller' by Nick Petrov https://uppbeat.io/t/nick-petrov/time... License code: JAZEVPSW4BSIL3ZF 🎵 'August Heat' by Jeff Kaale https://uppbeat.io/t/jeff-kaale/augus... License code: ZBATHDMQTAYXIPGL 🎵 'On Top Of The World' by Noise Cake https://uppbeat.io/t/noise-cake/on-to... License code: GOIDZLLUXJC1HCCK 🎵 'Eternal June' by Jeff Kaale https://uppbeat.io/t/jeff-kaale/etern... License code: L6DCS71AFJAIASIP If you would like to contribute to our tool shopping list, then the best place is through Buy Me A Coffee at: buymeacoffee.com/hotkeysportugal