Excellent post Peter...I have a word document on my laptop where I add things that are hard to get / or expensive to get in Portugal.
I already have the following on the list...

Some seeds / Seed packets
neem oil
tins of corned beef & baked beans
tea bags


....and i shall now add
garden tools, costmetics, toiletries & bed linen / towels to the list...

....I shall not tell hubbie about the Gas BBQ - partly becuase he turns into a crazy person when it comes to buying BBQ's - but mainly becuase I have always wanted one of those big built in BBQ things - with the stone wall, several grills, shelves, cubboards etc & i may well have to convince him to make one of those instead seeing as BBq's are pricey in PT!

imogen  

- rodstocker

Garden tools - yes cheaper. And the unnamed brands were certainly better quality, IMHO. Bought a spade here, and it bent! I am not that strong

For some months I have been meaning to post an entry on the Forum in support of the "Portuguese enchada". For those who don't know, it is a cross between a pick axe and a spade. You will all have seen the Portuguese using them. They are magnificent. Very cheap (generally speaking you buy the handle and the head separately). Unlike the English spade hat puts so much strain on the lower back, the enchada is very easy to use.

The weight of the enchada will drive the implement into the ground. So no strain on the down swing!!! Then simply pull it towards you. Again no strain.

They come in different widths and sizes. I have a collection of them!!! Even my wife uses the miniature one!!!

So piglet, there is no chance that you will ever bend an enchada!!!

Hi Rod. Have you ever wonder'd why so many of the old men in the countryside have chronic back problems.
It's due to the "enchada" + the other problem in using one is that you walk on the ground you have turned over as your going forward all the time
I use a english fork with no trouble
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Anything second hand is overpriced in Portugal I find.

Particularly tools and lawn care equipment; I found only a couple of second hand riding mowers for sale, they were quite worn out and 80% of the new price.

Used agricultural equipment [implements for the tractor] are at least double here. I've been making my own whenever possible.

I brought a lathe, a massive drill press, and a combination tablesaw/ planer/ moulder [about 400kg each] when we came.

I bought a big mower deck for my tractor online and had it shipped from England. I didn't even find new ones around here, my local tractor dealer had never even seen one. There isn't much lawn culture in Portugal.

Of course, these things are all hard to transport. The mower deck cost GBP 350 door to door to get moved.

We shipped a 6 meter container when we came; it's now a very useful and secure shed.  

When I use an enchada, I swing it down, pull toward me and step back ready for the next down swing. I do not therefore walk on treated ground. Maybe Rod could confirm that Ingles is making a mess of it!! If you went forward and over the ground you had treated what on earth are you doing with the weeds from each phase of use?? By going backwards you continually drag the weed pile towards you???!!!  

- peteknopp

When I use an enchada, I swing it down, pull toward me and step back ready for the next down swing. I do not therefore walk on treated ground.

This is illogical Pete (and I don't think that Ingles is making a mess of it at all) - with your "backward" method you are continuously re-working ground that you have already turned over whereas going forwards you are turning over old ground into the void made by the previous stroke. I do not see a problem with walking on "treated ground". I suppose that if you used a rotavator you would would always have it in reverse gear??

I have my agricultural land ploughed twice a year after which my 75 year-old gardener "breaks the sod" with an enchada, always progressing forwards.


Colin  

Apologies to Ingles - maybe it is I who is making a mess of it!!


I think we need some videos! I must admit more to weeding and breaking the soil than doing the 'traditional turning over' of soil that you may have done with a spade or fork.

Stand facing a brick wall and swing the enchada down nearest the wall, take a step back and repeat process and if wanted scoop earth from 1st swing into hole left from 2nd swing etc. you would not re work the ground just done but may also not achieve what you are all talking about either!  

- CheesieChops

Excellent post Peter...I have a word document on my laptop where I add things that are hard to get / or expensive to get in Portugal.
I already have the following on the list...

Some seeds / Seed packets
neem oil
tins of corned beef & baked beans
tea bags


....and i shall now add
garden tools, costmetics, toiletries & bed linen / towels to the list...

....I shall not tell hubbie about the Gas BBQ - partly becuase he turns into a crazy person when it comes to buying BBQ's - but mainly becuase I have always wanted one of those big built in BBQ things - with the stone wall, several grills, shelves, cubboards etc & i may well have to convince him to make one of those instead seeing as BBq's are pricey in PT!

imogen

H Cheesiechops And All.

Maybe i can help with one thing. Bacon. Well can you remember buying bacon for a bacon butty and getting all that white stuff coming out Eeeeeee. Well i make my own Bacon and dam good it is as well. No white stuff, no additives just proper Bacon. It does not shrink when you cook it Mmmmm. There is one thing i leave out and it's Sodium Nitrite, this is an additive that keeps the bacon Pink when it's cooked. It's common name is Pink Salt.

It's easy to make and i have put it on my Blog. Just scroll down to the part about the Bacon. The one thing i had trouble getting was Juniper berries but a friend returning from Orkney got me some and they do make a difference.

Well give it a try you have nothing to loose and it takes three and a half days to make that's when i try it.

Peter

petersvaleboahouse.blo...results=50

www.guardian.co.uk/lif...cipes.pork
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