The dreamgrove, Olival Frade 

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As long as we are coming to Condeixa, one of our favorite places to visit has always been the neighbouring village Alcabideque.

It's beautiful roman aquaduct and the source of all the water around Passeite farm starts right there. To follow the water amongst the old houses, the small little farmlands right back to our farm is a must do when visiting. Alcabideque is also home to one of the most interesting watermills of our village, called, Moinho do Rei, the "kings mill". It was a multifunctional mill, not only making olive oil powered by water but also flour of grains. Now over the years and lack of funding the buildings degraded into stone ruins. 

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Like almost all of the lands in Condeixa, Moinho do Rei and it's grove across the street got split up over the years and lucky for us the grove came on the market in 2023. We have always dreamt about restoring that grove. The trees were looking for desperate attention. We also needed a place to expand our project as the barn at the back of Passeite's current location is not big enough to fulfill those dreams of us. So, we took the chance and bought the grove and the ruins. 

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Currently we are starting the slow proces of recuperating the abandoned trees but with great care and specialist pruning agronomist as we definitely want to keep the trees as gorgeous as they are know, but in better health to give better fruit crops. Next up will be looking at the buildings and creating a space for production, storage, packaging, social gatherings, tourism, education and more.

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This project obviously is in need a lot of funding and time and we have some great ideas how you can help not only us, but also our community and yourself, of course! As soon as we have the numbers and plans clear we will present our ideas on how you can help. For now, just dream away with these beautiful pictures made by Kerry Murray in January 2024 before the start of the pruning.

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