Immersion in Water-Wise & Dryland Gardening
with Kyle Smith
Help us shade the soil and catch every drop! This 5-day intensive focuses on the "cooling systems" of the farm: mastering dryland gardening, water-wise irrigation, and the creation of life-saving microclimates. As the Portuguese summer arrives, we’ve traded the classroom for the shaded garden beds and earthworks, so you’ll learn the "why" and "how" of resilient production through direct action in the heat of the season.
Price €420 Includes all meals and free camping: Bring your own campervan or tent and stay on our beautiful off-grid farm at no extra cost.
Why This Course?
The Permaculture in Practice (PIP) workshop is different from a Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC). While a PDC focuses primarily on theory and design principles, this course is hands-on, seasonally informed, and rooted in observation-led decision-making.
In June, the challenge of the Mediterranean climate becomes visible. This is the ultimate time to learn because the plants are already telling us what they need. You will move beyond "watering by schedule" and learn to design systems that hold moisture and defy the drought.
You will gain the practical confidence to:
Read Stress Signals: Identify exactly when and how plants respond to heat before it’s too late.
Engineer Coolth: Use shade, mulch, and layout to drop the temperature of your garden beds by several degrees.
Design for Scarcity: Learn to prioritize water use so your most valuable crops thrive even when resources are low.
Create Microclimates: Master the use of windbreaks, aspect, and "sun traps" to expand what you can grow in a dry climate.
What You’ll Learn & Do
As the land moves into the dry season, we focus on the practical "armor" we give our plants to help them succeed.
Soil Protection Strategies: Get hands-on with advanced mulching, living ground covers, and shading techniques.
Observation & Feedback: Spend time in the field learning to decode the language of wilt and recovery to adjust your management in real-time.
Microclimate Construction: Practice building physical structures and planting arrangements that shield vulnerable crops from the drying wind and noon sun.
Water-Wise Planting: Explore the timing and techniques of planting that allow roots to go deep and find resilience.
Site-Specific Layouts: Participate in farm activities that show how garden placement relative to water sources and shade can make or break a summer harvest.
Is This For You?
No prior permaculture experience is required. This course is ideal for:
Mediterranean & Dryland Growers: Anyone struggling with high water bills or wilting summer crops.
Climate-Conscious Gardeners: People looking for low-tech, high-impact ways to adapt to a warming world.
PDC Graduates: If you know the theory of "swales," but want to see how to actually keep a vegetable alive in 35°C heat.
Homesteaders: Those wanting to build a food system that doesn't collapse if the pump fails.
Meet the Facilitator Kyle Smith
After practicing horticulture and community living on a kibbutz in Israel when Kyle was 20, he was inspired to pursue a career in horticulture. During his studies, he completed an internship at Soil for Life, a Cape Town-based non-profit organisation empowering people to grow food and create healthy soil. Kyle went on to work at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in Cape Town, South Africa, where his primary focus was conserving indigenous plant species, rehabilitating degraded ecosystems, and designing and establishing education gardens on the botanic garden's grounds. Kyle later became the perennial plant and nursery manager at Panya Project, Thailand, where he spent three years facilitating numerous permaculture and organic gardening courses, and designing and co-coordinating the volunteer and internship program.
He is currently living in southern Portugal, consulting and teaching for Surplus Permaculture Design. Kyle is passionate about conserving soil ecosystems, plant propagation, reforestation and small-scale ecological agriculture. He hopes to empower people to grow their own food, become more self-reliant, and regenerate a degraded ecosystem through his unique teaching style and depth of knowledge.
Location & Logistics
Step into a lifestyle of regenerative practice on our 130-hectare farm. Beyond the shaded beds and water systems, you’ll gain firsthand insight into intentional living and what it means to care for the land in cooperation with others.
You’ll experience the daily flow of a working off-grid project, sharing organic meals and seeing how a community adapts its rhythms to the sun. It is an invitation to learn that "dry" doesn't have to mean "barren" when we design with nature’s patterns.
Included in the fee:
● 3 wholesome vegetarian (vegan options available) meals/day
We can accommodate for gluten free or other requirements with prior notice.
● All tools, materials & tuition
● Stays in Campervan/Tent:
Private rooms/cottages available on request (extra fee).
Prices
420€ with your own caravan or tent
480€ with accommodation in dormitory
We have private cottages, rooms and bell tents available, if you prefer this option please contact us to inquire about availability and pricing.
Your course fee supports both our facilitators and the ongoing regenerative projects at A Quinta.
How to Book:
Click "Book Now" to fill out our registration form.
After submitting, you will be redirected to Eventbrite to pay a non-refundable deposit to secure your spot.
The remaining balance is due upon arrival (Cash or Bank Transfer).
Note: If we cancel the course, your deposit is refunded in full. If you cancel less than 7 days before the start, we ask for 75% of the total fee to cover our costs.