Organic vegetable gardens at the Convent of the Capuchos to be cultivated by local residents

Parques de Sintra is launching an unprecedented project to create organic vegetable gardens in the same spaces that were used by the Franciscan friars who inhabited the Convent of the Capuchos, taking advantage of the exceptional conditions that the Sintra hills offer for the practice of agriculture in full harmony with nature. Applications for the cultivation of the land will be opened next Monday, 16 January.

The project aims to recover a tradition begun in the 16th century by the Franciscan friars who cultivated these lands to obtain food and natural remedies. By allowing the local population to develop an organic vegetable garden in the Convent, benefiting from the best that the Sintra hills have to offer in their daily lives, it is hoped that new generations will develop feelings of belonging to a place that, over the centuries, has always maintained a deep connection to the community.

This initiative forms part of the sustainability objectives that guide the strategy of Parques de Sintra and has an environmental awareness aspect in line with the company's mission. It promotes organic production, integrated production, and the recreation of traditional agricultural practices.

In the first phase, four plots will be open for cultivation before being later extended to a total of 25 plots. Applications run from 16 January to 15 February and should be sent to the email [email protected]. People who are of legal age, resident in the municipality of Sintra, and who express their agreement with the project regulations published on the Parques de Sintra website may apply.

The selected persons will be informed within one week of the closing date for applications. This will be followed by initial training, which will be open to all those interested in this subject, up to a maximum of 15 people, after which the selected gardeners will be able to start work in the plots assigned to them. This workshop, divided into four sessions, will provide participants with the knowledge they need to start this project and will help them outline an annual plan for their garden, reconciling their eating habits with the set of species that can be grown in the space.

Parques de Sintra will monitor all stages of the process, supporting the gardeners and ensuring that the initiative fulfils its objectives.