Quinta da Fornalha

Quinta da Fornalha is a working farm of about 35 hectares on the outskirts of Castro Marim, in the eastern Algarve, partly inside the Castro Marim and Vila Real de Santo António Sapal Nature Reserve, where flamingos feed in the salt marshes. The land has belonged to the same family for some 250 years; the current project began in 2008 and the farm has been certified organic since 2010.

Guests stay in self-catering houses created from the old farm workers' buildings, restored with traditional cob walls and lime plaster. They are free to pick herbs and vegetables from the organic gardens, and the on-site Taberna Remexida serves seasonal food from the farm and the region. The farm shop sells what the orchards produce, from fig chutney and jams to fleur de sel from nearby salt pans.

Figs are the main crop, alongside carob, oranges, olives and almonds, all grown without synthetic chemicals. The farm uses agroforestry and permaculture to rebuild the soil in a region threatened by desertification, and since 2023 it has planted a food forest with more than a thousand plants of some 80 species. It runs a year-round volunteer programme and hosts farm visits and workshops.

A small station on the Algarve railway line is about 500 metres away, so the farm can be reached by train from the rest of the region. The reserve's salt marshes, Castro Marim castle and the beaches of the eastern Algarve are all close by.