Our stay at the Herdade Da Maroteira Farm showed us and exposed us to a wonderful way to live. There's a rhythm to everything. It's a natural cork oak forest that is harvested each year on a ten year cycle. Every fall yearling pigs are fattened for six months on the acorns. The farm hands, to supplement their wages, graze cattle and goats on the grasses, and produce some cheese. In some areas of the land where the soil is right, there is a small vineyard producing a mere 25 000 bottles of very good Portugese Wine. The cool mornings are busy, the afternoons are hot and quiet, and the evenings are social. Even the animals follow the routine. There couldn't be a more perfect way to settle into a vacation!
A few more things about cork:
It takes sixty years from planting, for your first harvest.
Seventy percent of the world's cork comes from Portugal.
The harvesting of cork is very labour intensive, almost done completely by hand.
Cork is processed by boiling, which expands it by 30 percent.
Raw cork is actually quite heavy, and fetches about $1.75 a kilogram.
The primary use of raw cork is for wine corks.
The scrap is then ground and mixed with glues to make fabric or construction material.
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