The Saga of the Shepherds and the Grapes.
I promised this story some time ago and forgot to post it.
When we bought our farm...
Well, it was never meant to be a farm but if we wanted access to the house we had to buy all the land because it was owned by different people and there could have been future access problems. The house didn't even 'own' the driveway to it. We negotiated the whole deal and heaved a sigh of relief.
The land had originally belonged to the house; the problem arose because things had been left to various family members and after a couple of generations situations like that tend to go pear-shaped (and make a lot of money for lawyers).
It was all once run as a fruit farm. Modern supermarket sourcing practices made it non-viable though it could, if run properly, have supplied small local shops, hotels, etc. Meanwhile, everything had been wildly neglected. There are about 700 vines and about 60 olive trees as well as various fruits like peaches and pomegranates. The vines and olives look like something out of a Disney version of Sleeping Beauty.
The owners of the land had allowed/encouraged some distant relations to graze their sheep on the land and take the produce of the vines and olives. Better than total neglect, perhaps - at least it was of benefit to somebody.
We thought the sheep were pretty.
Shepherdesses (there is a cousin shepherd, too) with sheep on cellar terrace. Click to enlarge.
There was a clause in the sale agreement that said the land was completely free of any encumbrances such as rights of passage, tenancy agreements or any right of third parties whatsoever.
During our final negotiations for the house and land the shepherds had planted maize (not for human consumption - it's a recognised animal fodder crop locally) all over the terrace which gives access to our cellars. We asked that this should be removed and not repeated. The terrace is still recovering after eighteen months.
We agreed orally, before independent witnesses, that the shepherds could continue to graze the sheep and take the vine and olive produce for their benefit while we got ourselves up to speed on fruit farming or decided what else to do with the land. They were not going to pay us and we were not going to pay them. There was no long term contract, just an annual agreement which our lawyer assured us could be revoked the following year. The agreement was only to do with the sheep, the vines and the olives.
During the first year we became gradually aware that the sheep did less grazing than we might have hoped and it was still necessary to do quite a bit of grass mowing. Also, the more we learned about vines and olives the more we realised how badly they were being cared for. And we had to stop a shepherdess breaking a fruit tree branch in a strange ad hoc attempt at pruning.
Last January we allowed the agreement to continue because we weren't ready to take over the vines etc. ourselves - we just didn't have time.
In early summer the shepherds agreed to keep the sheep away from the terrace where we had planted vegetables. They also gave us some quite good advice about the irrigation system. Then, within a week, as soon as we had gone back to England, they planted one of the biggest terraces with maize.
We complained and said they had broken the agreement and unless they removed the crop, restoring what had been a meadow, we would terminate the grazing agreement.
They agreed to a meeting to discuss matters. We took an interpreter (who is also a part time farmer with a lot of knowledge about vines, olives, land etc. and is worth his weight in gold, never mind what we pay him) and they brought a woman who was not introduced but who turned out to be a lawyer.
They claimed the maize was beneficial to the land, and that they had been looking after the land for years. They asked for compensation - at least the cost of the maize seed. They agreed not to graze the sheep in future but said they had tended the vines and would like this year's crop of grapes and that they had tended the olive trees and would like to take the olives in early 2011. They said they had wanted to discuss the maize with us but we weren't there (despite the conversation about vegetables and irrigation just before the maize planting).
We said they could have this year's grapes. (We had made no other arrangements). This was a purely charitable gesture on our part. We asked them not to bring the sheep again. (Our interpreter pointed out that sheep and vines don't mix well for all sorts of reasons.) We refused their claim for the maize seed and threatened to counter-claim for the damage to the land. (We had wanted to have that terrace as a wild flower meadow.) We said they could have a reasonable time to remove the maize, which meant they could probably harvest it. We said they could not have the olives, partly because that would have taken whatever agreement there was into another year (agreements in Spain and Portugal usually last from January to January) and partly because our interpreter showed us that nobody had pruned or tended the olive trees for years.
Their lawyer started making notes and produced an agreement form and asked for our passports, fiscal numbers etc. After a heated discussion the shepherds apologised for involving a lawyer without telling us and we agreed to contact our lawyer.
We need a Portuguese lawyer because my qualifications don't allow me to practise there but I am at least able to check the Portuguese and EU rules. We did, however, feel we needed 'official' local advice!
The we got a formal letter from their lawyer asking us for 2000 Euros for the work done on the land over the last few years.
We replied threatening, formally, a counter-claim for damage and costs and pointing out that the only work done had been for the sole benefit of the shepherds themselves and that they had had the advantage of the grape and olive crops as well as grazing for their sheep. We did contact our lawyer (and remember this involved us in more expense) and she advised us formally that we were totally within our rights to revoke all agreement but also advised us informally not to act too quickly because we would just get more hassle which would involve further expense. As the shepherds are very poor there would be no point even suing them for costs - their lawyer was being paid for by yet another distant family member. Another consideration is that our immediate neighbours are the son of one of the shepherdesses and his wife.
As yet, we haven't had a reply from the shepherds or their lawyer.
We haven't seen the sheep. The maize dried up in the incredibly hot later summer and we were worried at one point that it would be a fire hazard but it withered to almost nothing.
We heard, via the village grapevine (which has always advised us to have nothing to do with the shepherds, but only after we had already made the first agreement...) that they had offered to pick the olives for another absentee landowner who agreed that they could take his olives for their own use. They took the olives for their own olive oil but tried to charge him for their labour. Nobody knows if he paid up but it would seem they have a nice little scam going.
Our lawyer said we should probably wait until after this year's grape harvest before ensuring they didn't come onto our land again. After all, we had said, in front of witnesses, that they could have the grapes, and even though that was a gift it could hardly be revoked. So we only picked a few grapes near the house for ourselves. The rest of the crop wasn't worth much because the vines were badly tended and there was a lot of mould etc. Meanwhile Colin has invested in a press to make grape juice and we brought it back to England along with grapes from just the garden area. We think we can make a year's supply of juice from the vines and that might be more worthwhile than trying to make wine (which is cheap in Portugal anyway).
Jamie was a bit bemused by the press in the kitchen. (So was I!) Click to enlarge.
Just before we left last time I thought I heard intruders, perhaps on the balcony onto which our bedroom window opens - and woke Colin who was less than thrilled to have his sleep disturbed as he couldn't find any evidence of anyone. But we wonder whether the shepherds were picking grapes in the dark? There are some good vines that grow from the cellar terrace up to the balcony. I had heard what I thought were tiny footsteps but in retrospect could have been the snip of cutters, and then a gasp as if someone had maybe stubbed their toe.
Nothing is likely to happen before January - so long as nobody decides to help themselves to our olives! I prepared a few last year, as an experiment, and intend to do a lot more this winter.
We don't really intend to become fruit farmers. The cost of hired help would probably be greater than the profits from the crops. We might take a lot of the vines out, and just keep the olive trees pruned. We aren't sure. But we know we won't keep sheep, however pretty they are.
When we bought our farm...
Well, it was never meant to be a farm but if we wanted access to the house we had to buy all the land because it was owned by different people and there could have been future access problems. The house didn't even 'own' the driveway to it. We negotiated the whole deal and heaved a sigh of relief.
The land had originally belonged to the house; the problem arose because things had been left to various family members and after a couple of generations situations like that tend to go pear-shaped (and make a lot of money for lawyers).
It was all once run as a fruit farm. Modern supermarket sourcing practices made it non-viable though it could, if run properly, have supplied small local shops, hotels, etc. Meanwhile, everything had been wildly neglected. There are about 700 vines and about 60 olive trees as well as various fruits like peaches and pomegranates. The vines and olives look like something out of a Disney version of Sleeping Beauty.
The owners of the land had allowed/encouraged some distant relations to graze their sheep on the land and take the produce of the vines and olives. Better than total neglect, perhaps - at least it was of benefit to somebody.
We thought the sheep were pretty.
Shepherdesses (there is a cousin shepherd, too) with sheep on cellar terrace. Click to enlarge.
There was a clause in the sale agreement that said the land was completely free of any encumbrances such as rights of passage, tenancy agreements or any right of third parties whatsoever.
During our final negotiations for the house and land the shepherds had planted maize (not for human consumption - it's a recognised animal fodder crop locally) all over the terrace which gives access to our cellars. We asked that this should be removed and not repeated. The terrace is still recovering after eighteen months.
We agreed orally, before independent witnesses, that the shepherds could continue to graze the sheep and take the vine and olive produce for their benefit while we got ourselves up to speed on fruit farming or decided what else to do with the land. They were not going to pay us and we were not going to pay them. There was no long term contract, just an annual agreement which our lawyer assured us could be revoked the following year. The agreement was only to do with the sheep, the vines and the olives.
During the first year we became gradually aware that the sheep did less grazing than we might have hoped and it was still necessary to do quite a bit of grass mowing. Also, the more we learned about vines and olives the more we realised how badly they were being cared for. And we had to stop a shepherdess breaking a fruit tree branch in a strange ad hoc attempt at pruning.
Last January we allowed the agreement to continue because we weren't ready to take over the vines etc. ourselves - we just didn't have time.
In early summer the shepherds agreed to keep the sheep away from the terrace where we had planted vegetables. They also gave us some quite good advice about the irrigation system. Then, within a week, as soon as we had gone back to England, they planted one of the biggest terraces with maize.
We complained and said they had broken the agreement and unless they removed the crop, restoring what had been a meadow, we would terminate the grazing agreement.
They agreed to a meeting to discuss matters. We took an interpreter (who is also a part time farmer with a lot of knowledge about vines, olives, land etc. and is worth his weight in gold, never mind what we pay him) and they brought a woman who was not introduced but who turned out to be a lawyer.
They claimed the maize was beneficial to the land, and that they had been looking after the land for years. They asked for compensation - at least the cost of the maize seed. They agreed not to graze the sheep in future but said they had tended the vines and would like this year's crop of grapes and that they had tended the olive trees and would like to take the olives in early 2011. They said they had wanted to discuss the maize with us but we weren't there (despite the conversation about vegetables and irrigation just before the maize planting).
We said they could have this year's grapes. (We had made no other arrangements). This was a purely charitable gesture on our part. We asked them not to bring the sheep again. (Our interpreter pointed out that sheep and vines don't mix well for all sorts of reasons.) We refused their claim for the maize seed and threatened to counter-claim for the damage to the land. (We had wanted to have that terrace as a wild flower meadow.) We said they could have a reasonable time to remove the maize, which meant they could probably harvest it. We said they could not have the olives, partly because that would have taken whatever agreement there was into another year (agreements in Spain and Portugal usually last from January to January) and partly because our interpreter showed us that nobody had pruned or tended the olive trees for years.
Their lawyer started making notes and produced an agreement form and asked for our passports, fiscal numbers etc. After a heated discussion the shepherds apologised for involving a lawyer without telling us and we agreed to contact our lawyer.
We need a Portuguese lawyer because my qualifications don't allow me to practise there but I am at least able to check the Portuguese and EU rules. We did, however, feel we needed 'official' local advice!
The we got a formal letter from their lawyer asking us for 2000 Euros for the work done on the land over the last few years.
We replied threatening, formally, a counter-claim for damage and costs and pointing out that the only work done had been for the sole benefit of the shepherds themselves and that they had had the advantage of the grape and olive crops as well as grazing for their sheep. We did contact our lawyer (and remember this involved us in more expense) and she advised us formally that we were totally within our rights to revoke all agreement but also advised us informally not to act too quickly because we would just get more hassle which would involve further expense. As the shepherds are very poor there would be no point even suing them for costs - their lawyer was being paid for by yet another distant family member. Another consideration is that our immediate neighbours are the son of one of the shepherdesses and his wife.
As yet, we haven't had a reply from the shepherds or their lawyer.
We haven't seen the sheep. The maize dried up in the incredibly hot later summer and we were worried at one point that it would be a fire hazard but it withered to almost nothing.
We heard, via the village grapevine (which has always advised us to have nothing to do with the shepherds, but only after we had already made the first agreement...) that they had offered to pick the olives for another absentee landowner who agreed that they could take his olives for their own use. They took the olives for their own olive oil but tried to charge him for their labour. Nobody knows if he paid up but it would seem they have a nice little scam going.
Our lawyer said we should probably wait until after this year's grape harvest before ensuring they didn't come onto our land again. After all, we had said, in front of witnesses, that they could have the grapes, and even though that was a gift it could hardly be revoked. So we only picked a few grapes near the house for ourselves. The rest of the crop wasn't worth much because the vines were badly tended and there was a lot of mould etc. Meanwhile Colin has invested in a press to make grape juice and we brought it back to England along with grapes from just the garden area. We think we can make a year's supply of juice from the vines and that might be more worthwhile than trying to make wine (which is cheap in Portugal anyway).
Jamie was a bit bemused by the press in the kitchen. (So was I!) Click to enlarge.
Just before we left last time I thought I heard intruders, perhaps on the balcony onto which our bedroom window opens - and woke Colin who was less than thrilled to have his sleep disturbed as he couldn't find any evidence of anyone. But we wonder whether the shepherds were picking grapes in the dark? There are some good vines that grow from the cellar terrace up to the balcony. I had heard what I thought were tiny footsteps but in retrospect could have been the snip of cutters, and then a gasp as if someone had maybe stubbed their toe.
Nothing is likely to happen before January - so long as nobody decides to help themselves to our olives! I prepared a few last year, as an experiment, and intend to do a lot more this winter.
We don't really intend to become fruit farmers. The cost of hired help would probably be greater than the profits from the crops. We might take a lot of the vines out, and just keep the olive trees pruned. We aren't sure. But we know we won't keep sheep, however pretty they are.