Last year, in August 2024, we planted 120 Paulownias. Of course… August is not exactly the ideal time to plant trees. Lesson learned. So this year we decided to do it properly — planting at the end of winter, when the trees are still dormant and the soil is ready to welcome them. This time the plan was much bigger. Two large fields needed to be planted, and we were aiming for 400 to 500 trees . That required some serious preparation. The Master Plan Before a single hole was dug, there was a plan — a very detailed one. Maaike gathered advice from different sources and combined everything into one large design . Imagine nearly 4 hectares of land drawn on a big sheet of paper, filled with endless circles of different sizes representing different tree species. Each circle carefully numbered, each number linked to a legend explaining what tree would grow there. In the end it was a piece of art. A Wet Spanish Winter The winter of 2025–2026 in Spain was extremely wet. Record-breaking we...
It is almost the end of February 2026, and we’ve already had some wonderfully sunny and warm days. It makes it tempting to think that winter is over. We know better, of course — last year we still had cold days well into May. But from a solar power perspective , we can safely say: winter is behind us. Naturally, the first question is: how did it go? Was there enough energy? That question can be answered in many ways. We knew in advance that we would not have enough energy during winter — and that was by design. To generate sufficient solar power on the shortest day of the year, December 21st, we would need so many panels that for the rest of the year we’d be drowning in excess energy. On top of that, such a system would simply be far too expensive. In winter, we don’t just get less sun — we also need more energy . As temperatures drop, we try to heat the houses as much as possible using electricity. Demand goes up exactly when production goes down. And then there’s the heat pumps...