The hands that tend: stories from our community garden guardians

🌿 Meet some neighbours, dreamers and staff who are cultivating more than just plants in our shared soil

Every thriving garden tells the story of the hands that tend it, and our community garden at Nova School of Business and Economics is no exception. Behind every sprouting seed and flourishing plant are the garden guardians: a diverse community of neighbours, staff, and passionate individuals who have chosen to make this patch of earth their shared responsibility.

From the very beginning, Ned and Carmel, a lovely Irish couple living in Carcavelos, have been pillars of our garden community. Ned, the son of Irish farmers, works with satellite imagery for environmental monitoring by day and gets his hands dirty with fellow nature-lovers at the community garden by evening. For him, the garden represents joy and positivity made tangible. Carmel, a nurse in Ireland who grew up milking cows and tending family gardens, finds something here which she describes as “peace and togetherness across all ages and cultures.” They’ve been with us since day one, quite literally part of our roots.

José Marreiros joined us more recently, on June 4th, bringing fresh energy despite, or perhaps because of, his 65 years. Living close to Nova SBE, he wasted no time making his mark, already planting aloe vera and promising to be an active contributor to this community project. His enthusiasm reminds us that passion for growing things knows no age limit.

And because one José is never enough, we also have José Vegar, a passionate and dedicated contributor who consistently brings fresh ideas, a thirst for learning, and a commitment to making a difference, rain or shine, as he tends the garden with care.

Then there’s Alessia, whose love for gardens, herbalism, and cats, traces back to her childhood in a small village in southern Italy, surrounded by poppies and olive trees. Now in Portugal, she’s deepening her connection with both land and people, weaving what she calls “rooted, meaningful relationships through soil and seeds.” Her approach to gardening feels almost mystical, a practice of cultivating not just plants, but community.

Among our Nova SBE staff members, we find Cristina Afonso, who approaches the garden as “a moment of pause, a ritual of presence and connection to the essential.” For her, it’s where time slows down and the heart aligns with nature, accompanied by the golden light of day’s end and the sounds of swallows and water touching roots. There’s poetry in how she describes her relationship with this space.

And there’s Rogério Ferraz, for whom the garden represents a return to his roots in the most literal sense. Having grown up among gardens and genuine flavours, he continues that bond here while contributing to something more shared and sustainable. His journey from student to teacher, which we saw during Discovery Week, embodies the garden’s power to transform and empower.

These guardian stories remind us of the deep connection that is nurtured when neighbours from different countries find common ground in shared soil, when staff members discover new sides of themselves, and when spaces are created where anyone can become a teacher, a learner, and a tender of growth. In our garden, every guardian brings their own seeds of experience, and together, they’re cultivating something larger than any individual vision: a living example of how community blooms when nurtured with care, diversity, and shared purpose.

Read more about the NOVA SBE Community Garden:
More than a garden: How DESIS Lab is cultivating community
Seeds of connection : Discovery Week at our community garden