Hola, amigos! When we bought our abandoned farm in Spain, one corner of it had been left completely untouched for over 20 years. We’d slowly been bringing the rest of Cortijo Renacer back to life bit by bit, but this section just stayed exactly as we found it — until now. This week we finally got the help we needed to open it up, and for the first time we could actually start imagining what this hidden space might become.
Bringing in the Digger
We’ve wanted to clear this scrub land ever since we got the keys to the house, but it’s one of those jobs that just never quite got scheduled — until a digger finally rolled onto site. The kids were thrilled. Watching a machine plough through decades of overgrowth in minutes, when we know how much sweat it takes us to do the same by hand, was honestly a bit humbling. “It’s a lot better than anything we could ever do,” as Hayden put it — and he’s not wrong.
Underneath all that scrub we found far more than we expected: old olive trees buried in the undergrowth, wildflowers, butterflies and bees everywhere, and even a few surprises the digger had to negotiate around. The kids spent the whole time gathering up olives as the ground opened up beneath them.
“It’s Not Scrub Land Anymore. It’s Land.”
That was the line of the day. Watching decades of overgrowth turn back into usable ground, in real time, was one of those proper pinch-yourself moments of this off-grid homestead journey. We made a point of asking the digger driver to leave every healthy fruit and olive tree standing — we’re opening this area up, not stripping it bare. The plan is to plant around those trees once we know what this space is going to become.
Burning Through the Cleared Brush
Clearing the land was only step one. All that scrub had to go somewhere, so with our fire license about to expire for the season, we lit up a controlled burn to work through the enormous pile of cuttings. Safety came first — water on hand, a smaller side fire to burn down the bigger pieces, and everything circled with water once it was done.
The land clearer who did the digging warned us the dried scrub would burn fast, and he wasn’t exaggerating — within about ten minutes the fire had ripped through almost the entire pile. What really surprised us, though, was the bonus at the end: once the ash dries out, it becomes brilliant natural ground cover, feeding nitrogen and nutrients straight back into the soil. Controlled burning turned into free fertiliser for whatever we grow here next.
What This Means for Cortijo Renacer
We still don’t know exactly what this newly opened space will become, but that’s half the fun of this Spanish farm renovation — uncovering land we didn’t even really know we had, and slowly working out how to use it. With the fruit trees preserved and the ground finally clear, this is one of the more exciting blank canvases we’ve had on the property since we bought it for €40,000.
Watch: Opening Up Hidden Land on Our Abandoned Spanish Farm
Here’s the full episode — the digger clearing decades of scrub, and the controlled burn that followed:
We Opened Up Hidden Land On Our Abandoned Farm In Spain
Jump to the moments that matter most:
- 0:00 – A corner of the farm left untouched for 20 years
- 0:25 – The digger arrives to clear the scrub land
- 1:10 – A project we’d wanted done since day one
- 1:46 – Discovering olive trees hidden in the undergrowth
- 2:21 – The kids collecting olives as the land opens up
- 2:51 – “It’s not scrub land anymore. It’s land.”
- 3:14 – Leaving the fruit trees standing for future planting
- 4:34 – The reveal: hidden land uncovered at last
- 6:26 – Lighting the fire to burn through the cleared brush
- 6:54 – Racing our expiring fire license
- 7:42 – Just how fast dry scrub actually burns
- 8:18 – Turning ash into free fertiliser for the land
Join Our Off-Grid Journey in Spain
We’re a UK family living off-grid in Andalusia, Spain — uncovering new corners of this old farm one project at a time, and sharing every win (and every splinter) along the way. Subscribe on YouTube and follow along as we keep transforming Renacer McGlynn (that’s Spanish for “to be reborn”) into the homestead we’ve always dreamed of.
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¡Hasta la próxima!