PLACES Meio Limão

MEIO LIMÃO

Meet the owners of the organic mini market in Vila Real de Santo António, Meio Limão

Slowly, slowly there is a shift towards becoming more aware of what we put into our bodies. In the past, nutrition and ideas about health and in particular health food, was reserved for an older (dare I say wiser) crowd, now though, this generalisation is dated. With the aforementioned old notions in mind, we visited the organic mini-market in Vila Real de Santo António. We were fully expecting to be greeted by an older genre. Lucky us, we were pleasantly surprised to be greeted by the vibrance and youth of Pi Amaro. Pi Amaro and her partner Dinis Rosa are both 30 years of age, and belong to the younger, health conscious, generation. Pi was born and raised in Altura, Dinis, was born and raised in Vila Real de Santo António. Until recently, the couple were living in Lisbon, Pi was a dancer and Dinis was studying photography and film. The uncertain period of lockdown brought an opportunity for the pair to move back to the Algarve. The shop was once an art shop belonging to Dinis’ mother. However, it had seen better and brighter days and had closed its doors years ago. For Pi and Dinis, it quickly became a project to restore, revamp and create what is now Meio Limão. Pi explains to us that she sees the shop as more of an extension of her own kitchen and that she looks at food in a different way to most, when we hear her talking about nutrition I am reminded of how much akin it is to how Hippocrates viewed it. She ends it with some very wise words, saying she prefers to spend a little more money on quality, healthy organic food and in return have no medical bills to pay for. We notice a beer that is brewed locally in neighbouring Castro Marim, to which Pi explains that they are always on the lookout for locally produced and grown products. The quality of local products is better, fresher and it creates a diverse and healthy market. This makes sense, nearly every single supermarket we go to will have more or less the exact same supplies as all the others. There is very little that is unique or different or stands out in any way. The diversity is missing from the global chains, it has all become rather generic. The range of products really sets this mini supermarket apart from others. There is a surprising selection of grains, legumes, seeds, nuts, cleaning products, seaweeds, flours, oils, fresh products and veggies, soaps, chocolates, an entire selection of Asian products, Gluten free products and even CBD products. When we ask about the future, we are told that Pi and Dinis will expand their place, in fact behind the scenes work is already in progress to add a kitchen. They have plans to offer freshly made takeaway foods, focusing on organic and macrobiotic nutrition. This will hopefully become a reality in February. Follow their FB page (Mercearia Bio - Meio Limão) to keep updated. Address: Rua Almeida Garrett, nº11, Vila Real de Santo António. Tel: 928 074 126 Email: mercearia.meiolimao@gmail.com

Pure & Clean

Rugs, carpets, mattresses, sofas's and more, professionally cleaned at your home

Itried every home remedy known to Google, there was no way I could get the musty smell out of the 25cm memory foam mattress I had dragged out of the basement. Even the guaranteed to work combination of sunshine and baking soda, was a failure. After days of full on scorching Portuguese summer sunshine, the mattress still smelled musty, and now it also had 2 bird poops on it. I had already resolved myself to the fact that I would have to spend €600 to replace the mattress and get a new one, but I couldn't help shake the feeling that this was insane, sending an otherwise perfectly good and new mattress to the landfill and having to spend so much money on a new. I was not looking forward to the hassle of getting a van to dump the old mattress, finding the perfect new one and more importantly, getting it delivered to the remote location where home is. Remote as in, I have officially given up on ever receiving a parcel or package to my home address... Not being able to shake the feeling of absolute waste in all the ways possible, I resorted to Google one more time and, together with the help of Google Translate, stumbled upon a cleaning service here in the Algarve that cleans... Mattresses!!! Delighted and over the moon I rang Pure&Clean and explained everything to the friendly, wonderfully helpful and fluent in English Joana. After listening to my concerns and describing the mattress, a double and thick memory foam one, Joana assured me that yes, the mattress could indeed be cleaned, guaranteeing me it would be free of the musty smell and the price quoted was tiny, a fraction of what a new mattress costs. An appointment was quickly made. Within a few days Joana and her partner, João, came to my house with their special equipment and cleaning products and I learnt the ins and outs of mattress cleaning. Their approach involves 3 steps, the same method is used to clean sofas and chairs. First is a surface pre-treatment, which involves a spray and scrub. The pre-treatment spray disinfects and kills mites and other bacteria and fungus. Second step is to treat surface stains. The third step is the deep clean which is done with a special machine, which looks a little like a large Henry hoover. Except it is filled with a special detergent and simultaneously pushes the detergent into the mattress while sucking it out at the same time. The three step process is done on both sides and then the mattress is put upright where it can air and dry. The drying takes about six hours in summer and about twelve hours in winter time. The total cleaning time takes about an hour, mine was a little less as the mattress was, other than the musty smell and two bird poops, new and free of stains. My own mattress took under six hours to dry as it was a warm summer day, it looks brand new, no musty smell and the two stains are gone as well. Needless to say, I am delighted and saved myself a lot of money. After all the cleaning I found out how and why Joana and João started their company and got into the cleaning business. Both were born and raised in Olhão and were finding it increasingly difficult to make enough money with their jobs to support their small family of three. Not wanting to move away from home, as many of the younger generation members do, João started digging to find a much needed gap in the market. His deep dive and research paid off when he found that there were no specialised and professional home furniture cleaning companies in the East of the Algarve. It's now been two years since the couple started their venture. They love their profession, making a big difference to people and the quality of their lives, they amaze their customers with the results of their work and, like with me, get big smiles in return. Joanna and João first opened during the pandemic. During this time, they had many call outs for complete disinfection and sanitation of houses and apartments, they still get the odd request, but mainly life and requests have turned back to normal. The requests that come in are typically for cleaning mattresses of all sizes, materials and thicknesses, carpets and rugs which include Persian silk and ones made of natural fibres such as sisal and sea grasses, curtains, sofas, chairs and car interiors are also much requested. They also provide waterproofing services for all materials, particularly useful if you have dogs, cats, children or for clumsy friends and family members. Waterproofing outdoor furniture is recommended every 6 months and of course if you are into camping, you'll know how important it is to keep your tent weather tight. Joana and João will soon be expanding their business and offering the hire of cleaning equipment and they will release their own line and brand of special cleaning detergents. Their top tip is to not wait too long if there is a spill, stain or accident. It is best to call them straight away as the chances of a complete removal are higher when the stain is fresh. Odours and stains become more stubborn with time. The best way to contact them is by phone or by message them on FB. Pure&Clean are based in Olhão and operate in the entire of the Algarve. All their work comes with a guarantee.

Contacts:

Joana and João Lourenço Pure&Clean Tel: 914 253 600 FaceBook: Pure&Clean