Part 1

​Every day has been a step closer to the finish line for the tomato rain roof project. I'm always optimistic that the three beds will be finished by the end of every work day for the past week. However, there's always an interesting reason coming from the staff why a certain task can't be finished, and this doesn't just pertain to the rain roof. For example, when I asked for the three men on the job to fill up the beds with soil they said they need one more person. And when I asked to help cut the branches off a tree for more sunlight, they said they need ten people. There seems to be a lack of people working in the gardens, and it's a perfect excuse to not carry out a specific job, which I find hilarious. In order to lead by example I picked up a shovel and filled a large bag with soil and carried it to the empty bed, simple. I also told everyone to watch as I climbed a tree and cut a few small branches with my new machete. As I was chopping I heard them mumbling an unfamiliar word from below, "semut". It sounds like they were calling me chubby, but I quickly learned the word as soon as I focused on that itchy feeling all over my arms and legs, which started to feel more like pinches. There were at least one hundred red ants attacking me, and the pain escalated quickly. I dropped the machete to the ground, and climbed down twice as fast as I came up, shaking myself off in agony as soon as I hit the floor. Lesson learned, you need nine people to catch you when you fall. 

Besides hearing a few lame excuses there's been a lot of torrential rain, so those days are barely productive. However, major progress has been orchestrated since the short span of time I've been here, and I'm more than happy to update everyone on the projects my team and I have built so far. Here's some photos of the process (click to enlarge image):

We ran out of special roof cover material, so that's being ordered and will take a week to arrive because its coming from Bali. At least there was enough to cover 75% of one roof for now. The tomatoes have been germinating for a week, but still need some time for their roots to grow stronger before transplanting under the rain roof. 

I can't wait for this compost tumbler to start rolling! It's a sustainable project simply because we're creating another use for a busted water tank. In this case we're recycling twice, where the tank is being recycled, and so will be the organic material that's stored inside, which will decompose into natural fertilizer for the gardens. It currently needs more work, there should be a few holes for aeration, and once it's installed behind one of the gardens it will be painted black. This is because it will retain more sunlight and help speed the process of decomposing with more heat. 

Every time I walk down the path of organic #1 my flip-flops collect a few inches of mud. Over the last few years the rain has washed away the rock path, so I thought it was time for a new one. We first started out by piling small rocks on the far side to create a presentable boundary line. We then gathered 100 heavy rocks and planted them halfway in the soil to prevent them from washing away. Thanks to Nanang and Timo's hard work the path looks amazing, and this garden is now one step closer for guest visits. 

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Below are pictures from my day off, when I went off-road exploring during the day, and later sunset horse-riding.