Farming
We farm as much of the land we available to us as possible as food for the orphanage. The farming we do is split into three areas, Fruit and Vegetables, Chicken Farm and Aquaponics, each detailed below...
The purpose of farming in these three areas is to help improve the sustainability of Bali Life and to provide the children in our care with valuable training and experience.
We currently do not have enough land available, but in the future we would like to purchase more land that would allow us to expand our farming programmes and become fully self sufficient.
Fruit and Vegetables
The area in which the home is located is very dry and arid, and it is difficult to grow any sort of crop. But we have managed to grow a whole range including chilis, egg plant, and papaya.
That we have achieved this has set a great example to the local community and in the future we would like to offer training, where we can share the techniques and knowledge we have gained.
Chicken Farm
Our chickens are currently laying over 100 eggs per day. This is more than enough for the children's home and we sell the surplus to the local community.
The older chickens are used for food and replaced by chicks which can be raised up to lay eggs and keep the cycle going.
Aquaponics
This is the cultivation of fish and vegetables in an enclosed, circulating system.
Fish are farmed in tanks, their waste naturally accumulating in the water. This effluent-rich water becomes high in plant nutrients but also becomes toxic to the fish. Plants are grown in a way that allows them to use this nutrient-rich water. The plants take up the nutrients, reducing the water's toxicity. The water can then be returned to the fish tank and the cycle can continue.
The only water added to the system is to replace loss from absorption by the plants or evaporation into the air.
We have just started a small scale trial of the system on our current site. If successful we will transfer the system to the new site and expand it further. More information on this trial can be
found here.