Hey friends,

It’s happening: We’re building!
And since this is Bali, we don’t start with hammer and nails, but with incense, prayers, and a ceremony to chase away the bad spirits. From June 25th, the land was officially blessed – green light for construction. 🎉

And guess who’s back?
Yep – Ketut. Remember the pushy contractor from the land survey? Turns out, he not only has impeccable timing when it comes to showing up but also happens to own a hardware store right around the corner. Convenient, right?
Since our land is a bit off the beaten path, hiring Ketut and his crew for the first works was clearly the most practical (and ecological) choice.

Of course, we came armed with carefully drawn plans, spreadsheets, and a solid financial concept.
But – welcome to Bali reality: prices here are like chameleons. They change color every few months – meaning, everything just keeps getting more expensive. So Ketut works step by step, one section at a time. Looking further ahead? Impossible.

Cosmetic extras? Cut.
Solar system? On hold until we hit our investment target (dear investors, we’re waving at you 👀).
What’s left? Cement. Lots and lots of cement.

The very first structure on our land is a three-walled, open storage shed with a corrugated roof. Officially, it’s where the electricity meter has to be installed. Unofficially, it’s our shady coffee lounge while watching the workers sweat. 😅
Fun fact: most of the cement bags are stacked outside anyway (thanks, dry season), but a few times the shed has actually saved the crew from surprise rain showers.

Meanwhile, preparations for our rainwater tanks are in full swing. For now, they’re being built above ground, but later they’ll be tucked into the earth once the land gets leveled. Loads of bamboo serve as scaffolding, so at times it feels like we’re running a construction site meets art project.

Every 2–3 days, we head up to the site to check progress and document everything – after all, our investors want to see how bare soil slowly turns into a sustainable aquaponics farm.

One thing’s already clear: rainwater harvesting is non-negotiable. It’s as much a part of our independence as the solar system will be in the future.

Until then, it’s all about building, dreaming – and keeping enough coffee stocked in the shed.

In the next post, we’ll take you behind the scenes of the earthworks and the glamorous “stone-sorting-with-excavator action.”