After removal of all and cleaning the pond, we began to make Bokashi balls. These would be placed under the big stones to allow the Effective Micro-organisms(EM) to settle into the stones.The Bokashi Balls are made of clay, rice bran and EM. We are happy to share with you our method of making this highly useful Bokashi balls.
bokasi
10 clay soil
1-2 rice bran
1-2 EM mixture with water
IMG_0727
Jiwa Damai is surrounded by beautiful ponds teeming with life. However, due to the ash coming down with the rain from the last volcanic eruption on the neighboring island, our stones in the pond, which are full with algae were covered completely with the ash. The fish feed on these algae and all of a sudden there was no food left. The ash also prevented the algae to receive light and hence they did not grow anymore.
We had to search for means how to remove the ash from the stones. A water vacuum machine we bought did not do the trick.
The only other way was to empty the pond and clean it out. This was sad, since the pool had developed its own micro climate with its various inhabitants, and we had to destroy this. The stones were also the seat of many micro organisms, especially EM. Having this micro climate surrounding the buildings of Jiwa Damai, prevented mosquito larvae from hatching and both large buildings were nearly mosquito free.
These ponds are the pride of Jiwa Damai, teeming with life, surrounding our main building and giving it its unique charme. They have a concrete base and the large river stones were added later to provide hiding for the fish and our eel as well as many crabs and frogs. To keep the water clear we had added many bags of Geolite, a stone in ground down form, which draws dirt to itself. All these needed to be considered
1. Catch all the fish and other inhabitants and take to neighboring pool
2. Remove all the stones and clean from ash
3. Remove Geolite bags and clean
3. Clean the pond floor from the ash
A huge job awaited us!
Here at Jiwa Damai we have a wonderful pond with a variety of aquatic life and beautiful water lily’s. The pond covers an area of 200 square meters and has been an integral part of the atmosphere here since the very beginning of Jiwa almost 14 years ago. In recent weeks we realized the level of water is going down; first we thought that was due to normal evaporation. For several days we let water into the pond with a hose, but the water level continued to drop. After an inspection by local building company we were informed that pond has countless leaks.
Margaret decided that we had to repair the pond even though the project would be quite cumbersome. First, all the fishes had to be taken out by draining the pool to a lower level and the Balinese staff had to catch them with nets to move them out. After that the remaining water was pumped out until it was empty.
Our pond before the drain
The pond after the drain
She then hired 12 local women to take all the stones and mud out of the pond. They worked incredibly hard and at an unseen pace.
Working on the pond
Lifting the stone
Please visit our blog soon to see what the next phase will bring...
Jiwa Damai is a hands-on, socially responsible organic garden and retreat center.
We are located amidst lush tropical vegetation in the heart of Bali (20 mins from Ubud).
