Investor Insights & News
Because you have expressed interest in Bali investment opportunities, or are one of the many who have already invested; we’ve put together a bunch of really informative articles. Please click on any of the links below to read more about our projects.
December 2023 Report
Let me open by hoping you all had a tremendous Christmas and wishing you all the very best for 2024. The signs are looking fantastic for the company for 2024, but let me come to that in a moment!
November 2023 Report
The rain is here! The older vanilla is responding by putting out more flowers, but the weak vanilla vines aren’t yet putting out shoots. The strong vines however are continuing to grow as well as flower.
October 2023 Report
October has continued to be dry, very little rain, though the clouds are gathering. The vanilla is flowering strongly in Tegalsaat, not so much in Jeruk Mancing. We have 400 flowers a day in Tegalsaat....
September 2023 Report
September has been a dry month, overall, with just a little rain here and there. Nevertheless, the strong vines are sprouting buds right left and centre, but the weaker ones are wilting for want of rain. We..
August 2023 Report
Well, this has been a rip-roaring month. First, we determined just why it has been raining so much, and I’m angry at the lack of reports on this. Second, we were finally visited by a vanilla expert who...
July 2023 Report
We entered into July in a positive mood, with the sun beating down after a dry June and the vanilla growing strongly. We did feel we needed a drop of rain, but weren’t expecting the deluge to come. It ....
2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai eruption and tsunami
We have been forced to redesign our vanilla gardens by unprecedented weather. For three years we have seen extended rain, extreme rain. Indeed, in 2022 it didn’t stop raining. Vanilla likes to be humid, 80% ...
Morning Drama, the tale of a Duel over the Boundary
This morning I was interrupted in my work on a proposal by a call from Dadap, our founder and production director. Somebody has cut down 6 durian trees. I am at the police station. I need back up.
So, I ....
The Darling Buds of … July?
The Darling Buds of … July?
After a beautiful sunny June, July started with a crash of thunder and ten days of almost solid rain, torrential like the wet season. Much to the horror of the tourists.
We were...
June 2023 Report
This month seems to have flown by.
The vanilla continues to grow, though the weather has changed. Very hot during the day, cold at night. No rain, very dry. This is excellent for the vanilla, what we...
May 2023 Report
Another excellent month.
The vanilla is growing very fast at present. A new leaf appearing in 2 days rather than a week when they are young. We are light pruning the shade trees to get much needed light...
Lobsters – the Story Now
Starting
We first explored the lobsters to help out a local fish farmer who had gone bust thanks to covid. We had an escape route if it didn’t work out, but the more we understood the business, the better...
Waterlogging – the big issue
I have just been around Garden 21, a beautiful series of perhaps 6 or 7 rice paddies that we have converted to vanilla production. When we started, even though it was the rainy season, the ground was dry. But..
April 2023 Report
This has been a confidence boosting month.
First, against all odds, the vanilla is continuing to make new flowers. It is really looking like quite a few good quality vanilla beans will be ready by the end of..
March 2023 Report
March has seen higher temperatures and less rain, albeit with a couple of big storms. It really does look like the weather is going back to normal!
Throughout March the vanilla has been busy flowering – we ...
Congratulations, Karyo!
Three years ago, we employed one of Karyo’s wives (he had two, no idea how or why). After 6 months, Karyo asked for a job. We refused, because you could smell the alcohol on his breath and we knew he drank 5...
Monitoring and Controlling Vanilla Growth
Growing vanilla is all about controlling moisture and light. But let us look at the various stages of a vanilla plant’s life.
Experimentation: Light
We experiment all the time, and having over 40,000 vanilla vines allows us considerable luxury in trying different things. Essentially, I try something new in my garden, and when and if it pans out, we try...
February 2023 Report
The rain is on the retreat and we are getting days of sunshine. The vanilla is responding eagerly and optimism is returning! We have solved one knotty problem and identified another serious one.
January 2023 Report
This has been a slow month. Not only have we been conserving finances until the new marketing campaign kicks off, but the New year coincided with Balinese Galungan followed ten days later by Kuningan, which...
December 2022 Report
I trust you all enjoyed a splendid Christmas and our best wishes for a wonderful 2023!
It’s time to look back on the year and consider. And what better place to start than with our budget.
On the expenses...
November 2022 Report
This has been possibly our most difficult period. Fortunately, there is lots of light at the end of the tunnel.
First of all, our plans for the year were very reliant on a promised investment of US$100,000 ..
October 2022 Report
Vanilla.
The flowering season has started, and due to the poor summer, I wasn’t expecting a great deal. Nevertheless, as I reported last month, we started with a surprising burst of flowers, more than I ...
Vanilla Yield
After answering some questions, I thought it would be beneficial to detail how we expect to get a vanilla plant to produce pods.
We select a shade tree and plant a young vanilla taken from a cutting at the...
September 2022 Report
An interesting month, in which we have been preoccupied in my favourite pastime, solving problems!
Vanilla
Some of the vanilla wasn’t growing well, slightly yellow. Now vanilla goes yellow in excess sunshine..