Colorful flowers

Our organic garden at Jiwa Damai is home to various species of plants and animals. Flowers are blooming in all kinds of colors : purple, yellow, red, white, ...

Purple flowers

yellow

Beautiful red flower

Seerose weiss_big

Expansion of the permaculture garden

We are in the process to integrate further areas into the permaculture garden. On the picture you see our team at work, building terraces by using bamboo poles to frame each terrace to hold the earth in place. Under the earth are palm leaves and wood pieces to improve the quality of the earth. It is planned to have the new growing  area ready in another two months.

farmwork

farm work

farm work

New fields

Farm work at Jiwa Damai

Field work

Our team and one of our volunteers, lovely Susann from Germany,  working in the permaculture gardens, and bringing bamboo leaves to the compost.

Volunteer work

After the work is done, we are all eating together with our team. The food was prepared by the wife of Wira on occasion of her sons coming of of age at 12 years ceremony.

Food

Two of our three Balinese dogs, Angrek and Blackie,  are looking on.

Lumbung and dogs

Awakening to the sounds of Nature

Awakening to the sounds of nature

After spending my time in Bali's tourist centre of Ubud it was a relief to arrive at Jiwa Damai. Upon descending the stairs into Jiwa's dining area I was immediately overcome by the tranquil surroundings. Smells of frangipani and other flowers abound as do the vibrant colours that go with them; greens, yellows and pinks that one rarely finds outside of the tropics. Terry, one of the resident Woofers, showed me the expansive gardens and led me to a Lumbung situated in the heart of the organic garden.

Awakening to the sounds of nature (1)

As you can see by the photo a Lumbung is essentially a bamboo hut with no walls. Instead of walls a mosquito net hangs to offer some protection from those irritating, and often sleep-depriving, insects. It was so exciting to get to bunk out in nature, protected from the rain and insects but still able to feel the gentle and often cooling mountain breeze.

Awakening to the sounds of nature (3)

I awoke the next morning early to the sounds of roosters off in the distance, running water from the river nearby and various birds up in the treetops. It was magical. Another of Jiwa's local residents, Orchid, the cat, had snuck into the Lumbung the night before and was sleeping near my feet. Needless to say I welcomed my new friend.

Awakening to the sounds of nature (2)

Lying there I felt a deep sense of calm and an appreciation for the serenity that is Jiwa Damai. Of course, there was much work to be done, but it was nice to really take in the environment before starting the day!

Berish Bilander

Roof cleaning the Balinese way

It is rainy season on Bali. Heavy rains and storms are quite common during this time of the year. One side effect of the rain, in combination with the hot and humid temperature is the fast growth of algae, weeds and fungus. The roof of our green house was completely covered with algae. No sunlight would come through the roof anymore, …which the plants down beneath did not like of course.

Something had to be done. Ketut was very creative in developing a tool, a special brush, with which he could clean the roof.

And see what kind of cool construction Ketut made: A bamboo stick, with hair from a coconut shell attached to it as well as a water hose.

Roof cleaning

This construction worked quite efficiently and not before long, the sunlight would shine through the roof again !

Ketut cleaning roof

Roof cleaning2