Here is Dr. Margret Rueffler’s latest creation, a herbal spiral. Up to now, it has been quite challenging to grow western herbs in our tropical climate, at Jiwa Damai in Bali. Here we choose a place half sunny and half covered. After mixing generous amounts of earth with our hot compost, various herbs were plated and then covered with saw dust.
We have White sage, Melissa, Thyme, and many others. If you are passionate about permaculture and want to learn more, let us know!
In the permaculture garden we also grow pineapples. In this tropical weather they grow really well.Once harvested, the green leaves are cut of and replanted.
Ketut with pinapple
single pinapple
2 pinapples
At Jiwa Damai we practice biological organic gardening. We clearly do not use any type of chemicals to fertilize our lands. We use effective microorganisms for fertilization. Here we show you the Balinese way how to produce indiginous microorganisms. This is a fantastic technique !
Using cane sugar and cooked rice closed in a hollow bambu stick which is burried in the compost produces a flavourful yeast type fungus which is then mixed with the earth.
DSC02423
DSC02425
DSC02434
DSC02436
School visit kidz
helping hands kidz
This Tuesday was busy at Jiwa Damai as 40 students from a local Balinese school visited for a field trip. It was such a pleasure teaching the young children about many of our plants, the importance of organic gardening, and the many different animals and organism we have at Jiwa Damai! The show started with coconut tree climbing, followed by descriptions of different trees and flowers. During the tour the children taste cocao, coconut, and sugarcane while exploring. The children also walked around the Mandala Garden identifying different vegetables, and tasting herbs. We also teach them about the importance of composting and recycling, and end the tour with each child planting a sprout in the earth with their hands!
After the tour the children enjoy lunch made at Jiwa Damai with food from the garden! We served them Taro, a root vegetable, which they see before it’s cooked and also when its in the garden. The children enjoy their lunch by the lake enveloped by nature all around them! Butterflies, fish, frogs, and lizards join the kids at lunchtime!
Experiencing the tropical wildlife in our extensive permaculture garden is quite a spectacle. Jiwa Damai is inhabited by different animals crawling, flying and jumping around in the huge garden. Today we want to introduce you to some of the little creatures.
The Tokes you'll hear as soon as it gets dark. They like to crawl around under the open roofs, looking for insects. They make that nice sounds: tookeeee, tokeeee.....
Toke
Our other noise-makers are the little froggies, quacking and quacking.
At nights, just sit back and listen to the beautiful concert !
Frog
Going for a walk in the garden , right after a heavy rainshower, I noticed some spiders weaving their nets. - What incredibly talented artists these creatures are !
Spider
But we have way more cute little animals in the huge garden. Beautiful animals..... butterflies, colorful birds, snails, ... ( it's just so hard to take pictures of the birds and butterflies.... but we'll keep on trying ;-) )
Snail
It is a pleasure walking through the garden and you can be sure not to be bothered by too many mosquitos and flies. The ponds and water have been exposed to EM-Technology and as a result the breeding of mosquitoes has been significantly reduced.
Come visit us and see for yourself!
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).
