Permaculture garden expansion

A whole new area is being integrated into our permaculture gardens. We are adding to our planting area another 2.000 square meters.The area is being terassed, turned over, covered with rice straw, covered again with earth mixed with our special compost and then planted.

new gardens_JD (1)

Presently we have 4 people working on the new fields every afternoon. We should be able to begin planting the first seeds wihtin the next week. Two large tanks will be placed on the downward slope to allow the water to run in the waterways naturally without any further aid.

On this picture you can see the beginning of the creation of our garden labyrinth.

new gardens_JD

Fire place for ceremonies

The latest addition to out retreat center Jiwa Damai is a  fire place for spiritual rituals and ceremonies. The fire place is being constructed close to our little water angel island in the back of the garden. One wall is composed of local large pebbles. The floor will be made out of stone and grass.

Fire place (1)

Fire place (2)

Once the floor is done, we will place 12 large stones to sit in a circle, with the fire pit in the center. We choose this area for the fire place, because all thebig  trees are situated in good distance and a fire does not damage any trees or leaves above.

Fire place

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

The raising of the seeds

Plant nursery_

The permaculture garden at Jiwa Damai features a plant nursery. This area is sheltered by a roof to protect the seeds from the heavy tropical rains.

One challenge we have is to raise the little seeds, grow them into small plants,  that can then be planted into the grounds.

Plant nursery

The ideal thing would be to grow the seeds in biodegradable pots. On Bali, unfortunately there are no biodegradable pots available. So once more we had to be inventive and develop our own devices: We use cut banana leaves, which are  folded into the shape of a pot.

Plant nursery (1)

This technique is working very well. The seeds develop beautifully. Once big enough they are planted in the organic garden.

Plant nursery (2)

Permaculture through the heart - internship program

Permaculture through the heart Jiwa Damai Agro permaculture and retreat center is located on a four hectare property next to Banjar Bindu, Mambal in the district of Badung, Bali, in a small tropical valley.

The Flora and Fauna are diverse, including Coconut-, and Banana trees, ponds, a small river, plants and a jungle which is home to numerous traditional Balinese healing plants.

JD main picture

We offer a four week intensive internship training

This innovative program blends introductory with advanced learning and application of the core principles of tropical Permaculture/gardening with Self exploration from a transpersonal psychological perspective.

Experiencing Permaculture through the heart presents a unique opportunity to combine class room Permaculture learning with “hands-on” experience, complementing the active physical engagement with the soil with an inner attitude of loving alignment with the earth.

The internship is a combination of personal growth processes, allowing our heart energy to flow into our work with the earth, environment, water, soil, plants and people.

This program is the first of its kind, working with the psychological framework of the mind, theoretical Permaculture principles, design and planning, planting, harvesting and food preparation - all in alignment with the heart energy.

The fundamental understanding of the Permaculture principals, the interconnectedness and interaction of nature and environment will be aligned with our own personality landscape and deep inner nature which directly impacts the quality and nutritional value of the food.

Program and Activities

The theoretical and hands on learning is complimented by a daily early morning yoga session and heart meditation.

Two field trips to other Permaculture centers on the island are planned during the 4 week course.

Two cooking classes will be also be offered featuring Balinese vegetarian and raw foods.

An excursion and exploration of the local spices and medicinal herbs grown in the area will also be included.

Yoga session

Week One: Classes in theoretical Permaculture will take place for 2-3 hours every day, including discussion and evaluation application of the principles via hands-on practice.

Week Two: 2-3 hours daily, unfolding the HeartSelf-intelligence, and an experiential transpersonal psychological approach to Self exploration will be offered.

Week Three: Designing an environmental group project to be executed in Jiwa Damai.

Week Four: Focusing on your personal project design, presenting it to the group as well as receiving input and feedback.

Interns are encouraged to research and investigate areas or potential project sites which may welcome and benefit from your support and feedback following the internship.

Permaculture topics

Ethics and principles in Permaculture design

Understanding environment, weather patterns and location, seeing the large scale

Planting patterns and design

Water infrastructures

Composting with IMO or EM

Ecological Insect control

Indigenous building materials, bamboo

Edible Aqua Plant Permaculture

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Organic food topics

Virgin coconut oil production

Balinese ceremonial and medicinal herbs

Organic raw food preparation

Balinese vegetarian cooking, local spices

Topics of the heart

Unfolding the qualities of the heart

Aligning the brain with the heart

Respect and appreciation for Self and the Earth

Translating transpersonal inner values to the soil and earth

Connecting to the heart of the Earth

Our international faculty brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the program.

Ketut Badung is Balinese and has received his Permaculture training from IDEP Bali, Indonesia. He is our head gardener with an in-depth knowledge of local Balinese Flora and Fauna as well as Western plants which feed an nourish our team and guests. Under his care, the Jiwa Damai gardens have flourished since their inception twelve years ago.

Shelby graduated from Florida State University with a degree in International Affairs and a concentration in Sustainable Agriculture. While in school, Shelby managed an educational community garden and began her own Permaculture based urban farm after finishing her degree. She continues learning new techniques daily through a partnership with Edible Landscapes, a Permaculture design install team and through her own constantly evolving farm.

Uwe Scholz studied Permaculture with Rico Zook (USA) in Darjeeling, India. He is developing his Permaculture node in the mountains in Bali and likes to built earth houses. He is a graduate Dipl.-Ing. in informatics and computer sciences from University of applied sciences in Frankfurt, Germany.

Terry Trushel loves to transform plants with thrive in extreme conditions, such as desert and tropical environs. He established a landscape gardening business in Ashland, Oregon, USA before moving to Bali. He graduated form the Logan College of chiropractic and holds a diplomate in orthopedics.

Miquela de Ris is a certified Tri-Yoga Teacher, specializing in Yoga Flow, meditation and Kriya Yoga.She received her Yoga training at the Datta Peetham Ashram in Mysore, India and apprenticed in raw foods with Jeremy Saffron in Maui. Hawaii. She majored at the Berkshire, Massachusets community college in Peace and world order.

Margret Rueffler is the founder and caretaker of Jiwa Damai Agro-Permaculture and Retreat Center. She holds a Ph.D. in transpersonal psychology and is an acupuncturist and teaches internationally. Her books have been translated in several languages.

Course tuition: 18 735.000 IDR             $US 1 950.00

Times: Class and working times are from 09.00 am to 5.00 pm excluding weekends. The course is limited to 15 people.

To enroll in the course or if you want to receive more information , please contact us via email: info@jiwadamai.net

Organic jackfruit

Our permaculture garden is home to several jackfruit trees. Jackfruit is a quite exotic fruit with an uncommon flavour, pretty much unknown outside Asia. The jackfruit tree is well suited to tropical lowlands, and its fruit is the largest tree-borne fruit, reaching as much as 80 pounds (36 kg) in weight and up to 36 inches (90 cm) long and 20 inches (50 cm) in diameter.

This jackfruit was just harvested. Ketut is on his way to the kitchen, so our lovely cook can make dryed jackfruit chips. Yammi..

Ketut Jackfruit_1000px

The flesh of the jackfruit is starchy and fibrous, and is a source of dietary fibre. The flavour is similar to a tart banana. Varieties are distinguished according to the characteristics of the fruits' flesh.

jackfruit

In the kitchen the fruit is opened, the flesh is extracted and the meat cut into slices.

Jackfruit drying2

Jackfruit drying3

Ripe jackfruit is naturally sweet with subtle flavouring. It can be used to make a variety of dishes, including custards and cakes. Our slices will be dryed in our food drying oven, an special oven that is used in the raw food kitchen.

After the drying process we package the jackfruit chips in bags for sale and further distribution. See our homemade products at Jiwa Damai.

Abundance of nature

We are blessed with fertile grounds at Jiwa Damai. Basically, every time anyone takes a walk around the permaculture garden, there are fruits, herbs and veggies ripe and ready to be harvested.

Basil harvest

Tomato harvest

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

Organic compost at Jiwa Damai

Our vision at Jiwa Damai is to create a self-sustaining center, integrating biological permaculture with water preservation, waste recycling and application of solar energy. We are constantly working towards this goal, adding new features to achieve more sustainability. :-)

An important part of the recycling process is the composting of organic materials. We use cow dung, leaves, fruit and vegetables left over, wood, dust etc. and add effective microorganisms (EM technology)  in order to produce a healthy fertilizer.

Compost area

The effective microorganisms are produced in this blue container.

Compost

The fertilizer, made from our compost is used for the entire organic garden.

Next to the compost it is our worm factory. The worms like to eat fruit and veggies. They don't like spicy and acidic foods, such as lemons or chilis.