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

River bank erosion control

During the last very strong rainy season lots of damage was done on our premise at Jiwa Damai.  The heavy rainfalls caused lots of erosion, especially at the banks of the small river which is flowing through the permaculture gardens. We had to take care of this erosion and stabilize the river banks. To reduce the powerful impact of the torrentious rains on our lands, we reinforced the borders of the river with sand bags.

Wira, Maha, Suecha and one of our volunteers, Fred from Canada, are doing this extremely demanding heavy work of shoveling the river sand into bags and placing it on the banks. Eventually there will be four layers of sand bags on top of each other.

erosion (1)

erosion

erosion (2)

PDC Course with Rico Zook and Jeremiah Kidd

Next year Jiwa Damai will be hosting a Permaculture Certification Seminar with two internationally renowned permaculture designers: Rico Zook and Jeremiah Kidd.This is an intensive 17-days seminar , including hands-on experience in the gardens at Jiwa Damai.

The seminar takes place from Febuary 24 - March 12, 2013.

Using a variety of learning techniques and strategies this workshop will present Permaculture with various applications in mind. Class time will consist of traditional lectures, group discussions, game, exercise photoshows and movies. Teaching focuses on land systems with hands on work in the gardens at Jiwa Damai. Furthermore this course teaches how to integrate and use Permaculture in ‘Invisible structures’ those social, cultural, political and economic structures that shape much of our world today.

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For more information regarding the Permaculture Certification Seminar, please visit our website: www.jiwadamai.net.

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

Our Balinese dogs

Today we want to introduce you to our three wild Balinese dogs at Jiwa Damai: Salju-snow, Angrek-orchid and Blackie.These dogs do not have the same background like our Western dogs which originate from wolfs.

They are pack dogs and our watch dogs, roaming free on our 4 hectare permaculture garden. Basically they are very difficult to train and they are instinctive hunters. They announce each person coming to Jiwa Damai with barks. They are not like Western pet dogs. Therefore we do not recommend to touch them unless you know them for a few days.

Dogs at Jiwa Damai (2)

Dogs at Jiwa Damai (3)

Dogs at Jiwa Damai

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

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)

Balinese temple ceremony

A special highlight at our first week volunteering here at Jiwa Damai was an invitation from the staff  to attend two temple ceremonies. We left here late afternoon with 2 cars, but in order to attend we had to dress in traditional Balinese clothes.  Our guide for the evening and the President of Lagu Damai Foundation, Wira, brought sarongs, udengs (headpiece for men), ribbons and a blouse for us to dress in.  Finally, Astri picked some beautiful flowers that we wore behind our ears; now looking a bit more like the locals, we were ready.

Intaba and Daniel with Balinese hosts, dressed and ready to go

After a good hour drive we arrived at the first temple, Pura Ulun Danu Batur, the main sukas and water temple in Bali.  Out of our car windows we could see myriads of people with offerings on their way to the temple.

Locals making their way to bring offerings to the temple

We walked through a stunning carved gate to find ourselves in a big courtyard where a band was playing music.  A group of mostly older men performed a warrior dance with symbolic spears.

Traditional Balinese dancer inside the temple

It appeared we were the only foreigners that were welcomed to the inner- temple, which we can attribute to our Balinese friends.

Once inside we watched as offerings were presented to the Gods.  We kept a small box made out of banana leaves containing flowers and incense in front of us.

Various offerings presented throughout the ceremony

Sitting on the floor we meditated for brief periods throughout the ceremony.  At the end of the ceremony we took some rice out of a silver bowl, put it on our forehead and then ate a bit.  Afterwards, we were blessed with sacred water.  The sun had already set while leaving the temple and the full moon came up behind Mount Agung; the scenery was just breath-taking.

We set off to the second temple ceremony at the Mother Temple of Besakih.  The Besakih Temple is the largest and most important temple in Bali and is at the base of Mount Agung.  We had the honor of experiencing a second ceremony there as well before heading back.

Beautiful Mt. Agung with moon rising up as we were leaving

We were very tired after the adventure and slept in our car seats the whole way back to Jiwa Damai.