We not only lost many trees and bamboos, the gardens top soil, being beaten daily by extremely powerful rains has diminished a lot. Deep trenches were dug to allow the masses of water to drain into the river. Presently we are trying to recuperate as much soil as we can. All is very muddy and the rains are still coming down.
Algae have taken over everywhere, due to the high humidity and are flourishing on walls and stones.
These fruit grow directly on the stem of our huge “ tree spirit”, Asking the local people how we can use these fruit, looking a bit like figures, no one has been able so far to advise us on this. In the meantime, they fall to the grouse and we use them to enrich our organic compost. Do you know them?
A Monarch butterfly chrysalis is mainly emerald or jade green in color highlighted by bright metallic gold trim – a horizontal line about 1/3 of the way down and raised golden bumps set apart symmetrically on its lower portion. About 24 hours before the butterfly emerges from the chrysalis, the surface will darken and then turn transparent. Through this process and even after the butterfly has emerged, the golden stripe and spots remain.
This description was written by Arabella, our volunteer.
We want to share with you all the love and the kind words that we have received from our guests. Sometimes it's hard to describe what Jiwa Damai is, so we let them!
Teaching our new volunteers how to prepare for hot compost. The right mixture of dry leaves and fresh greens sprinted with left overs from our coconut oil production and EM. The pictures show the cutting small of the materials used.
Permaculture provides a design system which allows to move deeply into our abused eco-systems and release its inherent potential. Ethics of earth care, people care and sharing surplus are one of its unique contribution in our today world. They actually point the way to a new paradigm, from survival and lack of, to abundance and sharing.
Permaculture caught my attention quite a number of years ago, when searching for a system to develop the Jiwa Damai gardens in Bali. The book that introduced the practice touched me deeply. I came to respect permaculture’s inherently intelligent and wise approach to regeneration as a way to return to a healthy balance with the earth as a living being.
For the past 10 years, I immersed myself into Bill Mollison’s design concept, translating it by learning through doing into our beautiful Jiwa Damai garden. Over time, inviting known teachers, participating in various trainings, and delving deeper in its principles and methods, I introduced permaculture training into Jiwa Damai’s/Lagu Damai foundation educational offerings as well.
Nata and Komang just harvested some of our Papayas. If they are very young, we use them to make a most delicious vegetable dish. They have to be green and they taste a bit like asparagus. When they begin to gently yellow a bit, they are harvested as a fruit, placed in a dark corner to turn bright yellow the outside. These special Balinese papayas have an orange fruit flesh. It kernels , crushed and bitter tasting,are a known natural medicine for any kind of liver ailments.
The priest form the neighboring village misdoing his offerings at one of our Balinese temples prior to teaching the sacred drawing workshop. He is offering flowers, rice and an egg to bring in the right spirits for protection and well being.
Delicious salad from our gardens with our red beats, Daikon and of course the beautifully tasting yellow cherry tomatoes. This is crowned with our own dressing, lime, mustard and oil or the soy dressing with rice vinegar, ginger and olive oil.
If you are interested in holding a workshop at Jiwa Damai, send us an email at contact@jiwadamai.net.
"At Jiwa Damai I felt as part of the nature, not apart from nature", says Bernardo, our volunteer.
Bernardo is a yoga teacher but he also had the chance to work closely on our mushroom project, taking care of them and planting them. He also worked with the coconuts and prepared the natural coconut oil. For Bernardo, Jiwa Damai was the place where he had his first woofing experience.
"Jiwa Damai starts from the idea of a retreat. I felt that I could work on my emotional part, even having people around. It offered me the time to reflect on my own life. I visited Bali, I went to the south, the east, the west, but Jiwa Damai is the only place where I managed to reconnect with the Balinese nature. It is the nature that really creates the uniqueness of this place", says Bernardo.
While Bernardo was a volunteer at Jiwa Damai, a yoga teacher training course was also taking place. "As a yoga teacher myself, I can see why doing the course here is more interesting. This place enhances the experience of the training. You get more connected to the environment", says Bernardo.
Originally from Brazil, Bernardo has traveled before to India and Thailand. His next stop is Malaysia. We wish him all the best and we are very grateful to having him as a volunteer at Jiwa Damai.
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).
