Care and appreciation of soil

To be able to truly honor and appreciate the earth, a caring and loving attitude  to oneself and others is a prerequisite. At Jiwa Damai we approach  working  with the soil and earth from a  multidimensional perspective.

The inner attitude of honoring and respecting that which gives us our physical life, is complimented with the in-depth knowledge of how to restore and heal the abuse the soil suffers. Here at Jiwa Damai we ground the theoretical design concepts of Permaculture, its principles of earth care, people care and sharing  with hands-on in our extensive gardens. Our  1 and 3 day intro offerings as well as PDC’s are embedded in a morning yoga class and evening heart meditation. Find out more on www.jiwadamai.net 

The Art of Learning by Doing

Land before Chinampas

Permaculture in Practice - The Art of Learning by Doing 6th - 30th January 2014

Jiwa Damai encourages a combination of theory and hands on practice in a supportive environment as an important approach to learning and growing. Our internships offer the possibility to design and actualize a project, either as a group or on an individual basis. Our interns receive expert support and guidance while being given the chance to take responsibility for their own learning outcomes.

At this time we are offering places for up to 6 interns to take part in a one-off group permaculture, aquaculture design project, facilitated by our in-house permaculture design trainer Stephanie Garvin.  The project will involve designing and implementing an aquaculture project, including building a chinampa system, a technique used in Latin America by the Incas to successfully grow food in wetland areas.  We have several swamp areas at Jiwa Damai which lend themselves ideally for such a project. To our knowledge it is the first of its kind to be implemented in Bali. It is an exciting pilot project.

This project includes free theory sessions on permaculture design for chinampa systems.

Following this internship the we offer a Permaculture through the Heart course www.jiwadamai.net/education-activities/

Our offering The Art of Learning by Doing is open for people interested in permaculture, sustainable food production and environmental conservation. No previous permaculture knowledge or experience is needed. We also invite Permaculture Design Certificate holders desiring to expand their practical knowledge and design skills. Participants need to be in good health and physical condition since the project will involve manual work in a tropical environment.

Skills that participants will have the opportunity to learn and practice during this internship include:- Permaculture design methodologies Assessing needs and yields Building a stable, productive ecological system Nutrient recycling Using local and on site resources Water management Aquaculture systems Creating energy efficient systems Planning for diversity and habitat creation Using edge effects to increase yield Teamwork and task management Plant propagation techniques Soil building and composting

For more details or information, or to apply for a place on this internship programme, please contact us at info@jiwadamai.net or using the contact form attached.

Optional Extras We can provide on-site, basic accommodation and meals at Jiwa Damai Retreat Centre and Organic Garden at a discounted rate.

[contact-form][contact-field label='Name' type='name' required='1'/][contact-field label='Email' type='email' required='1'/][contact-field label='Comment' type='textarea' required='1'/][/contact-form]

Coconut Shells

At Jiwa Damai we are using a special way to place our coconut shells around the base of our plants. Since we are producing our coconut oil form our own coconut trees , the shells are available and we are using them for several purposes. During the rainy season they can collect some of the water with their inner softer hairy material thus allowing to keep some water away form the plants.

IMG_1189

The second reason is to have them soak up the water we are distributing in the dry season  around the fields. They will hold the water longer for the plants to feed .

IMG_1191

Last but not least when they decompose they will make an excellent nutrition to be added to the soil. On some plants we are just setting them directly around the root of the plants.

IMG_1181

IMG_1180

Salju the snowflake

This is a pretty awesome shot of our beautiful Balinese dog Salju. Salju translates to snowflake ;-)

856410_465017003551832_2055496262_o

Balinese Passion Fruit

This is one of our lumbungs, located in the middle of our permaculture garden, surrounded by fields with organic veggies and fruit. A passion fruit plant has grown over the roof of our garden Lumbung and by now it  covers the whole straw roof.

lumbung_2

The plant carries plentiful fruit, but they are not ready to harvest yet. The fruit needs to get more yellow.

passion fruit

The ripe passion fruit, after cutting it open, contains juicy brown seeds with a sweet-sour taste. Very refreshing!

Jiwa Damais Guardian

Margret

Margret at Jiwa Damai permaculture and retreat center, where she takes care of all aspect of managing, running and expanding the gardens as well as supervising the teamwork .

Jiwa Damai's team

Today we want to introduce you to our staff here at Jiwa Damai! All our employees live in near-by villages. In this way we want to contribute to the local communities by supplying employment.

Jiwa Damai's Balinese staff, from left to right and from top to bottom :

Wayan, our night guard; Lana, responsible for all maintenance issues; Ketut, our head gardener; Astri, our cook (probably the  best chef on Bali); Wira, our coordinator; Wayan, our second gardener and last but not least Sugik, our junior administration manager.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The team gets complemented by Philippe from Switzerland, our guest relations manager, who is living on Bali for quite a while now and Simone, responsible for Marketing & PR, working from Germany. Watching over all is Margret, Jiwa Damai's caretaker and guardian.

.... and not to forget our 3 dogs, Angrek, Salju and Blackie !

Nous souhaitons vous présenter le très sympathique staff de Jiwa Damai !!

De gauche à droite et de haut en bas :

Wayan, notre garde ; Lana, l’homme de la maintenance ; Ketut, notre jardinier ; Astri, notre cuisinière (la meilleure chef de Bali); Wira, notre coordinateur; Wayan, notre jardinier et Sugik, notre responsable administratif.