First honey harvest in Jiwa Damai

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It has to be midnight and full moon (purnama) and the bees have to be asleep before the honey can be taken out.

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The beekeeper opens the beehive without any protection. He breathes water onto the outside of the beehives which is full of sleeping bees.

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The bees disperse and some begin to fly around. He then takes two bamboo sticks to remove the honey combs slowly one after another.

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The honeycombs are then broken into small pieces and put on to a filter and steamed from below. When the honey is liquid it is being pressed out.

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Organic cooking: Fried Tempeh

Today we show you another traditional Balinese dish made from Tempeh. Tempeh is a traditional soy product originally from Indonesia. It is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form, similar to a very firm vegetarian burger patty. Like tofu, tempeh is made from soybeans, but tempeh is a whole soybean product with different nutritional characteristics and textural qualities. Tempeh's fermentation process and its retention of the whole bean give it a higher content of protein, dietary fiber, and vitamins. It has a firm texture and strong flavor. Because of its nutritional value, tempeh is used worldwide in vegetarian cuisine.

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At Jiwa Damai we place a high value on sustainable food practices and organically grown produce. We grow and eat a fair amount from our permaculture garden. Astri, our very talented Balinese cook, prepares food with great care and love. Below is her recipe for Fried Tempe. Very yummy.....

Astri's recipe for Fried Tempeh: 

Ingredients:

• 1 block of Tempeh
• Add a dash of Merica Bubuk, Indonesian Pure Pepper Powder
• 1 block vegetable stock
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup water

Preparation:

First cut tempeh into flat squares. Combine with Merica Bubuk, vegetable stock, and salt. Add ½ cup water and allow to soak 20 minutes. Drain, vegetable oil in wok and fry tempeh. We enjoy tempeh with rice and sambal.

Other variations include cutting the tempe into thin rectangles and combining with peanuts and red peppers. This makes a great addition to stir fried bok choy, or added to a salad like croutons.

Fried Tempeh

Dragonflies and Butterflies

Today we want to introduce you to some of the beautiful animals in our organic garden. This fantastic red dragonfly visited the garden. In fact, there are many dragonflies in many different colors, here at Jiwa Damai. What an amazingly beautiful creature !

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We are lucky here to be blessed by beautiful butterfly visitors as well.

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Come by and enjoy the fauna on Bali at Jiwa Damai!

Bio Tank for our Balinese Lumbungs

Working on the Lumbungs

Here at Jiwa Damai, we are currently in the process of adding to the retreat center with the construction of two Balinese lumbungs. A type of traditional Balinese housing, lumbungs are small, two-story bamboo huts that are open to nature. Ours sit on the hillside and have a scenic overlook to the jungle and swimming pool.

The first floor has of the lumbung will feature a couch, living area and patio with large hammock. The second story is a bedroom. The lumbungs are for guests who want to be closer to nature. Here, you will be sleeping open to hum of cicadas, singing of frogs and croak of the gecko. The patio provides a perfect place for meditation and yoga.

In our efforts to be the forerunners in environmental friendliness and to pioneer energy efficiency in Bali, we have installed a BioPro, bio septic tank for the lumbungs. We considered a solar water heater but ultimately decided that it was not worthwhile - too many rainy days here! Our bio tank is one of only two pieces available on the island.

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The pipe runs, as pictured, from the lumbung bathroom into the bio tank. From there it goes through a treatment process. Clean, recyled water flows out at the other side.

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The outflow of the tank will be used to water the upper garden. This will be particularly useful during the dry season, when every drop of water counts.

Family day for our team at Jiwa Damai

  We invited all our workes with their families to spend an afternoon at Jiwa Damai, to explore the grounds and enjoy a careless afternoon with games and food. This was such a fun day !

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With the kids we played all kinds of games, like 'baloon walk', balancing an egg on a spoon while walking or sack race.

The Balinese families had lots of fun and also our wwoofers took part in the event and enjoyed the day.

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Organic salad from the permaculture garden

We are lucky enough to enjoy salad from our organic garden on a daily basis. We currently grow two different types of lettuce, arugula, basil, cucumber, tomato, and carrot. All combine for a fantastic mixed greens salad.Astri makes a wonderful salad dressing to go with our fresh greens.

Astri picking salad

Astri’s Salad Dressing:

This dressing recipe is simple, quick, and easy to make at home.

• Juice from 4 to 5 limes.
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons mustard
• 4 tablespoons honey
• A small piece of ginger (to taste)

Combine all ingredients and stir until smooth and well blended. This light and flavorful dressing does not overstep its bounds and mask the many tastes of vegetables. It lends itself softly and combines nicely with any salad. Enjoy!

Organic salad

Learn Legong, a traditional Balinese dance

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One of the many activities you can take part in while visiting Jiwa Damai is being a guest at a local dance class for children right here in our local village! Our guests and wwoofers enjoy watching the talented children learn and perform traditional Balinese dance. Because the dance is beautiful and unique one of our volonteers inquired about a private lesson with the local dance teacher.

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What a special experience! She was so lucky to have this lesson because she was getting a genuine traditional dance class. She loved it so much she has been continuing her classes! This type of traditional dance is not as easy as it looks! The low squat and many intricate movements make this dance very beautiful and also very hard to learn in just one lesson! New movements are introduced such as eye direction, winks, hand twirls, and hip sways! Once you start its hard to stop! The gracious dance teacher enjoys it very much as well as having visitors to her class in the village.

Living in nature, in the Balinese Lumbung

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40 kids explore the nature at Jiwa Damai

School visit kidz

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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!

Building a Water Tower for the Lumbungs

Building the water tower

We are also hard at work building a water tower for the lumbungs. The water tower will stand about 7 meters high. The purpose of the tower is to provide water for the bathrooms, taken from a well about 30 meters below. Water travels from the tower, down into the pipe and up into the showerhead. The tower’s height is necessary to give water pressure for showering.

Inside the tower we install a floating device; if the water goes below a certain level the pump starts. The water tower ensures that in the event we lose electricity, there will be enough water for the lumbungs’ bathrooms. The tower will hold 1,000 liters, or about 400 gallons. This would provide a sufficient amount of water for two or three days.

As pictured, these incredibly strong little women transfer cement bricks for the water tower from where they are stacked outside to inside the compound.

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One man slowly and painstakingly straightens each piece of iron for the tower. Lots of time and great care go into the marvelous quality of work done here. We are very excited about the pending completion of the lumbungs.

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Bamboo, known for its strength and durability, forms the frame for the water tower and is often used for scaffolding in Bali. This worker diligently separates strands of bamboo.

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Water conservation plays an important role at Jiwa Damai. A large pond surrounds the main buildings and guest rooms. The pond is home to many different fish, microorganisms, and splendid white and purple lilies. Three different pipes drain excess water to separate ponds. Another drains water to our extensive permaculture garden. Our beautiful swimming pool is fed from a spring located underneath the pool.

We employ lots of structural thinking. Every drop of water gets reused!