We knew Nana for quite a while since we like the organic juice that she produces regularly. So, on a weekly basis, she delivers organic juices for us. As her customer, we also can choose the fruits. Since the juice tastes really good, then we became curious and finally made an appointment for a visit.
Nana is one of the best women farmers in town. We think she is among the few women who are doing permaculture gardening in Mataram. Nana has been learning Permaculture Gardening for 5 years. She makes organic Juices from the fruits, roots & veggies she grew in her garden. Through her Instagram Account named: Bekebon Back To Nature, she markets her home-based organic products. She also shares her permaculture life.
Nana has been really passionate about Permaculture gardening since she worked in an NGO in Bali. During her work, she found great projects and got inspired by them. Since then, she has started to search for references and learn.
Nana has been interested in growing her own food in a small plot in front of her room. Finding the joy and how relaxing it is, she decided to dig more and take the Permaculture Design Course in 2015 led by John Champagne at Bumi Langit Institute. “It’s a life-changing course”, I’ve never realized before that very small action will affect the ecosystem, and we as humans as part of it play a big role’’, Nana said.
On one fine Sunday, we had a chance to make a visit to her beautiful permaculture garden in Ampenan. This place is an absolute Gem. We also had a chance to learn a bit about how to manage the soil.
The word “Permaculture” was the combination of the two words “permanent” and “agriculture”. Two Australian men named Bill Mollison and David Holmgren coined the term in the 1970s. It is an agricultural philosophy that allows us to use the resources that we have around us to their fullest potential.
One unique spot in her garden shows that its soil is already managed. There appeared that the Kales has already started growing. One of her products is Kale Juice that already became our favourite. There are also other options like Turmeric, “Kedondong”, Guava, Sapodilla, Passion Fruit etc.
Composting & Seedling Spot are where all the magic happens. Nana showed us where all of the organic waste turns into compost. She told us that she even collects the leaves from her neighbouring area.
The other great idea is to use the shredded grass to cover the soil. So it becomes the top layer of the soil functioning as organic matter.
For us, becoming a farmer looks like a very labour-intensive job to do on a regular basis. Even though she takes care of the garden alone, she believes that if cared for well, all the microbes, bacteria and all ecosystems can maintain & sustain the garden itself blog here. “I have no problem working alone because I team up with the microbes. I initiate the first job, then they do the rest”.
Hearing those words made us understand that Nana has considered her job more than doing farming stuff, but more than that, she put all of her trust in her surrounding environment & ecosystem along with its supporters, like bees, worms, ants, ducks, fly and birds. She is the true Farmers!
Additionally, becoming a farmer doesn’t mean that you cannot implement a zero-waste lifestyle. She does integrate it in some ways, for instance:
1. Instead of using plastic bottles as packaging, Nana uses glass bottles that her customers can return on the next Juice delivery best site. So far, her customers are mostly from Mataram & Senggigi.
2. Using the reusable bag for delivery. Nana really knows the bad impact of single-use pollution. This is indeed indirectly educating her customers. We swap the bag on each new delivery.
3. By growing foods locally by herself she automatically (indirectly) reduces the probability of plastic use compared with people who don’t grow foods themselves.
4. Her venture can be considered as a practice of Circular Economy. A circular economy is an economic system aimed at minimizing waste and making the most of resources.
Last but not least, we want to encourage everyone to support a small local business like this which has less carbon emission impact on the environment, educating customers on a zero-waste lifestyle & utilizing space to grow their own food. If you don’t have space, then support local businesses.
Thank you, everyone!
See you in the next blog post. Feel free to engage in the comment section.
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Gumi Bamboo is a Lombok based Social Enterprise working closely with women group (previously employed as stone miners) to produce earth friendly product sourcing bamboo materials from their Community Forestry, providing them leadership & life skill through Bamboo craftsmanship.
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Gumi Bamboo is a Social Business empowering women group ex stone miners in Lombok, Indonesia.
