Kebun Kemensah

🌿Join us for a two-day workshop that delves into the fundamentals of syntropic agroforestry, a form of regenerative agriculture, as well as the socio-economic aspects of permaculture. We will explore the intersection of agro-ecological design and socio-ecological design and how these relate to the concept of Right Livelihood for the Common Good, and how they can be a way forward as a solution to many of the problems of our time.

🌳The morning sessions will be at Kebun Kemensah where we will go through the fundamental concepts of syntropic agroforestry and learn how to design and manage agroforestry systems with hands-on practice. In the afternoon we will sit with Dr. Adi Setia where he will discuss invisible structures and social permaculture, drawing insights from Chapter 14 of Bill Mollison’s Permaculture: A Designer’s Manual, in relation to the Islamic Gift Economy and related concepts such as Right Livelihood and the Ethical Economy.

🌼Dr. Adi Setia is the Co-Founder & General Coordinator of the Institute for Regenerative Livelihoods (IRL). He is also the founding director of IGE Advisory, which is dedicated to consulting, teaching and researching in the Islamic Gift Economy framework.

INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY AT KEBUN KEMENSAH

We are on the lookout for two passionate individuals to join us at the farm and immerse themselves in a permaculture market garden through our upcoming internship program.

Duration: January to March 2024
Schedule: 4 days a week, mornings only

Details about the internship will be discussed during a one-on-one appointment. To express your interest and schedule a meeting, contact Federica on WhatsApp at 013-4044218 or DM us on Instagram ().

Heavy rain and intense storms yesterday! The beds at the top of the market garden area were flooded. I guess it's time to rework the water flow and drainage. Too much water passing through here. For now a quick drainage allowance would hopefully do the work in case of another strong rain event.

"All species – the existing ones, those that have already occurred and those that will appear – are equipped to perform their tasks, driven by inner pleasure."

"I always seek to create agroecosystems as close as possible to the natural and original systems of the sites where I work, both in their form and in their function and dynamics."

-Ernst Gotsch.

Our market beds were left to the natural growth of what we call weeds, which in our farm now include naturalized edible species left to seed and self propagation, such as ulam raja (cosmos caudatus) and bayam (amaranth).

From time to time we would cut them back and lay them on the beds as mulch, and since taking a break from growing, we have done this many times. As expected and hoped for, our soil is noticeably better now in terms of structure, colour and soil life.

Now, to grow our crops, we take the weeds down again and simply plant our seedlings into holes with a handful of compost in each hole, without first loosening and raking/surface-tilling the beds as we did in the past.

Our first batch of greens came out really great even with relatively minimum effort and care - no watering (it's been raining), only managed to fertilise once, no pest control.

This has been the direction we are seeking - to find a way to grow good crops with minimum time and energy spent, as we are struggling with those. To do this we are learning to trust and rely on natural processes rather than seeking to control everything.

Now to see if the same success will continue with the following crops, insha Allah.

An early Friday morning rain and a beautiful batch of greens ready to harvest.

Thanks to the frequent rain plus the mulching, we haven't had the need to water them except on one occasion. We only applied fertiliser once (we got busy with the workshops) - a watering with JLF and a sprinkle of broken down goat manure.

Perhaps repeatedly letting the weeds grow and cutting them down back onto the beds is showing its results. The soil is definitely much better in texture now with earthworms found easily under the surface.

With food security and rising price concerns becoming a common subject of conversation now, perhaps it is time that we pay closer attention to the soil beneath our feet.

Finally planted our beds again! Picking up again our transplanting skills along with our nursery routines...just in time before our fingers get too rusty.

Hopefully all the beds will be full of food again, even just for the feeling of security amidst these uncertain times.

Join us for a 2-day immersive workshop where we will learn the basics of establishing and managing a food forest based on Syntropic Agroforestry, a system developed by Ernst Gotsch in Brazil following the processes in a natural forest ecosystem that aims to create productive, economically viable and ecologically functional forests.

In the workshop, we will cover the basic concepts in Syntropic Agroforestry such strata distribution i.e the different layers in a forest, and ecological succession. Participants will also learn basic management techniques through hands-on practice in our young system as well as preparing and planting a new system.

🌱SATURDAY
8.30am - 3pm
(lunch provided)

Introduction/basic concepts
Observation and walk through
Management techniques - pruning and biomass organization, banana management, etc.
Lunch and Q&A/discussion

🌱SUNDAY
8.30am - 12.30pm

Designing a food forest - choosing species, strata and succession planning, etc.
Preparing and planting a new system
Review and wrap up

Tea/coffee and refreshments will be provided throughout the workshop.

Exchange: RM250/pax.

DM Agroforestry if you are interested and we'll send you the details. Limited to 10 slots.

Help us to share with people who might be interested. 🌿

Hello Facebook community! We're happy to announce the launch of our Kebun Kemensah page! 🎉

Although we've been growing organic veggies and sharing our passion for sustainable urban farming for over a year now, we're new to the world of Facebook. We can't wait to connect with you, share our journey, and learn from this community.

To kick things off, here's a look back at our incredible first year, filled with growth and learning.

Stay tuned for updates and more on sustainable urban farming. 🌿