Barbara Scheltus - van den Berg
Passionate permaculture gardener & designer (of land and life), living self sufficient in harmony with nature
Some of the roles I play are wife, mother, permaculture teacher, facilitator, campsite owner, web designer, volunteer manager, cook, nut farmer...
I live with my family on our permaculture homestead called BOGATA ŠUMA ("Rich Forest"). We're situated in the green hills in the heart of Croatia, at the end of a dead end street.
At Bogata Šuma you can enjoy colorful organic FOOD from our land, learn how permaculture works on our COURSES, or you can enjoy a holiday in Croatia's nature on our small, eco CAMP site.
With Bogata Šuma's COUNTRY LIFE ACADEMY you can be coached to a harmonious, successful life in nature. We organise weekends and courses for people who want to learn all about a good life on the land.
With our NGO "Udruga Anno 3033" you can volunteer for a month or longer to learn about permaculture and a fulfilling self sufficient life.
We are developing a community with likeminded young and elderly in rural Croatia. People who love a life in harmony with nature, like to care for the earth, each other and themselves, love a good meal and a good conversation and give respect to diversity.
As one of our (future) income streams we're setting up a permaculture nut orchard (with walnuts, hazelnuts, sweet chestnuts and other plants) as future protein source to save animals and the planet.
From city life to rural Croatia
I used to live in the city (Amsterdam and Leiden, in The Netherlands) where I had edible balconies and organized guerilla gardening days to spice up the city.
I was always intrigued by growing and foraging my own food. Our patio was crammed with fruit shrubs and vegetables and I had a weblog called "Wildplukker", about food foraging in the city. One day a film crew followed me and my son on a city foraging tour, for a Dutch TV show.
I lived in urban environments until 2009, when Peter Scheltus suggested to move to the countryside in Croatia. After the first shock, it became an exciting opportunity to bring my theorethical permaculture knowledge into action!
In Croatia we live on 12 hectares of land that we designed as an edible, sustainable landscape. On our terrain (called "Bogata Suma", Croatian for Rich Forest) you can find:
- a beautiful kitchen garden ("vegetable park") that produces our vegetables all year round,
- an edible fence or branches wall
- a plum orchard with net and pan system
- a
forest garden
- a "food savannah" (that eventually will grow into a 2nd forest garden)
- a well designed greenhouse with a stone wall to trap warmth and a rainwater drip irrigation system
- we're setting up a polyculture nut orchard on the field
- we did some preparations for a natural greywater cleaning swim pond
On our wishlist: to finish the grey water cleaning swim pond, a compost heated glasshouse with aquaponics, a safe system to let animals cut the grass for us, and a rain water catchment system to water the garden in dry times.
As a facilitator I like to make permaculture practical for people. How can you do things, how can you design (parts of) your life so that you take good care of the earth, of yourself and other people, and care for the future. Even when you live in an appartment in the city.
Besides land based permaculture designs, I am also making people based designs. With various methods, like the "SADIMET design process" and Looby Macnamara's "Design Web".
Permaculture designs I work on
Overall permaculture design for Bogata Suma
Design about our life and our land
Sustainable community with young and elderly
Design about starting a sustainable comunity where young and old can live together.
Needs chapter about attracting community members and how to live together.
> Download PDF of this design
Nut farm design
About how and why to setup our polyculture nut orchard.
> Download PDF of this design
Natural greywater cleaning swim pond design
About how and where we can make a natural pond that filters our greywater and gives us a nice spot to swim.
A garden for the chickens
Nice design, needs new ideas because chickens do much more damage than planned.
> Download the permaculture design for the chicken garden
Forest garden and food savannah
An extensive design about our edible landscape and fruit park. Is still a bit behind the facts.
Facilitator design
About how to develop myself as a permaculture facilitator.
This design will remain a work in progress.
> Download PDF of this design
ME
Personal permaculture design about how to be the best version of me. In Dutch.
> Click for the mindmap (in English)
> Download this personal design "Ik ben krachtig mijzelf"
Speak fluent Croatian design
A personal permaculture design about how to learn better Croatian. About learning styles and creative solutions.
> Download PDF of this design
My unfashionable minimalistic capsule wardrobe
A permaculture design about how to dress myself better with just a few good pieces
> Download PDF of this design
A balanced family life with hosting guests and volunteers
How can we set a positive, including culture in our community with people from all over the world, and keep our family culture. A co production of my family, about living with vision and values, and helpful routines.
Our ultimate home
Design for the ultimate passive family home that uses Nature's elements in a positive way.
This design will be made together with Peter Scheltus.
"Homemaking with our family" design
Design about how to get our household in a flow.
A family co-production.
Relevant courses:
Permaculture Design Course (PDC), (23 May - 2 June 2021)
Teachers: Karmela Kis, Sabine Engelhardt & Barbara Scheltus
Institute: Gea Viva, Brac
Design your Life with Permaculture (2020)
Teacher: Barbara Scheltus
Institute: Bogata Suma
Cultural Emergence Design course (1 week, 2019)
Teachers: Looby Macnamara & Barbara Scheltus
Institutes: Thriving Ways & Bogata Suma
Permaculture for kids (4 lessons, 2018)
Teachers: Barbara Scheltus & Jasenka Martinovic
Institutes: Osnovna skola Vojnic & Bogata Suma
People and Permaculture Facilitator Training (1.5 year traject, 2017-2018)
Teachers: Looby Macnamara & Peter Cow
Institute: Thriving Ways, Great Brittain
Permaculture in practice (1 day, 2018)
Teacher: Barbara Scheltus
Institute: Bogata Suma, Croatia
Permaculture and forest garden design weekend (2 days, 2017)
Teacher: Barbara Scheltus
Institute: Bogata Suma, Croatia
Workshop restoration agriculture (1 week, 2016)
Teacher: Mark Shepard
Institute: ZMAG Vukomeric, Croatia
Permaculture Design Course (2 weeks, 2015)
Teachers: Rosemary Morrow & Tina Lymberis
Institute: Nea Guinea, Greece
Creating low maintenance Edible Landscapes The Permaculture way (2 days, 2014)
Teacher: Rakesh Rootsman RakGarden design course (6 months, 2012)
Institute: Het Groene Penseel (The Green Brush), The Netherlands
How to create a forest garden (5 days, 2010)
Teachers: Mark & Rakesh Rootsman Rak
Institute: Eco Village Network
Introduction to permaculture (1 day, 2008)
Teachers: Taco Blom & Ishi Crosby
Institute: Permacultuurcentrum Den Haag, The Netherlands
