Visitors comments
"A once-in-a-life-time experience in Karuna. Janta and Merav are fabulous hosts--supportive, creative, insightful and down-to-earth. Savor fresh healthy green food, draw in new knowledge and state-of-the-art expertise, and let out steam. Rose hip, raspberry, plums, potatoes... You can feel them, pick up/dig them, appreciate them and taste them. Your spirit will flourish from inside out. You soul will dance with the mother nature. Down the rabbit hole, become Alice in Wonderland!" Ruonan/Baby Alice - China/Birmingham.
"Wow, wow, wow Wwoofers what a wonderful experience, wonderful place, wonderful hosts. Karuna is showing the world what the true solution to these recent times looks like. The simplistic, heart felt, powerful exchange of looking after mother earth while she in turn looks after us. Enjoyed the chance to get involved in the project here plenty of mindful hard work with lots of varied jobs to immerse yourself in. Janta and Merav make you feel very welcome and reward you for your efforts with fantastic home cooked food (not just saying that really is very, very good) Karuna is a great place to get away from it all and the roundhouse is a great sanctuary where I spent several lovely evenings. Enjoyed spending time with their dog Hoshi and on the Sunday they even took me on a day out experiencing some of what Shropshire has to offer. So yes, as you can tell, a great experience and place! much love and appreciation to you Janta and Merav." Russel Sands/2022.
"Karuna is a truly special place that is rare to come by in this modern world and allows you to find the subtleness of your true Human nature: a being inseparable from nature. You will find a peace that hangs in the air and meet the wildlife that lives close by you. The roundhouse is a home like no other and I enjoyed many evenings in deep conversations drinking tea from quirky teapots around the fire. In the winter the work was mainly in woodland management which was something new for me but which I enjoyed. The woods are beautiful and a manifestation of all the dedication and love Janta, Merav and their sons have invested over many years. Merav will blow you away with amazing food everyday, all organic and home-grown from the garden. Allow yourself to enter Karuna with no expectation, an open mind and allow the spirit of the land to connect with you... you may discover something new. Thank you Janta, Merav and Hoshi for inviting me to their home." Megan Izod/ Hearts/Jan 2022
"My memories from Karuna are still regularly occurring happy thoughts in my day to day life, and I'm sure that they will be for a long time to come (along with new ones made there) If you're willing to get your hands dirty, then you're guaranteed to learn a whole host of new skills, and you'll understand the every day importance behind each one of them, and the possibilities that they open to help change your life for the better." Jack Woodward/Birm 2022
"I love how Karuna embraces all elements of permaculture in a holistic way, via their own unique approach. The place is brimming with warmth, ideas, concepts, and an ineffable energy. It's like a womb! Alot of passion exists here. The experience was very 'kinaesthetic' & you will leave with inspiration. I really want to come back & would recommend to anyone on any stage of their journey." Vikki McNab/ Nov 2022.
"What an experience!! Karuna is an absolutely stunning sight and Janta and Merav were warm welcoming and generous hosts. I thoroughly enjoyed the work they had me doing it was grate to be getting into it, getting dirty and feeling enjoyably tired at the end from a good days work. But they kept the jobs varied and interesting. The food they shared was amazing and the knowledge these guys have about what there doing is unending! Thanks for having me and good luck with everything" Celyn /N.Wales 2022
"10 days with Merav, Janta and thousands of mixed trees made this WWOOF experience a complete blast to all my senses. I aimed at getting the job done, which ultimately wasn't such a strain, for Karuna and its founders vibrate with history and creative energy ready to be shared. It's a place where one reconnects with the land, the trees and bees. I was privileged to play a part at grassroots level and hence a delighted volunteer!" Marianne/Switzerland/Japan.
"Just spent a few days up in the Shropshire hills with Janta and Merav. A brief but fulfilling project. Lots of available materials to play with and a host who made time, and had the energy, to engage with all the work from start to finish. Great fun! I came away with some new ideas, refreshed from all the birdsong and silence....and extremely nice food: I was startled that my first supper came from a fungus/mushroom freshly cut down from 30 feet up an oak tree. It was delicious!! An amusing, thought provoking interlude. I wish you both well. Cheers, Matthew." Mathew Farmer/Herefordshire 2022
“Ya Fattah! may the way be opened for such a wonderful place for us to share and learn from”. Aziz, Oxford.
“Karuna is splendid now and will be even more so in years to come, good forethought and proper execution baring a promise of wonderful tomorrows to come. Great spirit”. Dov Jacobs,(tree Warden) Longnor ,Shrops.
“Great place & appreciate all the hard work that has gone into it. It is becoming an island of Biodiversity & proof that land regeneration is possible and beneficial to a very wide community”. Chris Evans, Permaculture Teacher, South Shropshire
“I arrived at Karuna feeling completely stressed and full of tension but sitting at your tent I became completely relaxed and felt all the tension drain away. Karuna’s healing effect and energy made me leave feeling much better”. Pauline & Bill, Sandy Island, Orkney isles.
“Beautiful space. Fantastic project. Good to see so much care about the future. Love your dedication and enthusiasm”.
B. Walker , Stapleton, Shrewsbury.
“The vision behind the project can only be applauded and please, supported”. G. Kynaston, Tree Warden, Church Stretton.
“When I visited i saw an attempt by dedicated people to reverse the damage that many of the rest of us are causing to the planet. Six thousand trees is a huge statement of intent, and it does not stop there. The family lives out its ideals by being self sufficient in electricity, heating and waste disposal. It is not a very comfortable lifestyle but they are prepared to do it for the benefit of this particular piece of land, for the benefit of the community and for the benefit of the planet and we all benefit from that”.
C. Lawrie, Happy valley, Shrews.
“An incredible surprise to find Karuna; peace and tranquillity-a humbling experience”. S. Way, Shrewsbury.
“An amazing project. Real vision and a tremendous amount of work. Well worth supporting. If we want our children to inherit a better world then projects like this one have to show the way”. Andy Jo & Tom Jukes.
“Fantastic potential to do all sorts of exciting things that help people reconnect with their environment in positive ways. Keep going”. J. Hughs, Shrops Wildlife trust.
“A splendid contribution to biodiversity and sustainability. The government should be proud of what you are doing towards agenda 21. All power to your elbow”. J. Tuer, Homer, Shrops.
“An inspiring vision being taken forward with great passion, dedication & love. A project of great benefit to us all which mother nature is clearly already lending a hand”. J & A .Day, Bayston Hill, Shrews.
“Karuna is a real place of inspiration, beauty and peaceful living. It’s human occupants embody the age-old ideal of living simply on the land, in harmony with it, in accord with it, true respect and sincerity that is rare to find and is a perfect example of low impact sustainable life that works, that we are all encouraged to adopt in this age of climate change and oil consumption”. L. Munton, Machynlleth.
“Our children benefit from access to Karuna in many ways. The organisation of events is very good and always catches the children’s interest. They are learning to respect and nurture plants, wildlife and the environment They are seeing and experiencing things that we often talk about but cannot show them. They are learning about the many different things that nature provides for them, such as food, drink and herbs that they gather themselves from the hedgerows. Most of all, they benefit from the interest and pleasure of their visits.” A. Thomas, Teacher(SENCO), Long Meadow, Primary school,Shrews.
“Wonderful to see new young trees being planted on such a scale-a wide variety-great!-look forward to seeing them grow”. J. Jones Longnor, Shrops.
“The enterprises being undertaken at Karuna appear to offer a very large number of positive benefits to the local and regional community:
*Development of a new, positive rural enterprise in the area.
*Development of productive local employment based on the countryside
*Community involvement in the countryside
*Positive trends in countryside nature conservation
*positive trends in the periphery of a nationally important wildlife reserve resource”. I. Trueman (prof), Wolverhampton.
“The establishment of a mixed wooded holding, demonstrating Permaculture principals with opportunities for community involvement is a positive development for the area. It continues a long history of Forest gardening in south Shropshire, where Robert Harts inspirational garden is set”. A. Grundy, Heartwoods c/o Green wood centre, Telford.
“I am a church of England minister serving in a number of rural communities in South Herefordshire, and I am becoming increasingly aware of the breakdown of rural communities and the isolation that many of these communities sense in an increasingly urbanised society. So, when I see projects such as Karuna, I am very excited at the prospect they have for building relationships within the community”. Rev’d S. Lockett, Herefordshire.
“My calculation of the Wheelhouse family’s carbon footprint for their home in the caravan and their vehicles came to 1863kg of carbon dioxide p.a. This is exceptionally low as the average for the U.K. is 5,013kg per person or 12,034 kg per household. The other major threats to life on earth which the wheelhouses are addressing through their commitment to live a low-impact agro-forestry smallholding are those posed by the advent of peak oil and it’s likely economic consequences. It is still not recognised by politicians and the majority of the world’s population that the developed world’s agriculture is totally dependent on oil as a fuel and chemical feedstock for the production of nitrogen fertiliser. Such a dependency was always unsustainable and we immediately face stresses now that oil supply can no longer meet demand. The much reduced population of the near future will have to turn increasingly to Permaculture as the only way of producing affordable food for the majority. Hopefully the Karuna project will be encouraged to flourish in the near future so that it will provide an example to others as they struggle to find affordable and sustainable ways of producing food”.D. Finney,(energy surveyor),Craven Arms, Shrops.
“Inspirational to see what a family can do to provide for a community ,and to see how to repair our damaged landscape, green fields can be green deserts-Big up forest gardening!”. S. Walters, Leintwardine, Herefordshire.
“What a wonderful and inspiring space, a project with heart, as well as trees!” N. Botham, Telford.
My husband is a retired diplomat and I remember the way that we could often demonstrate to those in the countries where we served some of the creative things which were going on in Britain as an example which might be emulated. I particularly remember a visit by Schumacher (“Small is beautiful”) and the way we were able to talk about the Centre of Alternative Technology. Today we would have been talking about Karuna amongst otherprojects”. S. Ward, Frome Vauchurch, Dorchester.
“Breathtaking inspiration! We can all learn from this place”.
J. Hutt, Mountfields, Shrews.
“I have lived just on the Welsh side of the Long Mynd since 1976 and am myself both an experienced conservator (having worked on restoration of National Trust vernacular buildings) and an enthusiastic lover of the landscape. It was my submissions to the then DEFRA during the 2001 foot and mouth crisis that limited the cull parameters in order to preserve the unique grazed flora of the nearby hills. I am the custodian of several hundred acres of heathland to the west of the site at Karuna. I am shocked and angry at the thoughtless application of guidelines (which were originally designed to protect the unique features of our countryside)to the project at Karuna which is entirely in sympathy with local traditions and sentiment. To my knowledge not one genuine person has objected to it. I hope that by the time you receive this letter wiser counsels will have prevailed in your office, as I cannot believe the above appeals could possibly be rejected by anyone in their right minds”. J.Ford (prof),Newtown ,Powys.
“Thank you so much for sharing this with us. What you have achieved here in the last three years is amazing. I hope to keep in touch and support future events. Again, thanks!” Kelly.
“Karuna is a beautiful example of how we all need to start living! Living in this way, with the smallest of footprints, biggest respect for the earth (the planet on which we all live!) and with kindness and compassion – it is the only way in which we can hope to address the bleak future we are facing. Karuna is standing up for all things which benefit our planet (& us as people - everyone!) in the face of a dormant culture of greed, exploitation,& selfishness-planting trees, providing habitat for wildlife, acting as an education base to raise awareness of those issues & living in a low impact way. Thank you Merav & Janta, Soma & Caio. Thank you for your hospitality and inviting us to stay. Hope to see you very soon”. Joe & Maria, Leintwardine, Herefordshire.
“Projects such as this should be celebrated and supported because these pockets of carefully, sensitively and organically managed pieces of land may be the very places we will need to turn to restock our lands natural flora already being depleted by the use of heavy chemicals, which we know are responsible for many of our present societies illness”.
G. Kindred, Author/ publisher.
“Karuna is a place to relax into the earth and spend time in nature. It is a beautiful spot but more than that it lives up to its name expressing the energy of compassion (Karuna) for all beings”. C. Edwards, Machynlleth.