Karuna Insight Design

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Karuna Insight Design

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U.K. Roots Permaculture,"True Sustainability" NOW for a Future! "We have not inherited the world from Diverse woodlands, orchards & forest gardens.

"Insight design" in practice on 18 acres in the Shropshire hills. Edible landscapes-Permaculture,Educational courses, group visits/tours by arrangement, fruit trees for sale, creative Low impact living, inspiration, beauty & well being. Compost loos & recycling.The site demonstrates the success of applied Insight design...transformation of the site began in 2006. inspiring people to grow their own food and take responsibility now for a future.

09/10/2026

It's NOT ALL HOT AIR!

Fire~ Heart~ Trees~Circulation~🔥🪄

Honour the Fire 🔥

13/09/2026

BURKINA YELLOW HABANERO & CAYENNE QAK SAUCE! 😁👍😋😛😍💓🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

07/09/2026

Authentic, Forest Garden Practiser's, Living the hard way , ultimately,....is the good way.😌🙌🙏👣👁️

Society has made people slaves to the idea that doing as little work as possible is kool, and brings happiness, but its a proven lie!

Cayenne, 'Shiitake & Lions Mane' mushrooms for breakfast....

Two of the most highly valued , Medicinal /Culinary mushrooms available.

Lots of Hops for b**r making this year.

04/09/2026

VOLUNTEER FEEDBACK!

I would wholeheartedly recommend volunteering at this arboreal Eden on the mystical Shropshire hills - particularly if you are a tree-hugging, arty, musical, poetic type* with an interest in sustainable living. (In fact a stay here ought to be mandatory.)

This magical wee tree covered elevated patch of planet Earth is in the extraordinary hands of two exceptional custodians - Janta and Merav - with whom it was a pleasure and privilege to live and work alongside for a week. Twas the magical month of September when I stayed (when the liquid golden sunlight filters through the branches and leaves of the trees like through stained glass windows), and so tasks included cutting back branches and undergrowth, collecting wood, tidying the vegetable beds and greenhouse, harvesting apples, and bottling apple juice!!! There was lots of work to do, but also time off to explore the mind-blowing local rural landscape on foot.

This is sustainable living, so amenities are basic, eg. outdoor toilet and shower (which is no bad thing), and it can get cold, but you will be cozy and comfortable nonetheless, have wonderful sleeps and dreams, and be nourished and energized by Merav and Janta's sensational dishes (mostly from home grown produce!) as well as by the awesome atmospheres and earth energies of this place.

Janta and Merav were wonderful to be around and were incredibly thoughtful, considerate and hospitable and generous with their time. And for anyone keen to learn about sustainable living, from building a shelter to growing organic fruit and vegetables - and much more besides - Janta and Merav are fountains of knowledge and experience. They are also artists, and not just with the flute and paint brush, for in collaboration with Mother Nature and Mother Earth they have produced a masterpiece in the form of a wooded arcadia.

There is a pub nearby, and a wee shop and a bus stop to "civilization" about a fun 45-minute walk away, and a sensational walk to Church Stretton town over the Shropshire hills.

*For poets and landscape painters, sketchers, and photographers, mind-blowing views east (and the sunrise) can be seen from a local church yard (about a 20-minute walk east); and otherworldly views west (into Wales and the sunset) can be seen from a ridgeline about a 30-minute walk due west! Karuna, the Shropshire hills, and local settlements such as Church Stretton would also make for stunning locations for any film and video work.

**For non-car drivers: If you are coming to Karuna by public transport, Janta will offer to pick you up from the train station. But it is also possible to arrive by bus (from Church Stretton train station) followed by a rewarding hour's walk uphill, a walk which offers a great opportunity to get your bearings and get a feel for the topography and magic of this area - weather permitting. (There is no bus service on Sundays, however.)

25/08/2026

Great summer for Sun drying fruit & Veg!

This way we put the sun in our bodies !

Success is an accumulation of practicing fundamentals each and everyday. Eating is a daily activity of vital importance which cannot be overlooked. A consistent habit of making excellent food choices ia an absolute necessity for successful life.

What we eat deeply and radically affects the way we think, feel, and behave. We are wot we eat, and we eat what we are. Food affects every aspect of our being. It is the physical foundation of our body. If the foundation is unstable ,all that is built upon it will be unstable.
The Collioidal mineral structure of your body is built out of the foods you have eaten. If there is an alteration in the food, then it is reflected in the look and function of the body.
improve your choices and you dramatically improve the foundation upon which your body is built.

* Keep it simple! ;
"Success is nothing more than a refined study of the obvious"

Natural Law is simplicity itself.
"Once you are complicated, you are ineffective!" 🙌👣👁️🧠🙏🦆

28/07/2026

1) Karuna 'Agretti', with Poached duck eggs~😍😋

We Love Agretti!, its a true delicacy, and delicious!

2) Guests to 'Sapphire'~ (Hut & Paradise pool), continue to be fully satisfied with the healing experience that Karuna has to offer through Applied 'Insight Design', our own unique approach to small scale, holistic land management.

Some expressions of gratitude, from guests, attached here 🙏😌

Book Now!, through Booking.com or Air B & B.

https://www.booking.com/hotel/gb/sapphire-forest-garden-shepherds-hut.en-gb.html?label=gen173nr-1BCAsoUEIkc2FwcGhpcmUtZm9yZXN0LWdhcmRlbi1zaGVwaGVyZHMtaHV0SDNYBGhQiAEBmAEJuAEYyAEP2AEB6AEBiAIBqAIEuAKZjq21BsACAdICJDM1NDBiNDgyLTA2ZGItNDJmZC1iMGZkLTg3YTFmMzUwNzIyONgCBeACAQ&sid=d4b7236c3445cd65516b098ef263622f&dist=0&keep_landing=1&sb_price_type=total&type=total&chal_t=1785235771080&force_referer=

3) Mapacho ~ Shamanic Tobacco.....1st Harvest of the year....😁🙏
The plant, has self seeded in some areas, the most successful plants, have been the ones which i planted in our New Mediterranean Herb bed...The Hot summer has been great for the plant growth outdoors this year.😁🌞

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2mqy-GKEVc

How to cook Agretti
What is Agretti?

Agretti (also known as Salsola soda, barba di frate in Italian, or Monks Beard here in the UK) has an interesting history tied to both food and industry.

Originally native to coastal regions of the Mediterranean, agretti thrived in saline soils where few other plants could grow. Its name Salsola comes from sal, Latin for “salt.”

From the Renaissance through the 18th century, agretti wasn’t grown mainly for eating — it was cultivated for soda ash production. The plant was burned to extract sodium carbonate, a key ingredient in glass and soap making. This industry was especially important in Venice and Spain, where “barilla” (a similar plant group) fuelled the early glassmaking trade.

By the 19th century, when chemical processes replaced natural soda ash, agretti’s industrial role faded — but its culinary use persisted in Italy, especially around Rome and coastal regions. There, monks and farmers began valuing its tender, mineral-rich shoots as a spring delicacy, often sautéed with olive oil, lemon, or garlic.

Cultivation and culinary uses

The Italian name agretti is commonly used in English to refer to the edible leaves of S. soda; barba di frate (or friar's beard) is the most common of the Italian names. This plant is not a summer green and should be started early indoors or in autumn. The seed is notorious for poor germination at about 30 to 40% standard, much like rosemary. Though the plant is often grown in saltwater-irrigated land in the Mediterranean Basin, it will grow without salt water. S. soda is harvested in bunches when small, or cropped regularly to encourage new growth when mature. It is most commonly boiled and eaten as a leafy vegetable; the recommendation is to cook it in boiling water until the leaves soften, and to serve while some bite (crunch) remains (much like samphire). It can also be eaten raw; it is said to taste "grassy and slightly salty with a pleasant, crunchy texture".[18]

Salsola soda is sometimes confused with a plant known in Japan as okahijiki (land seaweed), which is actually the species S. komarovii. The harvested leaves of the two species have a similar appearance.[citation needed]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT4V6oyfb1k

10/06/2026

Summer time ~ Forest gardening at Karuna Insight Design....😁🕊️

When were Just being,
we see that life is an opportunity to create Meaning!
😌🙌🙏

Cant go wrong,
Air is full of Birdsong.🐦🪺🌞
Blades sharpened 'n' working great!
Birds nesting allover the place , (within a biodiverse sanctuary).

Whilst on the tractor, I keep seeing the Deer and her two Bambis....so thrilling!......
And after some hard graft, 'friends and chilling'.

18/05/2026

Harvested some Black Radish today 🙂
Many consider these a 'superfood', they have numerous health benefits, and are quite delicious.
Sometimes they can be quite hot, abit like Horseradish, these ones were moderately hot, maybe they get Hotter when gown bigger.

We enjoyed them With Zaater/black pepper/Salt and 'Black-seed oil' & Balsamic vinegar,....delicious!😋🫁👣🦆

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKpsxLftkhs

15/05/2026

“ Mountains divide us and a waste of seas,
Yet still the blood is warm, the heart is Highland,
And we in dreams behold the Hebrides.” 💓

We love the Western Isles!
Helluva lot of work to do in the Forest Garden, these nxt few months. So, we took some time out in BIG nature, nice to find Peace, and escape from the crowds, 😁Very lucky again, ..no rain ⛅️. When wondering about up there, at this time of yr, Sheepskin flying Jackets are our basic survival kit. 😉

10/05/2026

Made a gorgeous Leek soup today ! 😋
Praise be to Organic soil! 🙌💖

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiPFv2U-mvE

Address

Church Stretton

Telephone

01694751374

Website

http://www.karuna.org.uk/

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