My week in Levin was spent with Radha and Charles, a retired couple living a vegan, largely organic and increasingly self-sufficient lifestyle.
Meeting me at the bus stop, Radha drove me back to their house and began to explain the work they had been doing over the past two years. Their land had been nothing more than a green paddock when they first arrived. It is now a plot of land with a house, a holiday home and an impressively decorative, yet productive garden layout. No space seems to be wasted and they have created solutions for problems you forget you even have (a side entrance in the shed so you don’t have to fight to get the bike in and out!) Charles has just finished building two large enclosures for their berry plants, stopping the birds stealing the valuable fruit.
Whenever I was working with them they imparted wisdom on growing plants, the importance of a nutrient filled soil (the importance of nitrogen in particular to create protein and other nutrients), knowledge they had on the non organic industries and so on. I loved their philosophy of accepting all growth industries as crucial in today’s world, rather than an ‘our way is the only way’ view.
My education continued inside, where Radha showed me how to make soy milk from soy beans and shared the nutritional benefits with me as we prepared each meal. They both have such a repertoire of knowledge, I wish I’d been recording so I could have documented everything I was told!
Aside from this, I also had the opportunity to learn about Radha and Charles. The range of music and art that Radha has produced over the years, much of it portraying political or ideological views of importance to her. Seeing Charles’ past and present woodwork, dining chairs with an accidental inbuilt back scratcher. Cajon drums (the current work in progress), an intricate experiment of the Perusian instrument, using several different woods of differing densities to create a range of sounds.
One of my great successes of the week was during a trip to the local music store where I finally found appropriate music sheets for my flute, which I bought about three months ago. I couldn’t get back quickly enough to practice and then joyfully played for an hour non stop.
Returning from the wood merchants one morning, where we had scored some free pine woodshavings in exchange for some scones, Radha showed me the route to ‘The Trig’. This is the only really accessible hill in town and thus the locals’ main exercise point. A bike ride to and from the walk, the walk itself and many photographic stops along the way meant I had a good three and half hours excursion by the time I returned.
My final evening was enjoyed conversing around the dining table until it was time for bed. I learned of the Virtues Project, a seemingly simple, yet wonderful concept that Radha has held a key role in developing. It encourages people to consider a virtue, what it means and how it could be understood, used and appreciated in daily life.
I’d had a good feeling about my week with Radha and Charles from the minute Radha met me at the bus stop. I don’t know what it was, maybe I just sensed I had happened upon kindred spirits. My instinct turned out to be right, as I left at the end of the week feeling I had not only had an educational wwoofing experience, but also gained two wonderful friends.
