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Features

Illustration of tractor spraying pesticides in a paddock, with people, animals, bush, stream and wildlife next to it

Parable of the paddock edge

We are the ones who live beside the paddock. No one asked us whether the new substance belonged here. The question is: who is made to carry the cost? A parable for our times, by David McNeill
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runny honey dripping from spurtle into jar

The Queen Bee of Ōhope

One woman. Thirty hives. Thousands upon thousands of bees, and a lifelong love affair with some of nature’s most essential pollinators. Paula Sharp interviews beekeeper Jewelle Lloyd.
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Alone in the world

After years in Aotearoa NZ's wilderness, Miriam Lancewood sets off to Bulgaria, the Himalayas, India, Turkey, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. She lives off the land and her wits, and includes practical advice for preparing for the unexpected.
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Gardening

Green kiwifruit

Kiwifruit: Treasures in red, gold and green

Kiwifruit has become so woven into our national identity that it’s easy to forget it isn’t actually native here at all, and its journey from a fuzzy Chinese curiosity to a backyard favourite is a story worth knowing, as Paula Sharp finds out.
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matariki

Moon Calendar July-August 2026

As we pass through the natural ‘new year’ in the southern hemisphere, now is the perfect time to witness the tohu (signs) of the coming seasons. As the stars reappear on the horizon at dawn, take note...
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Seed saving with Monique

Moon Calendar May-June 2026

As we descend into the cooler months, the time has come to start to envisage our gardens for the following seasons. I remind people when they are starting out growing their own food, to plant what you love to eat.
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Health and Food

Box of aubergines (eggplants)

Aubergines

The aubergine or eggplant is grounding, nourishing and incredibly versatile. Paula Sharp explores its origins, growing, nutrition and shares some recipes.
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Feijoas top view cut and uncut

Fantastic feijoas

With its unmistakable perfume and tangy-sweet flavour, the feijoa is more than just a garden staple, writes Paula Sharp; it’s nutrition packed in a fibrous skin, and it has a firm place in childhood memories and Kiwi culture.
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Passionfruit: Small fruit, big benefits

Wrinkled on the outside, vibrant and jewel-like inside, passionfruit is one of New Zealand’s most distinctive summer fruits. Beyond its distinctive aroma and tangy sweetness, passionfruit offers impressive nutritional benefits, as Paula Sharp elaborates. 
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Health and Food

Soil & Health Auckland – Meeting Announcement

Come and hear Savannah Carter-Green talk to the Auckland branch of Soil & Health
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Summer’s juiciest hydrator

Few foods say ‘New Zealand summer’ quite like watermelon. Crisp, refreshing and naturally sweet, the watermelon is more than a picnic staple: it’s a nutritional ally for hydration, heart health and skin vitality. Eat it by the slice or in these recipes Paula Sharp shares: in a salad with and feta, or in a slushie.
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Small, sweet, and mighty 

Nutritional therapist Paula Sharp enthuses about the nutrition and flavour of the humble potato when in its seasonal ‘new’ incarnation, and shares a delicious potato salad recipe.
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Farming and Horticulture

Loving soil, but also learning soil

Jenny Lux, market gardener and former Soil & Health chair, tells her story of growing vegetables and continuing a path of lifelong learning.
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Azadirachta indica - the neem tree

Neem: Nature’s healing gift to humanity

The neem tree has many benefits, including as a natural pesticide, fertiliser and it's a plant with various healing qualities. Katherine Smith reviews this book by Klaus Ferlow of Neem Research.
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Sheryl Stivens: Organic Pioneer

Sheryl Stivens is a Soil & Health member who embodies the motto of ‘healthy soil, healthy food, healthy people’. Mercedes Walkham traces her life and finds out what makes her an organic pioneer and champion.
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Building and Technology

Living Better, Together

In an increasingly disconnected world, many people are seeking ways to live more closely with both the environment and one another. For Simone Woodland, a dream to create a different way of life led to the Tākaka Cohousing project in Golden Bay. 
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Mushrooming with next-gen homesteaders

Lenny Prinz and Jodi Collins lead a busy and inspiring life that includes growing mushrooms and cultivating spawn, developing compostable mushroom packaging, creating art, raising children, gardening and community projects. Read their story here.
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Shelf life – or human life?

There is a new system of industrial food manufacturing that produces edible substances that are not food, but rather food products containing novel, synthetic molecules never found in nature. These ever-increasing laboratory-engineered chemistry experiments are designed to simulate food. 
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