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Features

Peter Butler

Plant fiend

Plants of all sorts play their parts in a lively new memoir by Peter Butler – from the plants that led to his imprisonment, to those he's planted for income, enjoyment, or carbon sinks. Here's a short extract.
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A life of plants, food and foraging

Plant-based chef, cookbook author, teacher, forager and passionate gardener Anna Valentine shares some of her knowledge, wisdom and passion for plants, foraging and delicious food in a new series of short videos in collaboration with Soil & Health.
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Biochar, black gold and bananas

What started as a simple experiment to improve soil in the direction of terra preta—a famously fertile, friable soil that seems to sequester carbon permanently—has become a national field trial for the use of biochar in New Zealand.
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Gardening

Savoy cabbage

When cabbage is sexy!

Cabbage might not seem to be the most glamorous vegetable in the garden, but give it a little attention and it rewards you with versatility, nourishment and weeks of good eating, as Paula Sharp writes.
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Hardening off seedlings in mid spring

Growing Vegetables: Mid spring — hardening off

By mid spring, you should have some lovely healthy seedlings. However, don't be tempted to plant them out — not yet. We Sarah O'Neil, author of Growing Vegetables, shares her tips.
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Kumera slips - moon calendar 2026

Moon Calendar September-October 2026

One of the most satisfying elements of being with the land is learning new tasks, and folding them in in their entirety over the seasons. We have been growing kūmara on our block for a number of years now, but last year was the first time I grew our own tipu (slips).
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Health and Food

The Health Detective’s Handbook

Drawing on over 40 years of experience, nutrition and exercise specialist Susan Birch explains how metabolism, hormones, food, movement, sleep and stress work together to influence your energy, weight, mood and overall health.
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Parsley on chopping board with knife

Parsley: More than just a garnish

There are some foods that quietly get on with the job without demanding much attention. Parsley is one of them. Paula Sharp shines a light on this humble hero.
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Mandarins in a bowl

Mandarins: Winter vitamin boost

Easy to peel, naturally sweet and perfectly portable, these vibrant little citrus fruits are a biodegradable package of winter nutrition, as Paula Sharp writes.
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Health and Food

Fantail on tree branch

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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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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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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Farming and Horticulture

Ross Vintiner of Dali Olives holding a handful of Johnson-Su compost

Organic probiotic for the soil

Growers worldwide are experiencing two fundamental growing challenges – high and rising input costs, and climate extremes. Species, soil, plants, crops, food supply and affordability are all threatened. Organics is well equipped to solve and lead solutions, and one proven method is the Johnson-Su compost system, as Ross Vintiner writes.
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Lettuces and watering can in home garden

Worm juice and soil fungi: why compost alone isn’t enough for juicy lettuce

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If your lettuce beds already get compost and still look a bit thin by midsummer, new research suggests the missing partners may be sitting in your worm farm and in the fine white threads of soil fungi.
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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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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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