NZ Lifestyle Block

Converting a barn into a home can create a distinctive living space, but it involves a unique set of building challenges.

The cabbage tree is the gift that keeps on giving, if you know its secrets.

Raspberries are a great option for the lifestyle block. Ben Gaia looks at how to get the best production.

The onion family make a pretty and tasty addition to your garden.

There are the super-efficient commercial hens, or the heritage birds with colour and longevity, but how do you know which bird best suits you?

There's no need for any part of an apple to go to waste.

For more than 25 years, the locals of a small rural Southland community have co-operated to provide themselves with mostly locally-grown, organic food.

Norwegian rounds are a space-saving wood stacking technique that will keep your wood dry

It’s completely inedible when raw and dangerous to cut up, with a heady, perfumed scent that is completely at odds with its appearance. Sound like your kind of fruit?

They’re fussy, but tamarillos are a tangy treat, and prolific if you know the secrets to high production.

If you love a plate full of colour, why not try planting some of the more bright winter vegetables?

This salad is a dreamy companion to any showstopping dish, with earthy beetroot flavour enhanced with soft pear.

If you only think pesto when you think of basil, Jenny has some recipes to tickle your tastebuds.

When you’re knee-deep in cucumbers and zucchini, it’s time to make a mouth-watering preserve that has stood the test of generations.

If you like the benefits of keeping chickens, you’re going to love having ducks.

A chicken doesn’t appear to be a complicated bird, but the social structure of a flock is complex.

NZ Lifestyle Block editor Nadene Hall has a confession: she is a bad ride-on mower owner.

There aren’t many mouth-watering veggies that can also be a bath sponge and a dishcloth.

Planting asparagus crowns all comes down to technique.

Under the cover of the right plants lurk good guys who are weapons of mass destruction.

If you need cucumber but don’t have any, this leafy herb is here to help.

As temperatures tumble, the process of composting slows down, but it doesn’t stop altogether.

The secret to good ginger beer is in the bug, says Sheryn Dean.

Elderflower can be used to make vinegar, jelly and wine.

Long-time tomato growers share their secrets to getting a bumper crop.

Take any plain cake recipe and finely grind 1-2 tbsp of coriander seed and add to the mix, or use this upside- down apple cake.

This cake is gluten and dairy-free - and delicious. It’s a beautiful saffron-gold colour, and has a delicious orange flavour and moist texture, plus it’s easy to make.

You can use lights to extend your hen’s working year. We look at how to design a lighting programme that can give you more eggs without harming your hens.

If you are struggling to eat up your cauliflower, Kristina Jensen can get you into a pickle.

If you have a wet or swampy area, fence it off, plant something that thrives on wet soils, and turn it into a thing of beauty.

Our make your own Cream of Watercress Soup from this easy to grow green.

The softer and squishier persimmons get, the better they are.

Winter is coming. Prepare to fill the fireplace with wood from the best-suited firewood trees in your neck of woods.

Mustards are the most feared of leafy greens, but they’re now essential in Jenny Somervell's kitchen.