NZ Lifestyle Block

A smart home is one designed and built to a standard that few NZ houses meet. We talk to three design specialists about building small, efficient, warm, smart homes.

Having animals without trees means you have only half an ecosystem. Trees provide shelter, food, and medicine, capture and recycle waste, and provide habitat for beneficial companions.

This busy lifestyle block owner is a music teacher, hoof practitioner and lavender grower which is why she went for the easiest sheep of all.

You support local business when you buy plants and seeds in NZ, but what happens when something you want to grow isn’t here?

If you want to emulate the soft, frothy hues of a cottage garden, these six flowers are a good start.

Spring is a great time for sowing new pasture, but what do you choose if your stock are a bit out of the ordinary?

Is having your own hive of bees a good idea? Environmentally or economically? If that is the question, the answer may be surprising.

Do not take unexplained chicken deaths for granted, especially when it involves more than 2-3 birds. Acting quickly, through a vet if possible, could perhaps avert an exotic disease outbreak too.

This tropical plant is a great survivor in more places than you’d think.

The plants really want to hurt you, the harvest is carried out by digger, then chainsaw, you cook the heart out of it for three days, but the end result is worth toasting.

Spring brings all kinds of new projects. Here are some tips on how to win the pest war against possums.

September means warming soil temperatures, and for most lifestyle blocks that means pasture will be growing markedly faster than it has in the last few months. If it’s not, it’s telling you one of three things.

A Taranaki gardener has found there are some growing opportunities in the $1.5 billion pet health business.

If you are lucky enough to have access to beeswax, or have a good stock from your own beehives, then you can use beeswax to make useful household and cosmetic products.

Once you’ve got the hang of fermenting tempeh in plastic bags, you can move onto the real deal by producing it in leaves, with a Kiwi twist.

Feathers are a feature of all birds, whether they can fly, swim or just live on the ground, and there’s a lot they can tell us.

A small herd of tiny goats are NZ's newest breed and it has been a long journey for them and their determined owner.

From a water-powered hen gate to a repurposed trampoline - ten inventive New Zealand chicken lovers share their best DIY  coop designs.

Unless your pets are cockatoos and turtles, you are probably going to outlive them, which means sooner or later you need to deal with death.

September is time to plant early potatoes, sow parsnips and peas and your last chance to plant strawberries in time for Christmas.

Coriander can be a little bit fussy to grow, but with the right care you can prolong leaf growth.

Reader story: There’s nowhere else in the world Michelle Holmes would rather be than on her slice of paradise.

A researcher at Christchurch’s Biological Husbandry Unit found mesh covers led to a 40,250% reduction in the levels of tomato potato psyllid on potato crops - and a huge increase in yield.

Looking for a satisfying craft project, therapeutic activity and a better way to recycle all in one?  Paula Lang in Whangarei suggests trying to make paper.

Studies have shown that high lycopene intake is associated with decreased risk of heart disease and cancer, especially prostate cancer. But it’s not the red tomatoes that score the highest for tetra-cis-lycopene.

Strong winds bring down trees in forests, on farms, in parks and gardens every year and leave a big mess behind them, but there are tricks to minimise damage and save you money.

If your budget doesn’t stretch to a new machine, a second-hand tractor can be a great option, if you know the tricks to spotting a good one.

A breathing problem in chickens is difficult to diagnose, and not to be sneezed at.

Mustards are an easy-to-grow, cool season crop — follow these quick tips to grow them in your garden.

It's and ugly veggie with a fruit flavour and perfect for winter. Here's how to grow yacons in your backyard.

Pick your beekeeper carefully, and you will be totally in the clover.

You can go for a rainbow of different coloured carrot varieties if orange isn’t your thing, but the trick to making any of them sweet and succulent is optimal growing conditions.

For the best tea, pick flowers first thing in the morning, after any dew has evaporated – the fresher the flower, the better the flavour.

You can cook with lavender in sweet and savoury dishes, but there is an art to it.