Our Land

As summer stumbles along we’re heading into winter crop planting time and leeks are one crop that are best planted sooner rather than later.

If you’ve ever grown gourds you’ll know just how prolific these cucurbits can be, but do you know how to turn them into an art form?

Some people have fairies at the bottom of their garden; the Jacob family of Mt Eden have a cave.

It’s an underground treasure whose production is unpredictable, but a delight chefs will pay $3500 per kilogram to shave over a dish.

We take a guided tour through three very different food forests at different stages in their lifecycle.

How to protect your livestock from facial eczema and why it pays to have good shade.

There are tomatoes, and then there is this great-tasting heritage variety with a very special secret.

Drought, ferocious winds and extreme temperatures aren’t ideal conditions to create a garden, but Penny Zino has done it.

This week in the water cooler, Nadene brushes up on her te reo, and Emma visits the NZ Flower and Garden Show.

The gooseberry is one of those plants which only gets better and better with age.

A dish isn’t complete without a little petal power.

The nursery supporting its local habitat, local gardeners and its owners.

A Wairarapa couple have transformed a derelict wee barn and rundown lifestyle block into a successful fruit and berry business.

Peony-growing basics, what you need to know about commercial production, and tips for aspiring planters.

Don’t be afraid of trying new fruits, especially ones as delicious as this.

Jared Gulian had always lived in the city, but these days there’s nowhere else in the world he’d rather be than on a small block in Martinborough in the dappled shade of his olive grove.

Follow these five tips to avoid a bad fencing job and learn how to spot a good fencer from the pack.

Artist John McLean was driven by need to become self-sufficient 30 years ago, but today he and wife Chris couldn't live any other way.

There are four golden rules to building a fence - and this one breaks them all.

Seed bombs are easy to make and a fun project for kids. The idea is that the ‘bombs’ can be lobbed over fences to abandoned land or down city gullies and grow into bee-attracting blooms or herbs.

This week in the water cooler, Kate explores Garden Marlborough, Emma steps aboard the Orient Express and Nadene finds inspiration in a new book Growing More than Grass.

Every vista in this world-class garden, photographed through the seasons, tempts visitors down a path laden with promise. Barewood Garden's creator shares how she's grown alongside her garden.

Kirsty Pascoe is an avid gardener who has applied permaculture principles to her back yard and her cats.

Foraging for wild food is fun and satisfying, but when you stumble across mysterious morsels on your own land, it’s even more satisfying.

How to build a house of hemp

When you take the magic ingredient out of marijuana, you get a building product to keep you warm, cosy and very happy.

Greek basil, also known as bonsai basil, produces clusters of small leaves that grow naturally into a dome and make a beautiful homegrown present.

A colourful Auckland family with a motley crew of animals are opening their garden gate for the Heroic Garden Festival.

Growing tomato growing is easy even if you don’t have much space – they thrive in containers, buckets, bags or even sacks.

Soil and herbage testing is a great way to improve the productivity of your land.

A Southland couple have turned their block into an internationally-recognised wetland of importance, and a safe haven for one of NZ's rare birds.

The secret ingredient of an award-winning skincare range has turned out to be the holy grail of lifestyle block business.

Planting out alongside waterways has important long-term benefits, but scientists would love your help to find out more.

This October plant potatoes, peas and carrots and there's time for one last sowing of broccoli before the onslaught of white butterfly.

Your garden is full of opportunities for you to make and use natural dyes.