Our Life

Father and daughter, John and Susan Badcock, are just two members of the thoroughly paint-spattered Badcock family tree.

Ben Foster has come to realize his car project is a form of therapy for himself and his mates after the psychological and mental anguish of the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake and the last year of the pandemic.

A family committed to a self-sufficient way of life have quickly turned an untamed block into a productive homestead.

Kay Paku feels life has delivered her a series of career options — each a lucky chance rather than a deliberate choice.

Waste from your block is actually quite the opposite to its name — here's how to make the most of its value.

These veggies are excellent for small gardens.

Make the most of this medicinal plant by making a salve, throat gargle or even natural perfume.

Get the basics right, and you can have perfect firewood in as little as six weeks.

The best diet for long life and good health is an age old conundrum. Modern insights say it has a lot to do with eating the right drugs.

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

With cold and flu season around the corner, it’s time to turn to Mother Nature for the tools of self-defence. These herbs can be grown then made into potions that soothe and strengthen.

Working to improve her mental strength and gaining much-needed confidence has been a game-changer for Black Ferns Sevens star Michaela Blyde.

Give skin a boost with naturally soothing ingredients that might already be in your garden or kitchen.

Finding herself unemployed in the middle of a recession, Kathleen Green began restoring vintage wool blankets to their former glory.

In the first of a new column, a medical doctor explains how the immune system changes after middle age and causes ageing’s big diseases.

Italian flair comes to Ōhakune in the form of a racy little italian number.

If you can turn a houseplant into a withered has-been overnight, then this guide that matches indoor greenery to the conditions (and homeowner’s personality) is a life saver.

A love of foraging in the hills of Central Otago is at the heart of a natural health business that's transforming wild herbs into wellness.

A vision to reclaim their ancestral language prompted these Dunedin cousins to create a bilingual resource for future generations.

There’s a ‘ginaissance’ going on, with craft distilleries popping up around New Zealand, but it takes more than bit of this and a bit of that to make the ‘it’ drink.

Freezing your favourite summer produce is a simple, fast, and economical way (if you do it right) to preserve the best in your crops.

Transforming a pre-loved item destined for landfill takes patience. But breathing new life into a tired object can be immensely satisfying.

Dreaming of living in a tiny home? From refurnished boats in Whanganui to views of the Auckland skyline, the space is small but the ideas are bigger than ever.

Build a storage rack for your autumn harvest and preserves.

Two former winemakers are creating gin and other spirits, capturing the essence of the region in which they live.

The vibrant spontaneity of a city where a circus troupe might suddenly appear amid the colourful buildings appealed to the creative spirit of this film-maker. So she relocated to Mexico's San Miguel de Allende— and never left.

A couple of legal high-flyers and their twin girls are now enjoying a slower way of life in a basic-but-beloved bach on the West Coast.

Before the tanks run dry in summer, this land-lover raids her cottage-style picking garden for buds, blooms and seedheads to hang in her dried-flower hut.

Love them or loathe them, Lothlorien Winery’s founders believe their beloved feijoas have a budding future as more people grow to love them here and abroad – starting with their sparkling feijoa wines.

She never expected to be a radio newsreader, nor the voice of a mobile network. But these days Mary-Jane Tomasi is broadcast far and wide.

Helping people to find their “why” is the life purpose of a Wānaka-based couple who find answers in the mountains.

This couple has built a first-rate life among the drylands of north Canterbury, spiced up — as if it were needed — with classic cars and a cottage with a view that rolls on forever.

After almost 30 years on their block, this Ohoka couple are brimming with wisdom for wannabe block owners.