NZ Lifestyle Block – May 2020

The very smart,

self-sufficient food forest created from nothing

Easy ways to go

M AY 2 0 2 0

Do you know what

a perfect winter fire looks like?

zero waste on your block

Make your own soy milk Run the simplest compost system Recycle nasty farm plastics

Welcomcful

to our beauti

e-issue!

PLUS WHY A GOOD NIGHT IN IS IMPORTANT FOR YOUR HENS' HEALTH

Contents M AY 2 0 2 0

The very smart, self-sufficient food forest Meet a couple who turned nothing into something amazing and edible.

How to get the perfect winter fire The best ways to get the driest wood and the hottest fire this winter.

The zero waste block

Meet a zero waste hero

Tips to going zero waste in your home and on the block, PLUS how to recycle your farm plastic.

Get her super-simple zero waste strategies, her easy soy milk recipe, PLUS learn Bokashi basics.

CONNECT WITH US

FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/thisNZlife WEBSITE thisnzlife.co.nz CALL US FREE 0800 113 488 FOLLOW US ON PINTEREST pinterest.nz/thisnzlife

2 NZ Lifestyle Block

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Contents M AY 2 0 2 0

What to do in the garden

• Vegetable and flower garden jobs for May • 12+ ways to add colour to the winter garden

What to do on the block

• 6 ways to prepare for lambing • Cattle, sheep, and goat care How to navigate the magazine Click the READ MORE button to open a relevant story on our website, thisNZlife

READ MORE

Village Green

Go directly to our supplier directory

Night & Daylight One of the biggest influences on your hens’ health is a star in the sky.

Grassroots

Go directly to our classifieds

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4 NZ Lifestyle Block

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“I’ve updated my NAIT account, I care about my neighbours and community.”

Marnie Rutherford, Lifestyle farmer, Carterton, Wairarapa

© Jennifer Nind

Register your property and animals in NAIT and support disease management.

Even if you have one animal you must register yourself, your property and animal(s) in NAIT. Failure to do so can incur an $800 fine. Registered before February 2019? You must re-register your property to avoid a $400 fine.

NAIT is an OSPRI programme

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thisnzlife.co.nz 5

6 NZ Lifestyle Block

RelaxFoto.de | iStock

From the editor

T

hank you so much for being here. I hope you and your loved ones are safe and healthy.

There has been enormous changes to all of our worlds in the last couple of weeks. Each day, I’ve made time to step outside and take a moment with my dogs. I’ve also had gentle negotiations with a very sweet steer who jumped a fence, certain that the wizened, weedy grass on the other side was tastier.

The magazine industry is not an essential service so we’re currently unable to print NZ Lifestyle Block or dispatch orders through the postal system.

But we didn’t want you to miss out, and this is the result.

We’d also like you to know that NZ Lifestyle Block is part of an independent, NZ-owned business (along with NZ Life & Leisure and thisNZlife.co.nz). Our small team is dedicated to providing you with useful and uplifting stories.

A digital magazine seems like a very different animal at first glance. If you’ve had sheep and cattle all your life, and someone

asked you to take care of a beehive, you’d probably think, I can’t take care of bees!

But bees are pretty similar to regular livestock: they need a comfy home, food, forage, clean water, and regular TLC. In the same way, this digital magazine has a lot in common with its printed sister. However, we know it can be quite a jump to go from the printed page to reading on a screen, so we‘ve followed best practice to make it an enjoyable, information-packed experience.

We’re still learning as we go, so message us with your feedback by clicking the icons below.

Nadene Hall, Editor

thisnzlife.co.nz 7

F E AT U R E

T O P T I P S F O R A WA R M W I N T E R

How to dry

firewood in just 6 weeks Get the basics right, and you can have perfect firewood in as little as six weeks.

Words Nadene Hall

■ ■ ■ ■

8 NZ Lifestyle Block

■ Stack wood so there’s space for air to flow between the pieces.

■ Orientation is important: shorter, narrower stacks dry faster.

■ Stack wood away from buildings and

trees, which block wind and breezes, decreasing the drying rate.

Only cover the top of an outdoor stack when it’s drying. Test wood with a top cover took half as long to dry in a sunny, airy place as a completely covered stack.

Allow sun and air to reach the sides of the woodpile to help dry the wood.

Season for at least six weeks during summer. Cover in autumn or newly dry firewood will soak up moisture again.

By autumn, it’s too late to quickly season wood due to humidity and moisture levels; even in a dry shed, it’s unlikely to get below 30 percent moisture content.

■ ■ ■ ■

Sanghwan Kim | iStock

P

erfect firewood has a moisture content of below 20 percent.

Above that, wood in your firebox puts its energy into drying, not producing heat. It also creates lots of smoke and a sticky creosote layer inside your flue.

Research has found if you do it right, firewood can be dry in just 6-12 weeks.

Cut wood to a length that fits easily into your woodburner or fireplace – the firewood in the research was at most 60cm long.

Split the wood at least once – wood dries along the grain up to 15 times faster than across the grain.

Ideally, store drying firewood in a shed; only put it in the sun if it’s not going to rain.

Wood sitting on concrete, tarseal, or another solid surface dries significantly faster than wood on bare or vegetationcovered ground.

F E AT U R E

T O P T I P S F O R A WA R M W I N T E R

DIY PROJECT This stylish unit keeps firewood in a handy spot so you can avoid a chilly winter dash to the woodpile.

READ MORE

The cutest sheep in the world

A cute and friendly addition to your lifestyle block.

Limited number of purebred breeding stock available from Rose Creek Valais Blacknose Sheep NZ.

Contact Andrew on 0274 999 283 or find us on Facebook: Rose Creek Valais Blacknose Sheep NZ

thisnzlife.co.nz 9

F E AT U R E

T O P T I P S F O R A WA R M W I N T E R

Do you know the best time to cut down trees for firewood?

Late winter, at least four weeks before bud burst. This is when the tree contains the least sap, so it’s already up to 60 percent drier than usual.

The chances of it rotting also reduce because sugar levels are lower.

What a

KristianSeptimiusKrogh | iStock

perfect fire looks like

A good quality fire has:

■ bright, swirling flames and glowing embers in the firebox;

■ little or no smoke coming out of the chimney; ideally, you’ll see just a heat ‘haze’ after 10 minutes of burning (or after adding wood to the firebox).

To get the perfect fire, you need to:

■ use dry, seasoned wood, cut and split into small pieces;

■ have a good working knowledge of the features of your fireplace or burner.

Read the instruction book, and/or ask for a run-through from the retailer, so you know the best way to control the vents and load the firebox.

10 NZ Lifestyle Block

StaythiscoSy Winter with...

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Heat Output 16-18kw (estimated).

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The Wagener Fairburn gives you a quality, New Zealand designed and handcrafted woodrange at a very affordable price along with the bonus of self sufficiency through winter power cuts plus huge savings on your power bills.

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Sparky The Cute Wee Fire with a Big Heart Everyone loves Sparky.

He can be found in many diverse locations and situations from mobile homes, house boats, holiday homes, tiny houses, tucked up in front of inefficient old open fires and even in larger modern new builds.

Sparky will keep you cosy and warm and boil the kettle for a cuppa while he chuckles away and brightens your day.

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Leon has been built to work hard and stand the test of time. When fitted with a “Lion” wetback plenty of power saving hot water is also on hand.

She’s sweet and petite and clean air approved.

Sparky CA is here to meet the urban demand for a compact, good looking small fire. She has streamlined panels incorporating a fixed log base and a stove top cooking surface which can be fitted with optional top rails. She loves to dress up so customised coloured panels are available and she even has her own tested petite flute system.

Colour Options Now Available!

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Heat Output 7kw (estimated).

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thisnzlife.co.nz 11

F E AT U R E

T O P T I P S F O R A WA R M W I N T E R

9 tips to building

G

a good wood stack

athering firewood is one of those jobs best done year-round, so you always have a dry, well-seasoned supply.

If you’re lucky, you’ll have a dry shed where you can store it. If you’re thinking of just throwing it in the door, it’s important to know that it can take up to 25% more space than wood that is neatly stacked.

If it’s going to be outside, there’s an art and a science to stacking so it will dry out to become good quality firewood.

■ CUT and split wood into the smallest

possible size. This way, it fits easily in the firebox, and more surface area is exposed, allowing it to dry faster.

pieces, so you create natural passages for air to move through.

■ FIREWOOD needs sunlight and air to dry.

■ PLACE wood with the bark side facing

■ BUILD a stack on a base rather than

directly on the ground. Lengths of old corrugated iron or wooden pallets work well.

■ A POST or tree at each end of a stack

will help to support a pile, and you can tie a cover to them.

■ AS you stack, keep the wood as level as

possible, with a random mix of different-sized

12 NZ Lifestyle Block

up, so if any rain gets through an overhead cover, it provides protection.

■ ROUND wood needs to be staggered – the row above sitting in the gap of the row below – for good stability.

■ CREATE a roof with a tarpaulin or, better yet, a sheet of black plastic which helps moisture to evaporate out of wood faster.

■ DRY wood means fewer bugs living in it.

However, it can attract wood-eating wasps.

Take care moving around or taking wood from a stack in autumn when they may still be nesting.

Darius Strazdas | Dreamstime.com

With an outdoor stack, face cut ends into the prevailing wind, so there’s always airflow down the length of the wood; if you live in a valley, stack wood partway up a slope, so it gets more exposure to natural airflow.

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F E AT U R E

T H E P E R E N N I A L P E R M A C U LT U R E G A R D E N O F P O U K AWA

THE PERENNIAL

P E R M A C U LT U R E G A R D E N O F P O U K AWA

Twelve years ago, an enterprising couple started creating a permaculture food forest and perennial farm on a dusty, bare block in a dry Hawke’s Bay valley. Today, it’s unrecognisable.

Words & images Vivienne Haldane

14 NZ Lifestyle Block

WHO: Jo, Aaron, Anna (11) and Eliza (9) Duff, Kahikatea Farm READ MORE

Check out how Kahikatea Farm looked 10 years ago.

LAND: 6ha (16 acres) WHERE: Poukawa Valley, 16km south-west of Hastings WHAT: off-grid, certified organic nursery selling 300 varieties of trees and plants, permaculture farm, food forest WEB: www.kahikateafarm.co.nz, www.facebook.com/kahikateafarm

thisnzlife.co.nz 15

"We did a lot of planting last winter, and we've lost half of them (to drought)."

Clockwise from top: Jo walking through the open centre of the food forest (it's yet to be planted); a bean archway with flowering breadseed poppies on the right; the certified organic nursery now grows perennial edible plants.

16 NZ Lifestyle Block

F E AT U R E

T H E P E R E N N I A L P E R M A C U LT U R E G A R D E N O F P O U K AWA

W

hen Jo Duff wants a snack, she can choose from some of the most unusual edible plants you can grow.

One is the succulent, salty, New Zealand native horokaka (ice plant, Disphyma australe). However, there’s always the risk of being startled by lurking frogs when they hop out of the plants growing in her certified organic nursery.

She can pick leaves of strawberry spinach (Chenopodium foliosm) and false valerian (Centranthus ruber), handfuls of litchi tomatoes (Solanum sisymbriifolium), and she's often munching on aquilegia flowers.

They’re just a few of the hundreds of plants, mostly perennials, that she grows on Kahikatea Farm. The property features 10 swales (read more here), five ponds, timber and firewood lots, just over a hectare of developing wetlands, and a huge orchard and food forest.

But it was a bare block when Jo and Aaron bought it in 2005 at the beginning of their permaculture journey.

Since then, they've transformed the landscape, started a nursery business, had daughters Anna and Eliza, and built an energy-efficient, 60m² off-grid home.

It has a composting toilet, woodstove,

greywater irrigation, and walls decorated with homemade paint and plaster.

From the verandah, you look out over the farm through a curtain "Kahikatea of rampant roses.

"Kahikatea Farm is getting Farm is getting a character... a character of its own, and that fills me with joy,” says Jo. that fills me “I feel as if we're now joining with joy." the dots. Sometimes I drool over pictures of other permaculture sites, then look outside and go, 'oh yeah, actually ours is coming along nicely!'"

She's learned a lot working to turn dry hills and pasture into a forest in a microclimate where the average rainfall is 650mm, one of the lowest in NZ. "I'd never grown anything in this climate and didn't know much about the area.”

The last year has been one of the driest since they started, a mere 537mm. From November to March, they got just 75mm.

“On the one hand, I look out at the trees that have grown quite happily, and wonder ‘how are you doing that?’

"On the other, we did a lot of planting last winter, and we've lost half of them, and we’ve never had a loss like that before. It’s things like Italian alders which we wouldn’t expect to lose – we’re not planting things that

thisnzlife.co.nz 17

F E AT U R E

T H E P E R E N N I A L P E R M A C U LT U R E G A R D E N O F P O U K AWA

The pond in the middle of the food forest.

really need water, but plants to try and build the soil so we can then plant more productive trees.

"But even those support species are struggling. That’s been a real challenge.”

The couple has also reached the limit of their solar array. It powers the house and nursery, so there’s nothing left for irrigation.

“We’ve got access to water, but we can’t pump it with the solar power, so we’ve had to run a generator. We’re looking at our options for how we expand it.”

The permaculture passion project

UK-born Jo describes herself as an outside person who needs to connect to nature.

“I've always wanted to care for the environment and was into sustainability from an early age."

18 NZ Lifestyle Block

She and Aaron moved to Hawke’s Bay after travelling and working in other parts of the world. During that time, Jo studied permaculture (read more here) in Australia, then in Taranaki.

Their block used to be part of a sheep and cattle farm, a mix of flat and contoured land, with a dam. While the couple always had ambitious plans to turn it into a permaculture-based food forest, they didn't rush into planting. Instead, they spent three years observing their blank canvas to see where the prevailing winds came from, the direction of the sun, wet areas, and runoff before they started planting in 2008.

Working with, rather than against nature is an important principle in permaculture.

Everything the couple has planted has one, but usually multiple purposes.

F E AT U R E

T H E P E R E N N I A L P E R M A C U LT U R E G A R D E N O F P O U K AWA

Clockwise from top left: a 'chook dome' to house birds so they clear an area of grass and weeds; Jo places hoops over a tree to hold frost cloth; looking up to the house through globe artichokes and nectarine trees.

The first plantings included: • an annual-based food garden around the house; • a perennial food forest to feed their family, attract insects and other biodiversity, and build soil; • firewood trees which also act as shelter; • green crops to use as mulch; • trees to use for animal fodder.

The first big project was a shelterbelt of pines to protect them from strong southerlies. An edible hedgerow went in as shelter from the north-west winds.

It includes tough species such as hawthorn, hazel, cherry plums, crabapples,

silverberries, koromiko, and pittosporums.

It protects the main edible crops, including apples, pears, plums, peaches, and citrus. Planted among them are nitrogen-fixing trees such as tree lucerne (tagasaste), acacia, and Italian alder. These have been heavily pruned over the years to provide mulch, build soil, and allow in light.

They gradually added other varieties, developing their block into a food forest.

There’s an eclectic mix of trees, including persimmons, loquats, American pawpaws, dogwoods, Aronia melanocarpa, and Canadian serviceberries (Amelanchier canadensis).

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F E AT U R E

T H E P E R E N N I A L P E R M A C U LT U R E G A R D E N O F P O U K AWA

"The food forest area is developing nicely," says Jo. “The trees are becoming mature, and we’re retrofitting some of the understoreys with salad herbs such as lemon sorrel and salad burnet, and biomass plants (read more here) such as tree lupins and globe artichokes. It’s developing a life of its own with lots of self-seeding.”

The home vegetable garden has moved. It was originally around the house (permaculture zone 1) but is now beside the nursery and inside its polytunnels.

“Since I’ve become so busy with the nursery, it "It's developing has become our zone 1,” a life of its own says Jo. “I’m there more with lots of often, and it gets watered self-seeding." better there than if we had it around the house.”

One of the limiting factors at the farm is the solar power system, which was initially set up to power just the house.

"We’re maxed out on what we can irrigate at the nursery so we can't expand the nursery or any areas of planting - it's the next item on our list to decide on."

20 NZ Lifestyle Block

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F E AT U R E

T H E P E R E N N I A L P E R M A C U LT U R E G A R D E N O F P O U K AWA

The food forest trees are mostly perennials, providing fruit and nuts, encouraging biodiversity, and improving the soil.

Why they’ve (finally) decided to get livestock

Two hectares of the farm is part of a new agro-silvo-pastoralism project, a mix of trees, small-scale crops, and pasture.

It will mean the Duffs can run cattle for the first time. Jo says she’s excited to get livestock now she understands how holistic grazing methods can improve the soil.

"Cattle are an element that's been missing and are something I've wanted for ages.

There's something magic about them.”

She and Aaron haven’t had livestock before, for several reasons: to protect the trees while they were young; because Jo was working off-farm; the cost of setting up fencing; the expense and difficulty of setting up

• • • •

22 NZ Lifestyle Block

drinking water systems (much harder when you're off the grid).

Jo has been planting areas of fodder trees, including alder, tagasaste, sycamore, browsing rows of feijoa, hebe, flax, and random spare trees from the nursery.

“The trees are basically vertical grass,” says Jo. “Instead of having food on the ground, we’ve got it in the air’.”

The ideas that did and didn’t work

Jo and Aaron's original plan was to run a community-supported agriculture scheme.

It morphed into a nursery growing annual vegetable seedlings, perennials, and culinary and medicinal herbs, which they sold at local markets and health food stores.

Jo also taught horticulture part-time at the Eastern Institute of Technology.

F E AT U R E

T H E P E R E N N I A L P E R M A C U LT U R E G A R D E N O F P O U K AWA

They originally grew annual vegetable seedlings, but after four years it all became too much.

"It was a lot of work for not much money."

Jo and Aaron employ parttime workers in their certified organic nursery. It's far more productive than using wwoofers as they did for 10 years.

But after four years it all became too much.

“We had a major rethink and stopped doing annual vegetable seedlings – it was a lot of work for not much money,” says Jo. “It also didn't fit with our permaculture focus. Instead, we focused on the perennials: edible and medicinal herbs, dye plants, nitrogen fixers, bee plants and other companions, and unusual edible trees and shrubs."

Now 99 percent of their plants are sold via their website, the rest at Cornucopia Organic Shop in Hastings.

In 2016 they built a nursery area for plant production and freight preparation. Jo also runs permaculture courses and farm tours.

"This new setup works much better for us," she says.

Employing local workers on the farm has boosted their productivity and enabled the nursery and farm to become a profitable business.

"We had wwoofers for 10 years,” says Jo. “But that way of doing things lacked consistency.”

Despite the many challenges, Jo and Aaron say they wouldn't change a thing.

In the last year, they’ve enlarged the pond in the food forest, put in another one near the nursery, and created a new swale across their biggest paddock. They plan to develop herb gardens for demonstration purposes and to increase their plant stock.

"Each year we're doing better,” says Jo. “We love it here. There’s nothing else we'd rather be doing, and nowhere else we'd rather be."

thisnzlife.co.nz 23

F E AT U R E

T H E P E R E N N I A L P E R M A C U LT U R E G A R D E N O F P O U K AWA

The six Permaculture Zones (0-5) Zones are a way of creating an energyefficient garden or farm by placing the highest use areas closest to you. Think of it as concentric circles radiating out from your house.

READ MORE

W H AT I S P E R M A C U LT U R E ?

• • •

24 NZ Lifestyle Block

have a slug problem, you have a duck deficiency; make the least change for the greatest possible effect; the yield of a system is theoretically unlimited (or only limited by the imagination and information of the designer); everything gardens (or modifies its environment).

Fellow co-creator David Holmgren has since updated the principles to include: observe and interact; catch and store energy; use and value renewable resources and services; produce no waste; use small, slow solutions; creatively use and respond to change.

• • • • • • • • •

Image: Felix Müller Wikimedia Commons.

Permaculture – permanent agriculture – is designed to be a radical approach to food production, water, energy, and pollution.

“Permaculture is a design system for creating sustainable human environments," writes co-creator Bill Mollison in the book Introduction to Permaculture. "On one level, it deals with plants, animals, buildings and infrastructure (water, energy, communication). However, permaculture is not about these elements themselves, but rather about the relationships we can create between them by the way we place them in the landscape.”

Mollison says permaculture encourages a different mindset to conventional culture: it's information and imagination intensive; you work with nature rather than against it; the problem is the solution, ie you don’t

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F E AT U R E

T H E P E R E N N I A L P E R M A C U LT U R E G A R D E N O F P O U K AWA

BEFORE & AF TER:

T H E S WA L E S Swales (shallow ditches) were dug on contours to retain rainwater. Jo and Aaron planted on their downhill side so trees and plants could use the much-needed deepdown moisture in summer.

The swales now merge with the trees and are hard to see.

"When you go down into one of the hollows lined with shady trees, it's a lovely microclimate,” says Jo. “We also get an amazing frog chorus in the evening.”

The problem is it’s impossible to know exactly what impact they’ve had, says Jo. “…because you don’t know what it would have been like if you hadn’t put them in."

She can say they’ve all worked differently.

The biggest one holds water almost year-round and has become its own microclimate, with naturalised raupo, poplar, and willow.

The longest swale (pictured on page 27) has functioned best, probably because it was the one they planted most intensively.

“It holds water for about three days in a heavy rainfall event and then it soaks in, so that’s what (permaculture guru) Geoff Lawton describes as the ultimate aim (of swales).

"The downside is the banks of the berm are quite steep, so it’s been quite hard

to get ground covers going, and grass always comes back. We’ve left that now to concentrate on other areas where we’ve gained traction with ground covers.

“I don’t think you could do very much differently (except) probably make the (trench) a bit wider and the berm a bit wider.”

One swale has been a lesson in what not to do.

“It was probably a mistake,” says Jo. “The hill was too steep – you need to look at how steep your hills are, and really it shouldn’t have been more than a 15 percent incline.

"Terraces or a series of smaller swales would have been probably ok, but one big one caused erosion. We’ve ended up losing planting space, whereas you’d gain more plantable land from doing smaller swales.

"Where it’s steeper, we’ve now gone back and terraced it, and that’s working.”

Jo says the swales have helped to keep trees alive during dry summers, but also, more surprisingly, through wet winters.

“What they do on clay soils is lift the tree roots of that claggy wetness in winter," A Fout TER she says. "It’s not just about storing water for summer, it’s about lifting the roots out of what would actually kill them in a wet winter.”

The problem is it's impossible to know exactly what impact the swales have had, says Jo.

26 NZ Lifestyle Block

Left: A digger carving the first swale into the side of a hill in what is now the food forest.

Below: The newest swale is just a year old, planted with quince and understorey plants such as comfrey and borage.

2008

2008 2019

What is a swale?

A swale is a flat-bottomed ditch cut into a shallow to moderate slope. A slope up to 17° is the oft-quoted maximum angle, but Jo says she now believes less than 15° is better, to avoid erosion.

A mound of soil (the berm) sits on the downhill side, and plant roots hold it in place. Water coming down the hill stops when it enters the trench, then slowly dissipates through the berm.

In drier climates, the berm is a prime growing space for shrubs and trees. However, Jo has found in their arid climate some trees love to grow in the trench as well.

Berm (mounded soil) Uphill slope Trench

thisnzlife.co.nz 27

F E AT U R E

T H E P E R E N N I A L P E R M A C U LT U R E G A R D E N O F P O U K AWA

A new garden bed, edged in windfall gum, is layers of mulch, biomass plants, and compost.

4 S T E P S T O C R E AT I N G

NEW SOIL

Jo has four separate strategies for creating a new productive garden bed:

• sheet mulching with layers of

cardboard, manure, straw and wood chips;

• growing biomass plants to ‘chop and drop’ as mulch (see page 29);

• lots of compost; • using chickens.

28 NZ Lifestyle Block

"The strategy we use depends on the time of year, available labour and time, and the existing ground cover. For example, couch grass can’t be killed off completely with sheet mulching but is easier to control by planting more dominant species into it, even if these are later cut out and replaced by the desired species."

F E AT U R E

T H E P E R E N N I A L P E R M A C U LT U R E G A R D E N O F P O U K AWA

What are biomass plants?

These are trees and herbs that have lots of large leaves. They also grow (and regrow) fast, so they can be cut down repeatedly.

Jo grows a range of biomass plants in the food forest, including several types of artichoke, wild fennel, and silverberry (Elaeagnus x ebbingei).

Right: Jo's favourite biomass plants in her food forest include globe artichokes, wild fennel, and silverberries. All provide large quantities of foliage, which is chopped down to provide mulch.

As it decomposes, it also helps to nourish the soil.

READ MORE

Check out the couple’s incredibly weird but really delicious perennial edibles

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thisnzlife.co.nz 29

Self-sufficiency HOW TO CREATE THE GOOD LIFE ON YOUR BLOCK

10+ easy ways to aim for

ZERO WASTE

Each year, New Zealanders send 2.5 million tonnes of rubbish to landfill, more than 1000kg of waste per household.

Here’s how you can turn a lot of it into a resource.

xxxxxx

Anna Martianova | iStock

Words Jane Wrigglesworth

30 NZ Lifestyle Block

The zero waste movement looks at ‘rubbish’ as a resource.

But one of the important principles is to create less waste in the first place.

1

Save paper butter wrappers to line cake and cupcake tins, to separate layers of food in the freezer (eg, hamburger patties), and to grease tins.

2

Use old shower curtains: • as drop cloths when painting; as covers for outdoor furniture; • • to catch prunings, which are then easy to carry (or pull) to the compost pile.

3 4

Cereal bags can be reused for icing cakes, as freezer bags, or for marinating or seasoning meat.

5

Buy vintage clothing, redesign old garments, buy recycled fabrics for making clothing items, or purchase high quality, sustainable ‘eco’ garments that are made responsibly and will last a long time. Synthetic materials are non-renewable and take years to break down.

Polyester is made from plastic, derived from non-renewable petroleum, and can take up to 200 years to decompose. A 2017 report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation found the polyester industry consumes 342 million barrels of oil a year.

Sew reusable, easily washable rubbish bin liners from old raincoats. Make several, so you have a fresh one ready for when you change it.

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SELF-SUFFICIENCY

HOMEGROWN HANDMADE

7

To prevent toothpaste tubes going into landfill, brush your teeth with a homemade mix containing baking soda (stored in a glass container), or buy toothpaste powder in glass jars.

Toothpaste is available in metal tubes (Weleda), which can be recycled.

Colgate has paired with TerraCycle so that you can take toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, and floss containers to various dropoff points around the country. Find your local collection point here: www.terracycle. com/en-NZ/brigades/oral-care-brigade

8

Look for and buy from companies that encourage consumers to return their packaging and waste.

For example, Resene and Dulux provide a service for customers to return leftover paint and tins for recycling, reuse, or environmentally friendly disposal. Paint is also donated to community groups.

Many beauty brands offer rewards for recycling their packaging. M.A.C will swap six empty packaging containers for a free lipstick; Lush will exchange five empty containers for a fresh face mask.

9

Solid shampoo bars mean you avoid a lot of plastic packaging.

Here's what you need to know: • it may take time for your hair to get used to cold or hot process soap-based bars;

An eco-friendly alternative to paper gift-wrapping

32 NZ Lifestyle Block

READ MORE

Bogdan Sonyachny | Dreamstime.com, Hana-Photo, Agustin Vai | iStock

6

Swap plastic brushes and sponges for biodegradable options. You can buy compostable bamboo toothbrushes, pot scrapers, bamboo and sisal fibre dish brushes, and coconut fibre scrubbing pads.

SELF-SUFFICIENCY

HOMEGROWN HANDMADE

How to make soap from scratch

READ MORE

• they use all-natural ingredients and

essential oils – every maker has different recipes; • soap bars are more alkaline – you may benefit from an acidic rinse, but you probably won’t need to buy conditioner.

There are also ‘syndet bars’, which use synthetic detergent (Ethique, Lush) – most makers use gentle surfactants, so they have a lower pH, but you’ll probably still need a conditioner.

Tropper2000, Andriana Syvanych | Dreamstime.com

10

Shop at stores that offer refills or bulk food supplies, such as Bin Inn, Bulk Barn, GoodFor, The Source, and local health and organic stores.

• take jars, bags or containers for refilling; • make sure to weigh your container before you fill it; • cloth bags are suitable for dry products such as flours, cereals, nuts etc; • use washable crayons to write the ingredient on the jar or bag; • for meat, supply a container or – if you want to freeze it – long-lasting, reusable silicone freezer bags. Silicone is more inert than plastic, which means it doesn’t leach chemicals into food when used for storage.

Food grade silicone is free of BPA, BPS, and phthalates.

• other options for the freezer include airtight stainless steel and tempered glass food storage containers.

11

Use most or all parts of your vegetables: • julienne stalks of broccoli and cauliflower and add to homemade coleslaw; • add the leaves of kumara and celery, and the green tops of beetroot, carrots, and turnips to salads; • the stalks of parsley, coriander, and other herbs, are good for flavouring dishes; The stems of some cut vegetables will regrow if planted. Save the cut-off bottoms of spring onions, and leafy vegetables that grow ‘heads' (eg, Romaine lettuce, bok choy, celery). Plant with the tops just poking above the soil, and they will resprout.

grow your own bath sponge READ MORE

thisnzlife.co.nz 33

SELF-SUFFICIENCY

HOMEGROWN HANDMADE

The best way to be

ZERO WASTE

T

he number one thing you can do to stop rubbish going to landfill is to create a composting system.

The keyword is system. It needs to be easy to use as part of your family’s daily life, and accommodate a block’s bulk composting requirements, such as lawn clippings, horse manure, or animal bedding.

Ben Elms – known as Dr Compost – has spent 20+ years experimenting and

34 NZ Lifestyle Block

educating people about composting and shares the system he uses on his 20ha block at Hawea, 20km north-east of Wanaka.

Ben has also been experimenting with underground worm-farm systems, which do exceptionally well in regions with freezing winters or very hot summers.

He recommends multiple buckets, which you can site in your garden beds and make yourself. Read more on page 35.

Photo: Rachael McKenna

on a block

SELF-SUFFICIENCY

HOMEGROWN HANDMADE

Dr Compost’s tips for large scale composting

1

Have multiple bins Most blocks generate a lot of waste material in one go, for example, when mowing the lawn. Ben has a line of compost bins made from old wood pallets which do the job and allow for good air circulation. Each one is about 1m wide, 1m deep, and 1m high, a good size for creating a hot compost pile.

Keep compost bins in open areas, not up against a fence, hedge, or near an area of long grass, as rats use these as cover to move around undetected.

2

Stockpile carbon materials The number one mistake people make is not having enough carbon-based ingredients to mix in with nitrogen-rich waste, such as lawn clippings.

Ben saves piles of cardboard, straw, woodchips, wood prunings and other carbon materials, and has them waiting beside his bins for when he’s making compost.

He’ll often soak them in water to help them decompose more quickly.

“I see it as a resource, so I’ll often mow the lawn and make compost right after.”

His ride-on mower doesn’t have a catcher, so Ben collects it using an old push mower.

“I’ll do a couple of catcher-loads and that’s one layer of compost, then add some carbon, a different layer of scraps or horse manure, and then carry on mowing.

It becomes a bigger day, but you’re harnessing that resource.”

In contrast, most people who think they’re making hot compost, aren’t.

“Generally, they’re making cold heaps by gradually adding stuff, with the odd glut, and they wonder why it doesn’t heat up,” says Ben. “It’s because they’re not making it in the one hit.”

3 Photo: Ben Elms

Mow and make hot compost Ben says he gets very excited about mowing the lawn because it means he can make a hot compost pile. Lawn clippings generate high temperatures (ideally 55°C-65°C) which kills weeds seeds and makes everything in the bin decompose at a much faster rate.

READ MORE

more Tips from Dr Compost

• How to make Dr Compost’s underground worm farm for tough climates

• Dr Compost's secrets to good quality compost without back-breaking labour

thisnzlife.co.nz 35

SELF-SUFFICIENCY

HOMEGROWN HANDMADE

How to recycle farm plastics

Agrecovery

www.agrecovery.co.nz • free recycling of empty plastic containers and drums from over 3000 common ag-chem, animal health, and dairy hygiene products; • safely disposes of unwanted or expired chemicals; Protocols surround the recycling and disposal process.

Check the AgRecovery website for a drop-off point close to you – most are rural supply stores – and for annual community collection events.

Check the brand you want to buy to ensure it has the AgRecovery logo on it, which makes it eligible for free recycling.

36 NZ Lifestyle Block

Plasback

plasback.co.nz • recycles plastic wrap from silage, pallet covers, shrink wrap, plastic feed bags; • recycles high-density (HDPE) containers and drums; • recycles vineyard netting and other special plastic netting.

Plasback is a paid-for service aimed predominantly at commercial farms.

However, it also sells a smaller (recycled plastic) bag to suit block owners. Each bag costs $8.05 and holds around 20 standard size silage wraps. The collection cost, once it’s full, is $20 plus GST per liner.

•

Jane Wrigglesworth is a gardening writer, blogger, and publisher of the digital magazine, Sweet Living.

Clara Bastian | Dreamstime.com

There are two schemes helping farmers to recycle plastics. AgRecovery and Plasback send waste plastic to Auckland company Astron Sustainability, which turns it into products such as underground cable covers and plastic ‘plywood’.

Visit our online home, thisNZlife.co.nz, for exclusive interviews, recipes, DIY projects, gardening advice, great giveaways, and more.

Spiced Apple or Pear Sauce

This simple preserve sings with natural sweetness from seasonal apples or pears.

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Get the recipe

Beetroot & Blackcurrant Kvass Tonic This is an easy-to-make fermented beverage and will use up a beetroot glut.

10

easy recipes that make the most of pantry staples or leftovers

Get the recipes

thisnzlife.co.nz

Pantry staples such as flour, tinned beans, and garlic are the unsung heroes in many tasty dishes, such as broad bean falafel, chickpea cauliflower burgers, and apple fritters.

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@thisnzlife

thisnzlife thisnzlife.co.nz 37

F E AT U R E

P R A C T I C A L WAY S T O G O Z E R O WA S T E Life & Leisure

EASY STEPS TO A LIGHTER FOOTPRINT

NZ

Sustainability through the seasons

INSPIRING STORIES

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MAGAZINE GROUP

This is an extract from our new special

CARE FOR POLLINATORS

NZ

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SPECIAL EDITION

K

LIVE A GREENER LIFE 365 DAYS OF THE YEAR

PROFILE

Zero waste hero Kristy Lorson, her husband, and young daughter fill one wheelie bin with rubbish every two years. They love their (virtually) zero waste lifestyle.

WORDS Lee-Anne Duncan PHOTOS Sheryl Burson

38 NZ Lifestyle Block

risty Lorson finds fruit stickers annoying.

“Why do we need them? Ugh!” she says from the Auckland home she shares with husband Davian and daughter Savana (6). “They’re one of the main aspects of waste we still cannot avoid.”

Other than fruit stickers, paracetamol blister packs, and the occasional plastic receipt, the family has managed to live an almost zero waste lifestyle for five years.

“We used to fill a rubbish bag maybe once a fortnight. Now we throw away very little. We’re still not perfect, of course.”

About 10 years ago, she started using reusable shopping bags.

But her light-bulb-moment was a year later while watching Manufactured Landscapes, a documentary explaining changes to the natural world caused by large-scale human activities.

“I was shocked. I suddenly understood that I was connected to the problem because of my consumption. I thought, ‘I never want to buy anything again – I don’t want to be part of this.’”

When the couple had Savana, rather than accumulating a whole lot of baby stuff, Kristy further embraced sustainable living.

She started with incremental changes.

“We did cloth nappies, but I was still using disposable wipes, I’m not sure why. Then I read Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson and saw how I fitted into the picture. I could see that even though environmental problems feel overwhelming, as an individual, I could do a lot in my life to make an impact. That’s when I got serious about zero waste.”

F E AT U R E

P R A C T I C A L WAY S T O G O Z E R O WA S T E

The total amount of waste Kristy sent to landfill in one month.

The first thing she did was take a deep dive into her kitchen rubbish bin.

“Our biggest waste item was Tetra Paks of soy milk and vegetable stock.” (The family are vegetarians and don’t eat dairy because of its environmental impact.)

After assessing the kitchen, Kristy made a spreadsheet and walked through the house, listing consumables room by room.

“Over the next few months, I went through that list, changing our purchases to what I could buy plastic-free and/or packagingfree, what I could make myself or what we could do without.”

Kristy makes all her cleaning products.

“All you need is baking soda and vinegar and maybe cream of tartar, and they take only a few minutes to whip up.”

She makes vegetable stock and – trickier – soy milk (get the recipe on page 41).

“That’s certainly the most labourintensive thing about being zero waste, and it was hard to find a soy-milk recipe that worked. Now I have one everyone likes – the secret is not to soak the beans. Every fortnight I make a big batch and freeze it.”

The family also stepped up its composting. There’s no complicated setup; they simply “chuck the food in”.

“Living zero waste is not a high-tech lifestyle – it’s about getting into the mindset of using things you have already, such as reusable shopping bags, containers, and cutlery.

“When I have to shop for clothes, I buy from op-shops as much as possible.

So, overall, we spend less because we’ve replaced disposables with reusables or products I make myself.”

Kristy and Davian also ask friends and family to consider the environment when giving them gifts, encouraging them to opt for second-hand, plastic-free, homemade gifts, and those that involve experiences.

Kristy now runs Earth Savvy, selling reusable products and running workshops to help others create a zero waste life.

www.earthsavvy.co.nz

www.thisnzlife.co.nz 39

F E AT U R E

P R A C T I C A L WAY S T O G O Z E R O WA S T E

Kristy’s zero waste kitchen hacks • Collect jars, containers, and

bags, ideally using what’s already in your cupboards and drawers.

Decide on a labeling system for jars (grease pencils, chalkboard paint/ chalk, markers).

• Organise the bins. Set out

‘recycling’, ‘food scraps’, ‘specialty waste’ (eg, batteries, light bulbs etc for delivery to an e-waste centre), ‘landfill’. Consider moving the landfill bin to the far end of the house to make it more of an effort to throw something away.

• Replace disposables with

reusables. Exchange plastic wrap, tinfoil, paper towels, baking paper, kitchen sponges, and plastic dish brushes for zero waste alternatives such as beeswax wraps, silicone baking mats, lidded containers, cotton cleaning cloths, wooden dish brushes, etc.

• Clean up cleansers.

As commercial cleaning products run out, try making alternatives or buy refillable options. For an allpurpose cleaner, add 1 tsp baking soda, ½ tsp dishwashing liquid, and 2 tbsp vinegar to a spray bottle.

40 NZ Lifestyle Block

• Put together a simple zero waste kit for going out. It could include a reusable bag, a water bottle, a small container, cutlery, and a reusable coffee cup. Pack some food in a container so it’s easier to resist plastic-wrapped snacks.

F E AT U R E

P R A C T I C A L WAY S T O G O Z E R O WA S T E

Kristy’s Soy Milk Ingredients 1-litre jar soybeans Optional additions: honey or other sweeteners, a pinch of salt, vanilla essence Method 1. Heat a large pot of water. When boiling, add the soybeans and boil for one minute. Cool, drain, and reserve the cooking water.

2. Blitz 1 cup of soybeans with 3 cups of the cooking water (or regular water) in a blender.

3. Strain through cheesecloth.

Discard solids (okara), or use in other recipes.

4. Bring soy milk to the boil and simmer for approximately 8 minutes. Cool and put in jars.

Kristy’s note: this milk lasts for about one week in the fridge, or it freezes well (leave space in glass jars for the soy milk to expand as it freezes). This amount lasts the Lorson family for two weeks (for breakfast and in baking).

www.thisnzlife.co.nz 41

F E AT U R E

P R A C T I C A L WAY S T O G O Z E R O WA S T E

Bokashi basics

B

WORDS Lee-Anne Duncan

okashi is an anaerobic (without air) composting system for food waste, even meat, fish, and dairy.

One bucket with holes in the bottom slots inside another bucket. Every time you add food scraps, you sprinkle over 1 tbsp of a special bran inoculant to aid fermentation.

Add five litres of water for every 3 tbsp of liquid.

How it works Within a week, food scraps begin to break down.

The leftovers pickle in the top bucket and a potent leachate drains into the bottom one.

When the bucket is full, and after a minimum of 14 days, the solid contents can be added to aerobic compost or buried in a fallow spot in the garden. Buried scraps are acidic so don’t plant in the area for at least two weeks. The liquid can be diluted and used as a fertiliser.

Give the buckets a good rinse and start again.

When good smells go bad Keep the lid on tightly at all times or the scraps will rot. A bokashi bin should smell “sweet and sour” in a pleasant, kombucha-like way, not like rotting vegetables. You may be able to reverse the rotting process by adding more bokashi bran inoculant. Otherwise, dump the batch into a compost bin, clean the bucket, and start again.

Why good bokashi has no smell This is because the bokashi microbes (yeasts, producers of lactic acids, and others) that break down the scraps don’t produce the sulphuric acid that gives outdoor aerobic piles their characteristic stench.

Use it as a liquid fertiliser around the roots of plants.

42 NZ Lifestyle Block

Photos: Rachael McKenna

Leachate leftover after empyting solids from a bokashi bucket.

EASY STEPS

TO A

LIGHTER FOOTPRINT EASY STEPS TO A LIGHTER FOOTPRINT

Sustainability through the seasons

LOW-WASTE LIVING

INSPIRING STORIES:

SMALL SPACES, BIG REWARDS SPEND LESS, ENJOY MORE

GREEN TRAVEL

GROW NUTRITIOUS VEGGIES GARDEN-TO-TABLE RECIPES

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LIVE A GREENER LIFE 365 DAYS OF THE YEAR

IN SUPERMARKETS NOW FOR $19.90

www.thisnzlife.co.nz 43

Growing

ADVICE & INSPIRATION FROM OUR EXPERT GARDENER

dening r a G Top tips for

MAY

Erect row covers over raised beds to

Words Jane Wrigglesworth

extend the growing season. To make a simple floating row cover, push in hoops made from flexible PVC pipe at the ends and in the middle of beds. Cover with frost cloth. You can also purchase kits.

Dig up potatoes and carrots

before the first frosts. Leave your parsnips and yams – they taste sweeter after a frost. Nb: neither plant has much growth once their leaves are frosted.

44 NZ Lifestyle Block

Sever180, Elena Masiutkina | Dreamstime.com

Remove runners from strawberries and plant out for next year’s harvest.

GROWING

JANE ’S GARDEN DIARY

MAKE A SOWING of broad beans for early harvesting. Sow in full sun in free-draining, compost-enriched soil, and provide shelter from strong winds and stakes for each plant. If black aphids accumulate on the growing tips, blast with the hose (although they’re more likely to appear on beans sown in spring).

If you haven’t already, prepare a patch for planting garlic.

Choose a site in full sun, and dig in compost or well-rotted manure. Wait a couple of weeks, then dig the soil over again (the looser the soil, the larger your bulbs will grow), then plant individual cloves. You want the pointy end up, 5cm deep, about 20cm apart, in rows 30cm apart.

Plant broccoli and cauliflower seedlings. If your area gets heavy frosts, plant in a tunnel house.

Plant cold-tolerant leafy vegetables

such as kale, spinach, silverbeet, cabbage, miner’s lettuce, lamb’s lettuce (corn salad), Romaine and Cos lettuces in raised beds.

Zaclurs, Mahira, Chernetskaya | Dreamstime.com

LITTLE POMS’ ROASTED CARROT SALAD WITH BEETS & GOAT ’S CHEESE CREAM

AUTUMN LEAVES ARE FALLING. Gather them up and make leaf mould.

Place in a black plastic bag that has holes punched into the sides. Dampen the leaves, secure the top of the bag with a tie, and put aside for several months. It will rot down into beautiful humus for the garden.

In frost-prone areas,

Get the recipe

mulch the garden with pea straw to protect against frost. Add some pea straw to the compost bin as well to balance out the ‘green’ materials. A handful of lime will aid decomposition. Cover your heap with plastic to protect it from excessive rain.

thisnzlife.co.nz 45

GROWING

JANE ’S GARDEN DIARY

In the flower garden Gardens can lose their colour at this time of year, but there are ways to brighten things up.

warmer region. If you do, leave it until June or July or the stems may grow excessively tall before flowering.

Take rose cuttings. Select healthy, pencil-

have flowering Ericas – hardy, low-growing shrubs such as heather – Polyanthus, and pansies for pots and garden beds.

thick stems with at least three leaf nodes.

Cut above the top node and just below the bottom node. Remove any buds. Dip the bottom end in rooting hormone and insert into a mix of compost and coarse sand or pumice. Place in a sheltered spot over winter and keep moist. When roots appear after a few months, repot and wait a year before planting out.

Plant spring-flowering annuals.

You can also take cuttings from many

Plant perennials such as lupins,

This month is your last chance to plant

If they’re open, garden centres should

Sow seeds or plant seedlings of stock, sweet williams, and wallflowers.

hollyhocks, and Canterbury bells. These need a long season to establish, but once they do, they’ll bloom for several years.

Potted flowering plants such as dianthus, cyclamen, and nerines might be on sale for Mother’s Day. Plant outdoors once they’ve finished flowering.

46 NZ Lifestyle Block

perennials, including daisies, hebes, and viburnums.

spring-flowering bulbs if you can find any for sale. You might still find daffodils and tulips, which can be planted later than others. In warmer northern regions, chill bulbs in the fridge for 4-6 weeks.

Marina Lohrbach | Dreamstime.com

Sow sweet peas, unless you live in a

GROWING

JANE ’S GARDEN DIARY

Pansies

Alexander Potapov, Ksena2009, Kazakovmaksim, Olgakotsareva | Dreamstime.com

Heather (Erica)

Sweet william

Polyanthus

thisnzlife.co.nz 47

GROWING

JANE ’S GARDEN DIARY

12+ plants to brighten up

YOUR WINTER GARDEN Plant trees and shrubs that flower in winter Options include: Camellia; daphne; Edgeworthia; Leptospermum; Protea; kowhai; Japanese flowering apricots (Prunus mume).

Japanese flowering apricots have white or pink flowers. The most common cultivar in New Zealand is The Geisha, which has semi-double, rose-pink blooms in late winter. It’s grown more for its ornamental value, although it does produce tart apricots (best used for preserves). These small trees reach about 3m high.

• • • • • • •

Protea.

Japanese flowering apricot.

Rozenn Leard, Wiertn, Jennyrainbow | Dreamstime.com

Daphne.

48 NZ Lifestyle Block

GROWING

JANE ’S GARDEN DIARY

Plant shrubs and trees with berries or ornamental fruits This is an excellent way to add colour to the garden and entice birds in for a feed. Look for fruiting plants, including: crabapples (Malus); purple-berried beautyberry (Callicarpa); white-berried snowberry (Symphoricarpos); sweet box (Sarcococca); rowan or mountain ash (Sorbus).

Sorbus.

Japanese beautyberry.

• • • • •

Olga Popova, Yorozu Kitamura, Toshihisa Shimoda, Simona Pavan, DRpics24 | Dreamstime.com

Sweet box.

Crabapples.

Snowberry.

Jane Wrigglesworth is a gardening writer, blogger, and publisher of the digital magazine, Sweet Living.

thisnzlife.co.nz 49

Farming

YOUR MONTHLY GUIDE TO LIVESTOCK AND PASTURE CARE

6 ways to prepare for lambing

1

Feed your ewes Pregnant ewes need a body condition score of 2.5-3 out of 5.

Separate thinner ewes and feed them extra, more often.

Get their nutrition right Talk to your vet about what is the best feed (ie, high in energy, protein) and trace elements for your pregnant ewes.

Vaccinate Talk to your vet about what booster vaccines are required.

Get your lambing kit ready It should include a headlamp/ torch, iodine, lubricant, long gloves, a bottle and nipple, a thermal blanket, and a thermometer.

2

5 6

borchee | iStock

3 4

Talk to your vet about having doses of antibiotics, an energy supplement (eg, Ketol), and calcium.

Have an emergency colostrum supply Freeze colostrum from your first lambing ewes and freeze it, in case you have an orphan. A lamb needs 200ml/kg in its first 24 hours.

Prepare an abortion protocol Isolate ewes that abort from the flock. Use gloves to handle a dead lamb, and don’t let your dog or cat touch it. Put the body in a plastic bag, and place in a secure rubbish bin.

50 NZ Lifestyle Block

FA R M I N G

FA R M D I A R Y

READ MORE

6 pasture plants that will make it through a drought

General

Tips for May

Check pasture spore levels and continue with zinc supplements if required.

If your block is wet through through winter, pugging damage to soil and subsequent pasture growth can be expensive to fix and take years.

Cattle

Sheep

check your herd's copper levels. Copper is affected by zinc, and stock may need a supplemental injection.

It's tough to put weight on thin cattle over winter. Make a decision early on about what's economical and best for animal welfare, rather than keeping too many stock through winter.

If you send stock to the works, ask your vet to organise liver sample tests to check for minerals and trace elements. Use this as a guide to supplement your remaining stock before calving.

Talk to your vet about leptospirosis vaccinations. It protects newborn calves and helps prevent humans from getting 'lepto', an often life-long, debilitating disease.

Cattle (other than calves) shouldn’t graze on pasture that’s at risk of pugging.

becomes more frequent, to give ewes time to regrow some fleece before winter.

Remove your ram from the flock. Drench him, give him extra good feed if he has lost weight, or get rid of him if you're on limited pasture and no longer require his services.

• Facial eczema may still be a risk.

• Once zinc supplementation finishes, •

•

borchee | iStock

•

•

• Get sheep shorn now, before rain •

Goats

• Trim and treat hooves: cut long or

infected areas back to healthy hoof.

Build weather-proof shelters, so goats stay dry, and to help hooves to dry out.

Soak hooves regularly to help prevent footrot or scald (an infection of the skin between the toes). Mix a 10% zinc sulphate solution (1 part zinc sulphate to 10 parts water) and soak for 5-15 minutes. Use an old shower tray or a large fish bin/s so that you can do all four hooves at once.

• •

thisnzlife.co.nz 51

FA R M I N G

PA S T U R E WAT C H

Woolly mullein Why is it a weed?

Produces lots of seeds, hardy, not grazed by livestock

Where is it found?

Most common in drier eastern areas of both islands

Is it toxic?

Other uses

Was used in Greek/Roman times to make yellow dye, as wicks and torches, and as a traditional medicine

52 NZ Lifestyle Block

Simona Pavan | Dreamstime.com

Seeds are toxic to fish

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

FA R M I N G

PA S T U R E WAT C H

Kclarksphotography | Dreamstime.com

U

sually, I identify a weed or a plant when I’m walking through someone’s pasture or crop. But on this day, I was sitting in Auckland Airport (nb: pre virus isolation measures).

I was waiting for a flight to Palmerston North to make a presentation on maize when one of my colleagues texted me an image of a weed they hadn’t seen before.

Woolly mullein (Verbascum thapsus) isn’t that common, but it may be one you'll see more of if you live in a region with increasingly longer dry spells.

Woolly mullein is native to Europe, Northern Africa and Asia. It was first introduced here as a garden plant in the mid-1800s and is one of four Verbascum species found in NZ. It’s quite a distinctive-looking, hairy biennial that can grow up to 2m or taller. Seeds are long-lived and can survive in the soil for many years before germinating in spring or autumn.

It forms a rosette in its first year, then produces a tall, thick stem with small, densely-grouped yellow flowers.

Woolly mullein grows in a wide variety of habitats, but it prefers: • a sunny spot; • disturbed, bare areas; • dry, light volcanic/stony soil.

That’s why it’s common to find it on sunny hillsides, dry riverbeds, in poorly maintained pasture, waste areas, and on roadsides.

Although it’s a prolific seeder, it rarely becomes invasive like ragwort or thistles as its seeds need bare soil for germination.

NOTE: We recommend you get your own independent advice before you take any action on your block. Any action you take is strictly at your own risk.

How to control it

The good thing is woolly mullein doesn’t grow in regularly grazed, well-maintained pasture as it can’t out-compete most other species.

You can remove small infestations by hand, but it’s challenging to eliminate it permanently from dry, bare areas unless you improve soil conditions and maintain healthy, competitive pasture plants.

There are selective herbicides that target it, such as Tordon PastureBoss, but it can damage clover plants.

Always read the label and seek professional advice before using herbicides.

Block owner Gary Bosley is an agronomist for PGG Wrightson Ltd. PGG Wrightson Ltd (PGW) does not warrant the information’s accuracy, quality, outcome or fitness for any purpose.

thisnzlife.co.nz 53

Your Poultry HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR FLOCK

NIGHT & DAYLIGHT One of the biggest influences on your hens' health is a star in the sky.

P

oultry – like all birds - are naturally seasonal creatures.

Their bodies respond to increasing and decreasing hours of sunlight (or to artificial light if kept in windowless sheds).

In late July, birds respond to longer days by mating and laying eggs. When daylight hours begin to fall in late December, it’s the signal to wean their chicks, moult their

54 NZ Lifestyle Block

feathers, and prepare for winter. Some bird species do this by flying away to warmer climates. Poultry grow denser layers of insulator feathers and increase their fat levels.

Why the super layers are so super

Domestic poultry has been affected by hundreds of years of breeding decisions by humans as we've developed birds

Lesichkadesign | Dreamstime.com

Words Sue Clarke & Nadene Hall

YO U R P O U LT R Y

N I G H T & D AY L I G H T

Their natural response has been affected by breeding decisions taken by humans.

with higher and higher egg production capabilities.

Poultry selectively bred to lay a high number of eggs (250-300+) in a year – hybrid commercial hens (Hyline, Shaver) and some light heritage breeds – are less affected when daylight hours reduce. They continue laying long past where most other breeds of poultry stop, especially in their first 12 months of laying (aged 18-70 weeks).

They’re also far less likely to go ‘broody’.

This is when a burst of hormones stops the laying process and prepares the hen's body for incubation of her eggs.

SimonSkafar | iStock, Lesichkadesign | Dreamstime.com

The not-so-super layers

Breeds selected for meat growth (known as ‘heavy’ breeds) or both meat and egg production (dual-purpose) tend to have a much stronger seasonal instinct to lay a 'clutch'. This is 20-30 eggs that they'll then want to incubate. Once they've laid a clutch, they often go 'broody', sit on their eggs, and stop laying.

If you can prevent them from going

broody, they may lay another 20-30 eggs starting in late December-early January.

However, many tend to start moulting quite soon after daylight hours begin to shorten (December 22-23).

By March-April, moulting is in full swing.

By May, some birds will have a whole new set of feathers. However, they still won’t resume laying until daylight hours start to increase.

Light it up

All of these functions in the hen are controlled by light. Light stimulates: ■ the retinas in the eyes; ■ the pineal gland (deep inside the brain, which controls melatonin, which runs a bird’s biological clock); ■ the pituitary gland (at the base of the brain), known as the ‘master’ gland for its effect on the body’s systems and organs.

When there's enough hours of light in a day, they all combine to turn on the hormones and other functions required for laying to start. In contrast, decreasing hours of daylight in late summer turns them off.

thisnzlife.co.nz 55

YO U R P O U LT R Y

N I G H T & D AY L I G H T

Photosensitive phase

Typical summer day (15 hours)

Dawn

18

6

16 11

In laying hens, the approach of darkness – known as the photosensitive period – stimulates the release of a yolk from the hen's ovary.

It starts its journey down the oviduct to become the following day's egg.

The photosensitive period begins after the current day's egg has been laid, until the sun goes down, or the lights go off (15-17 hours of daylight).

12 hours of daylight

Day to night

Developing a good day-night rhythm is important to the health of all living creatures (including humans).

The amount of daylight in a typical day depends on where you live. In Auckland, during the summer solstice in late December, it's around 14 hours, 40 minutes; in Invercargill, it’s almost 16 hours.

Research into intensively housed hens (which receive a carefully controlled amount of light) shows hens maintain egg production for longer when there’s 14 hours of stable daylight (or artificial light).

Why the dark is good for health & egg laying

The avian body is only triggered to produce melatonin at night. It’s a hormone that

56 NZ Lifestyle Block

regulates the brain’s biological clock, stimulates birds to move around, eat and digest food, and affects respiration, circulation, excretion, reproduction, and the immune system.

Young chicks brooded by their mother understand and adapt to night and day straight away. She protects them, maintains their temperature at night time, and ushers them around to food sources.

If you’re hand-rearing chicks using a light bulb as a heat source – where there's light 24-7 – it's vital to slowly establish a day-night routine. This is essential for the on-going development of the chick’s body, including its immune and reproductive systems.

YO U R P O U LT R Y

N I G H T & D AY L I G H T

rab-bit | iStock

MYTH: if lights are on 24-7, a hen will lay more eggs This is untrue. Light 24-7 is one of the worst things to do to any living creature.

A bird living without a ‘night-time’ develops irregular waking and sleeping cycles. It eventually stops eating or laying eggs.

In the commercial world, farmers

keep lights on long enough to simulate a typical summer’s day (15-17 hours).

They use lights in windowless sheds, or supplement naturally lit sheds (or sheds for birds that free-range) with lights that turn on before dawn and stay on after dusk.

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YO U R P O U LT R Y

N I G H T & D AY L I G H T

If you’re rearing chicks you’ve hatched in an incubator, it’s important to provide a heat source in a brooder for their first few weeks.

Many people still use a light bulb or bulbs to warm a brooder.

However, for good health and welfare, we don’t recommend their use. Chicks forced to sit in light 24 hours a day don't get a day-night routine or the critical hormones they need for good health and growth.

Too bright a light can also overstimulate them and may lead to feather pecking, cannibalism, and death.

Another problem comes when you eventually remove the light. The chicks won't be used to the dark, and they'll find it very unsettling. They often cheep loudly for a long time, which might lead you to reinstate the light and prolong the problem.

Chicks develop better and faster if you use an infra-red or ceramic heat lamp (above left and at left) or a heat plate (above) that mimics a hen’s body as a heat source in a brooder. These are available from good poultry supply stores, from around $40-$50 for heat lamps and from $125 for a heat plate.

Sue’s tip If an old-fashioned light bulb is your only option, you can turn it into a DIY heat plate by using a terracotta plant pot as a 'light shade'. Put the bulb inside the pot with the socket poking out of the hole. Attach the bulb to its cable/socket. Sit the pot (with the light on) upside down on a large ceramic tile. This way, there’s no (or very little) light, but the bulb heats the pot and the tile. Be careful with the electrics if you choose to use this option, check the temperature regularly, and always use a surge protector.

58 NZ Lifestyle Block

Bestvc | Dreamstime.com, Stieglitz, cynoclub | iStock, Chook Manor

The best way to brood chicks

YO U R P O U LT R Y

N I G H T & D AY L I G H T

David Tadevosian, Vinicius Bacarin | Dreamstime.com

What if your only option is a light bulb?

Chicks need a heat source until they're 4-5 weeks old. If you're using an old-fashioned light bulb or bulbs, it’s important to wean chicks off 24-7 light so they can slowly get used to being in the dark.

Start by turning the bulb/s off for an hour each day at a time when it’s still light outside and warm. Increase the time (eventually utilising nighttime) until they’re on a regular daynight schedule for the time of year.

Chicks raised under light bulbs will cheep loudly when you first turn off the light. This is almost always a ‘location chirp’, a vocalisation they use in the dark until they find a safe place to sleep or snuggle, after about 10 minutes or so.

Be careful to position drinkers and feeders away from brooder walls.

Chicks may smother one another by piling in behind them if they’re frightened by the dark. After a few days, they'll get used to the dark period and settle more quickly.

TALK TO OUR CHICKEN EXPERT Join the Facebook group ‘The NZ Poultry Place’ and tag her (Sue Clarke) or email us

Sue Clarke has more than 50 years experience as a professional poultrywoman.

thisnzlife.co.nz 59

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© 2020 • Lifestyle Magazine Group Ltd Volume 34, number 5 ISSN 2463-7424 (online) EDITOR Nadene Hall Phone (09) 222 0408 or 0274 914 078 Email editor@nzlifestyleblock.co.nz ART DIRECTOR Rebecca Needham ADVERTISING SALES Jessica Choner Phone (09) 222 0403 or 022 618 8680 Email sales@lifestylemagazinegroup.co.nz PROUDLY BROUGHT TO YOU BY Issuu READERSHIP Readership: 61,000 (Source: Nielsen National Readership Survey Q3 17 to Q2 18) NZ Lifestyle Block sources expert advice on a range of specialist topics. We recommend you get your own independent advice before you take any action, and any action you take is strictly at your own risk. Opinions expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of NZ Lifestyle Block or Lifestyle Magazine Group Ltd. Lifestyle Magazine Group is not liable for any loss or damage (included but not limited to indirect or consequential loss) or for personal injury arising from any action taken.

PUBLISHER Lifestyle Magazine Group Lynley Belton | Kate Coughlan COVER IMAGE klenova | iStock SUBSCRIPTIONS Freephone 0800 113 488 Online thisnzlife.co.nz/shop Email subs@nzlifestyleblock.co.nz Digital versions: Issuu, Pressreader CONTACT US Phone 09 520 7975 Address: Level 1, 29 Great South Rd, Newmarket 1149 Post: PO Box 99201, Auckland 1149 New Zealand Lifestyle Block is published by Lifestyle Magazine Group Ltd. The contents are copyright and may not be reproduced without the consent of the Editor. Unsolicited editorial material may be submitted but should include a stamped, self-addressed envelope.

While every care is taken, no responsibility is accepted for material submitted. All rights reserved.

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64 NZ Lifestyle Block