Country Life

Country Life visits Pamu's deer milking operation near Taupo, learns about farming by the Maori lunar calendar - maramataka - and hears about the potential for banana-growing on the West Coast.

In this summer series, the Country Life team is taking you back to some of the places we've been to over the past year.

Listen to this week's Summer Series of Country Life

Dairying with deer

Not too quiet but not too flighty... it's not easy finding the perfect milking deer.

This is a big focus at Pāmu's Aratiatia Deer Milking Unit near Taupō which is finishing its third season extracting creamy, nutritious milk from a mob of red deer.

Read more about deer milking ventures here.

Maramataka another layer of diversity to a Bay of Plenty farm

Through the "beautiful wet season" that Mohi Beckham calls the past 18-months, most of the paddocks were underwater on the coastal Bay of Plenty farm which he manages.

However, the paddocks that survived were those with diverse pastures, he says. The others were left looking brown and rusty.

"I'm still learning," he admits.

"But that is one thing I have noticed."

Read more about Mohi's maramataka journey on farm here.

Backyard bananas in the Buller

In the dramatic limestone country of Buller, dramatic fruits are turning heads.

Jon Colyer, a self-taught botanist, wants locals to start planting edible perennials. And while they're not commonly found in the region, they are growing in Colyer's nursery and food forest.

"Who knows, there could be a lot more backyard bananas in the Buller."

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Stories from the 2023 archive: Cosmo's at a high country station in the far south, Leah checks in on a toy treasure trove in Te Puke and Sally's off grid with a former Wellington mayor.

In this summer series, the Country Life team is taking you back to some of the places we've been to over the past year.

Listen to this week's summer series of Country Life

Ambitious farming sisters develop fashion and food hub

The shearers' quarters at Davaar Station are a popular stop-off for locals and tourists on the Te Anau-Mossburn Highway.

Inside, Anna Macdonald tickles their taste buds with sweets while her older sister Kate fits them with luxury jerseys made from wool grown on the family farm.

Read more about the Macdonald sisters, here.

Finding joy in retirement: Knocking toys into shape

On a small quiet street in Te Puke a sign on the curb and again on the driveway will lead you to Knocker's basement.

Inside lies a treasure trove of wooden toys, timber and tools.

You'll also find Knocker Harris in there most mornings sanding or sawing a new creation to add to his extensive catalogue of interactive toys for children.

Read more about Knocker's treasure trove of toys here.

Off-grid and farming carbon

Dangling a pair of dead rats over a dam to feed the eels is what you might find Celia Wade-Brown doing these days.

For five years, the former Wellington mayor has lived in a tiny off-grid cottage on the edge of the Tararua Range in Wairarapa.

Read more about Celia Wade-Brown's off-grid adventures here.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Stories from the 2023 archive: Leah meets a Northland olive grower, Cosmo's scratching cows with Loulou the Cow Whisperer and Sally's out hunting for a good cause.

In this summer series, the Country Life team is taking you back to some of the places we've been to over the past year.

Listen to this week's summer series of Country Life

A doctor, an island and oil: The olive journey of Peter Crelinsten

On the banks of the Kerikeri River, Puketi Olive Farm rests.

It's here where retired doctor, Peter Crelinsten, is cultivating not only the oil from the olives but the health benefits too.

Peter's connection with olives dates back to the 1990s when he resided on the Maltese island of Gozo, in the Mediterranean.

Read more about Peter's olive oil here.

Lou Lou the Cow Whisperer

Cows are Laura Murdoch's passion and she shares her everyday interactions with them on Facebook and Tiktok.

Some of her Cow Whisperer videos have racked up quite a few hits. One has had 40,000 views and thousands of likes.

"I try and showcase my fun and I like looking at them, so then I think surely someone else might too!"

Read more about Lou Lou the cow whisperer here.

Hunting for Tai Rāwhiti - "I don't see deer, I see a food bag"

It's the crack of dawn just after the roar and three hunters and their dogs are sidling along a ridge on the edge of a forest.

Mist cloaks the valley below and in the distance is the sacred maunga, Hikurangi.

Lisa, Matt and 16-year-old Sam are stalking deer on Puketoro Station, one of Tairāwhiti's landmark sheep and beef stations on the edge of the Raukumara Range.

Read more about how they're there not only for the thrill of the hunt but also to stock the region's food banks which are under heavy demand in the cyclone-ravaged region.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Stories plucked from the 2023 archives: Cosmo's with chooks on a cliff edge, Sally's picking apples and Leah meets a dairy farmer who hails from Japan.

In this summer series, the Country Life team is taking you back to some of the places we've been to over the past year.

Listen to this week's Summer Series of Country Life

Chooks on a cliff's edge

When Anna Penn's flock of 3,000 hardy hens stop pecking and look up, they can watch waves crashing into the shore.

They're residents at New Zealand's southernmost commercial egg farm, overlooking Te Waewae Bay in Southland.

"We're about 1,800 nautical miles from the ice and 35 miles from Stewart Island," Penn tells Country Life.

Crunch-time for Greytown apple orchard

One of the few apple orchards still operating in Greytown is throwing open its gates for pick-your-own harvesting as a way of beating the labour shortage and keeping the operation humming.

Apples were left to rot on the ground last season due to challenges brought on by the pandemic but this harvest the Cooke family has decided to trial PYO at its Molewood Orchard.

It's the first year the Cookes have run the 10.5 hectare orchard since the very early days. You can read more about their efforts here.

How one woman's 'childhood dream' led her to a Kiwi dairy farm

Imagine a love for cows that pulled you 10,000 kilometres down to the bottom of the world.

For Chihiro Hanyuda, that is her reality. The 27-year-old travelled to New Zealand seven years ago with nothing more than a dream of becoming a farmer.

Read more about Chihiro's story here.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Watermelons are growing well in Pukekohe and potato crops are producing good yields at harvest. In Canterbury, baleage is being made and jersey bulls are being taken out of the dairy herd.

Listen to the December wrap of conditions across the motu

Grass growth in Northland is still romping along. The region hasn't had rain for a week, after non-stop wet. It means the grass market is strong and our contact says you'd have to be doing something wrong not to have grass at the moment. He was at the sale yards when we called and reported pleasing prices for heifers, steers and bulls.

The Pukekohe district is rapidly drying out thanks to regular westerlies. Irrigation is now in full swing on various crops. Growers are seeing an increase in thrips because of the warmer weather but disease control is not a problem. Other crops like watermelon are growing well and potato crops are producing good yields at harvest. Compared with last year, the last four months have seen as much as 20 per cent less rainfall.

Waikato is in a good place. Drizzly rain earlier in the week mixed with warmer weather has caused the grass to go crazy. It means there's now enough grass to cut for silage again. Our contact says it's the best spring he's ever had. His chicory crops are coming through and he's about to put the first mob in the paddock. Father Christmas also found time to stop in for a visit at the local club, and there was a big turnout of rural children there to say hello.

Wind in Bay of Plenty last week caused some damage to gold kiwifruit. Proximity marks have appeared, which happens when fruit bang together and produce a dark spot. It's something you might see later in the season, and growers are hopeful the marks won't be noticeable as the fruit grows bigger. The advice came out last week to start irrigating as soil moisture is getting low.

December has been not too bad in King Country. Plenty of rain to keep the grass growing and bucket loads of sunshine are helping the lambs to thrive. Ewe stock condition is not good thanks to a poor spring but cattle condition is better. The icing on the cake would be a little bit more rain to keep things going. Our contact is shutting the front gate and heading off farm for the first time in seven years this Christmas. The first thing on the agenda is a swim paired with a beer and some fish and chips. …

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

The Grinch is surfing through paddocks and cows are driving tractors on the rural roadside of Taranaki...but who won the festive farm art competition?

The Grinch has been seen surfing through paddocks in Taranaki and reindeer are flying overhead.

No your eyes don't deceive you - they are there - but it's all thanks to farmers and Taranaki Catchment Communities.

Listen to Nicola Bryant from Taranaki Catchment Communities

The catchment group is once again spreading festive joy with its third annual Christmas Farm Art competition.

Lead coordinator, Nicola Bryant, shared the origins of the event with Country Life.

"The first year was when all the Christmas parades were getting cancelled. And we were like, 'how can we bring cheer into the rural communities?'"

The competition, born out of a desire to inject holiday spirit into the countryside, has become a resounding success, becoming an eagerly anticipated tradition.

Bryant reflects, "Every year, people ask us if we're running it again. I know when I drive in the car with my kids, that we're looking to see what's out there, so it does bring a lot of cheer and brightens up the countryside."

What makes this competition unique is the creative use of farm waste.

Participants showcase their ingenuity by repurposing materials like filter socks, silage wrap, and chopped-up wood.

"People are trying to be really aware of what they're using," Bryant notes.

"We've kept our theme quite broad because we don't want people to just necessarily have just a Christmas theme. So we've gone with that summer theme or Christmas theme so that people can...not be limited to what they're entering."

The diversity of entries is evident in the wide range of creations.

When talking to Country Life Bryant reveals a sneak peek, saying, "I have seen a cow on a quad bike made from silage bales. That was pretty impressive.

"And I must say, he's even put helmets on the cows. They've looked at the health and safety side," Bryant says with a laugh.

However, since the interview, the winners of the competition have been released.

Taking home the top prize was reindeer flying over a paddock, while Santa can be seen falling down a chimney.

Those in Taranaki can visit the artistic creations - the road of each entry is on the corresponding photo of Taranaki Catchment Communities Facebook page.

The community has embraced the event, with some farmers becoming regular participants.

Bryant shares, "We have the same farmers, a few, that have entered every year now. But we have had a few new entries this year."…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Colyton Clocks' Bill Williams reckons he has the largest clock collection in the world. A converted church in the village of Colyton is home to his ticking, chiming, talking timepieces dating from the 1700s.

Bill Williams told his wife he'd stop collecting clocks when he got to 100.

"She thought I meant 100 clocks," he chuckles.

The 78-year-old retired schoolteacher had 3822 clocks at last count, and he's still on the hunt for more.

They line the walls and stack the shelves of the old church building in a paddock of his property near Colyton in Manawatū.

Take a tour of Colyton Clocks with Country Life

Most he found in New Zealand, at garage sales or from deceased estates.

They range in vintage from the early 1700s to the mid 1980s.

Williams bursts with energy and passion as he takes Country Life on a tour of his museum, open at the weekends or by appointment.

From a sonorous mantlepiece clock which chimes the nursery rhyme Frere Jacques to a kitsch 70s piece decorated with swirling fish, Williams has a hugely varied selection and many favourites.

When he heard the Frere Jacques clock strike for the first time, he was ecstatic.

"I rushed down to the place I bought it from and gave them an extra 50 bucks."

The American-made clocks are reliable but they have the worst sounding chimes, he said, grimacing as he mimicked a harsh bonging sound worthy of a house of horrors.

Fritz, a mahogany dog with eyeballs that roll around to tell the time, is one of his favourites.

Then there's his "pride and joy", a curious grandfather clock, made of thousands of matchsticks by a Christchurch prison inmate in the 1940s or 50s.

"Apparently he was a lifer so he had plenty of time on his hands."

Williams used to wind up about 100 clocks a week until he got a bit tired of it.

He became hooked on clocks after opening up the back of one he found in an Auckland second-hand shop 25 years ago.

"It was a pendulum clock. The movement really intrigued me."

Anything battery-powered does not get a look in at his museum, only wind-up or weight-driven clocks which work.

It's harder and harder to find these sorts of clocks, Bill said.

"Mainly because I've got most of them!

"But, also because clocks are not really part of young people's life anymore and so they wouldn't dream of buying one."

Williams believes he has the largest collection in the world although he hasn't registered it with Guinness World Records.

He tried contacting them but they never got back to him, he said.

"I'm really, really hoping I can get to 4000 before I drop off the perch."

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

"My pop owned a milk run" says farmer who bottles his own milk, All the time in the world, Festive farm art in Taranaki and On the Farm - a wrap of conditions on farms and orchards around the country.

"My pop owned a milk run" says farmer who bottles his own milk, All the time in the world, Festive farm art in Taranaki and On the Farm - a wrap of conditions on farms and orchards around the country.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

A rural entrepreneur is pasteurising and bottling A2 milk from his families farm and delivering it to people's doors, just like his grandfather did.

Twenty-eight-year-old Alex Irvine is pasteurising and bottling A2 milk from his family's farm and delivering it to the door, just like his grandfather did.

"He was a milkman back in the day, delivering raw milk before milk was pasteurised and then he went into dairy farming."

The milkman wasn't in such great demand once supermarkets were authorised to act as milk vendors in 1987, but now the service is making a steady comeback.

Alex's company, Canterbury's Choice, started delivering fresh milk in reusable glass bottles in 2019, to customers in Christchurch and as far a field as Nelson.

"Back then I was doing the pasteurising, the bottle washing, the filling, the deliveries, so yeah, I was doing some pretty big hours."

Now Irvine has several staff and, as well as delivering more than 2000 bottles of milk a day to homes, he's also locked in some big commercial customers.

Canterbury's Choice beat out Synlait for the contract to supply milk to Canterbury University.

"Ultimately, the sustainability side of it pulled it through for us and we've got other places, like the Convention Centre and the Lyttelton Port, that go through a lot of volume."

Some of his business customers receive their milk in 10-litre steel kegs.

"So they'll hook it onto a small fridge and then just like you see down in the pub, you've got a tap and you can fill your milk up."

The Irvine family own four dairy farms, three in Springston and one in Leeston.

The cows that provide the A2 milk live on the first farm Alex's father, David, purchased in 1984.

"The three other dairy farms have got A2 cows in them but we filtered all the A1 protein cows out and put them at the other farms, so we could have 100 percent A2 milk."

A2 milk is a type of milk that has one protein different from the conventional A1 form, which may help some people who have trouble digesting cow's milk.

As Alex has mentioned, sustainability and environmental stewardship is a big focus on all the farms, that are home to about 3500 cows.

Chicken litter and mushroom compost are replacing chemical fertilisers to feed the soil and about 15,000 native plants have been planted in partnership with the Department of Conservation (DOC).

"We've also got a bioreactor in one of our waterways and we're pretty proud that, as dairy farmers, we can say that the water quality entering our property is dirtier than when it leaves our property and there are not many people who can say that," Alex says proudly…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

This week Country Life heads to a chicken trailer in the middle of a paddock which is producing eggs and helping the soil and goes on the trail of the elusive whio at Blue Duck Station.

This week Country Life heads to a chicken trailer in the middle of a paddock which is producing eggs and helping the soil and goes on the trail of the elusive whio at Blue Duck Station.

Listen to this week's episode of Country Life

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details