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Jan 2024

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Jan 2024

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It can be difficult to separate work life from you

It can be difficult to separate work life from your personal life when you operate a business from your farm. For Fionna and Gordon Appleton – the owners of Appletons Lifestyle Poultry and Pet Housing – there’s no need to.

“For me, it’s not work, it’s life,” Fionna says. “I love what I do, working with animals and birds. I love getting up in the mornings and going to ‘work’.”

In Fionna and Gordon’s case, that involves stepping outside their family home and walking a few metres to their shop, workshop and storage sheds, all conveniently located on their property in Brightwater, southwest of Nelson.

With shipping containers full of stock, couriers and customers coming and going, and vibrant coops on display next to paddocks full of animals, the property has every hallmark of a thriving small business in perpetual motion.

All this, however, is the product of a 20-year journey. When Fionna recalls those early days and the origins of the business, it was a very different picture.

In fact, she says, it all started with an egg.

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An extract from our Jan/Feb 25 issue (currently on sale) featuring Gordon and Fionna Appleton and their iconic home-based business catering to Aotearoa's booming poultry and homesteading movements.

Subscribe at ontheland.nz or pick up a copy of the mag at your local bookstore to read the full story!

🖊 @mikeydescribes
📸 @carriedobbsphotography

#poultry #poultryfarming #chickens #chickenkeeping #chickeneggs #homestead #homesteading

The rickety wooden gate on the roadside looks like

The rickety wooden gate on the roadside looks like it leads to nowhere. If you didn’t know what you were looking for, you’d miss it entirely.

But once you’re beyond the threshold and winding down through the oasis of native bush, it becomes clear this is a very different kind of property.

Artwork appears – vibrant, hand-painted signs with mystical designs placed alongside the driveway, as though you’re heading through an entrance to a secret music festival.

The road continues past a recycling centre, a farm shed and a tiny house community. After about 500 metres, the driveway ends in a beautiful north-facing glade filled with a ramshackle assortment of bach-like cabins and gardens. The last sign of all reads: “Welcome to paradise.”

This is Dan Whittington and Merve Yeşilkır’s Hakea – a secluded, off-grid bush retreat and permaculture farm among the native forest of Pakoka Scenic Reserve, 25 minutes south of Raglan.

Overlooking Aotea Harbour, the 40-acre property is a hub of eclectic activity, boasting gardens, food forests, a campground, cabin accommodation, beehives, goats, chickens, wetlands and a regenerating forest.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it also features a homemade outdoor music venue complete with a stage and DJ booth – the perfect set-up for Hakea's regular gatherings and festivals.

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An extract from our January 23 issue, featuring the inspiring couple behind @hakeapermaculture – an amazing property designed to bring people together for learning, creativity and connection.

Head to ontheland.nz to read the full story.

🖊 @mikeydescribes
📸 @awtransform

#permaculture #foodforest #festival #dance #music #connection #retreat #creativity

These days, many rural properties are cherished fo

These days, many rural properties
are cherished for their scenic values just as much as their production output, and a new type of business is making good use of that appeal.

Off-grid eco-cabin providers such as @unyoked and @repose.nz have been gradually gaining a foothold in the New Zealand accommodation market by providing rural property owners with ready-made dwellings to host paying guests on their land.

In these models, the business takes care of almost everything: the construction and delivery of the cabin, the administration and booking of guests, even the supply of the coffee, tea, soap and cleaning products that guests use.

It’s the nearest thing possible to a passive income – the landowners get a share of the accommodation revenue, and all they do is provide a suitable site on their land, and prepare the cabin in between guests.

So what does it involve and how much can a property owner earn?

Head to ontheland.nz to read the full story about the rise of the off-grid cabin model in NZ.

#offgrid #offgridliving #cabin #cabinlife #airbnb #airbnbhost #farmstay #escape

Everyone has their favourite vegetable. For Emma G

Everyone has their favourite vegetable. For Emma Galloway, it's the tomato!

In our Jan/Feb issue, currently on sale, Emma shares some of her stellar recipes to make use of the glorious tomato glut at this time of year.

Pick up a copy of the mag at your nearest bookstore or subscribe at ontheland.nz to read Emma's words on delicious homegrown produce every issue.

🖊+📸 @mydarlinglemonthyme
📸 @lottiehedleyphoto

On a rainy weekend in November 2024, passionate gr

On a rainy weekend in November 2024, passionate growers, farmers, students and thinkers from across Aotearoa came together for the National Permaculture Hui – the first in five years.

A family-friendly weekend, the 2024 hui was held at the @greenschoolnz and allowed the permaculture community to reunite with creativity, connection, hope, and inspiration after a long break.

Along with hosting talks and workshops from some of New Zealand's most prominent permaculture and regeneration advocates, the event brought together several of NZ's "elders" – iconic permaculture practitioners who have been involved in the movement since the 80s and 90s.

On the Land was grateful to have supported the event and captured the weekend through stunning images by @kowhaiandthistle

Head to ontheland.nz to see all the people captured at the event, including @trishallen2017, Leo Gedye from @learningenvironmentnz, Bob Corker from @koangainstitute, Yotam Kay from @pakaraka_permaculture and many more.

#permaculture #regenerativeagriculture #climatesolutions #community #communitysufficiency

With AI rapidly evolving and spreading through eve

With AI rapidly evolving and spreading through every market around the world, it’s becoming increasingly important to support and recognise the immensely talented people who produce work of unparalleled quality every day through passion, hard work, and dedication to their craft.

On the Land is about championing the movement of people connecting with the land and their food, but we’re just as committed to celebrating the invaluable crafts of writing, editing, design and photography produced by amazing, real-life human beings right here in Aotearoa.

AI might be a useful tool that can generate a story or an image in seconds, yet I believe it will never replicate the heart and soul a person can infuse into a story or an image, nor will it ever provide the feeling I get when I connect with other professionals and bond over beautiful stories written, shot and designed with passion.

And so as 2024 draws to a close, I'd like to express my gratitude to On the Land’s beloved family of writers, photographers, designers, subeditors, proofreaders, subscription managers and digital marketing specialists – the people who have contributed to the magazine in one form or another over the past few years.

It takes a community to make a magazine – thank you for being part of this one.

Arohanui,

Michael

@homegrownbotanica @gionabridler @thefoodfarmnz @francinephotomachine @whenua_mama @permadynamics @mydarlinglemonthyme @altar.of.earth @vitalharvestpermaculture @carriedobbsphotography @ruthgilmourphotographer @hamishmelville @josiegrittenphotography @naeraohiaphoto @ashlynoswalt @sez_the_vet @jenny.garing @danielallenstudio @danielleheyhoe @clare_groom @subeditorjade @gillian.swinton @liv.vanleeuwen @naomijarnold @jess.burges.photographer @hakeapermaculture @trishallen2017 @danescottcreative @camillarutherford_photography

Inside the latest issue of On the Land – Aotearo

Inside the latest issue of On the Land – Aotearoa's leading magazine about homesteading, regeneration and solutions-based living!

Despite the gloomy economic predictions, purchasin

Despite the gloomy economic predictions, purchasing NZ Lifestyle Block this year and turning it into On the Land has been the best business decision I’ve ever made. Since Sally – On the Land’s beloved and talented Art Director – and I started making changes with the magazine, the support, encouragement and interest we have received has been phenomenal. It turns out that many people love what we’re doing and align with our mission to share beautiful stories and foster connections with the land, our resources and our food. That enthusiasm has kept us going.

With paper and postage costs so high, producing a magazine in 2024 is a labour of love, driven by a commitment to create a beautiful, useful product that people can hold in their hands. Yet it requires a massive tax of time and energy, and Sally and I are often up at 1am putting the magazine together, exploiting those hours between our other jobs and caring for our families. Every new issue also carries a slight degree of financial uncertainty – you never know if this will be the one where the subscriptions dry up or businesses decide not to book any ads.

But that hasn’t happened – and it’s all thanks to you! The support of our readers, subscribers, social media followers and commercial partners has given us the means to exist. It means me, Sally and all our wonderful writers and photographers get to do what we love, follow our passions and create something meaningful, while also making a living!

And so, with all of my heart, I thank you. Thank you for allowing this magazine to flourish, and creating my miracle in 2024.

Have a beautiful summer!

Arohanui,

Michael

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#ontheland #onthelandmag #lifestyleblocknz #nzlifestyleblock #thisnzlife #nzmagazine

New issue alert! We're very excited to announce o

New issue alert!

We're very excited to announce our new summer issue, on sale this coming Monday!

Our cover this issue features the amazing Sonia Barrish from @urbanselfsufficiencynz who takes us into her abundant backyard and shows us that you don't need acres of space to grow food and slash your food budget.

Elsewhere in the mag we've got @mydarlinglemonthyme sharing some delicious tomato recipes, @whenua_mama of @permadynamics showing us how to listen to the land through syntropy, @thefoodfarmnz on how to employ regenerative practices on a small block, beautiful images from the recent Permaculture Hui, and much more.

Pick up your copy at your local bookstore or supermarket or head to ontheland.nz to subscribe and get your hands on heaps of giveaways.

📸 @liv.vanleeuwen

#selfreliance #homestead #urbanhomestead #permaculture #regen #regenerativeagriculture #soapmaking #organicfood

Greg Inwood stands on the scrubby knoll above his

Greg Inwood stands on the scrubby knoll above his family’s 20-acre property and gestures toward the surrounding hills, stark against the blue summer sky.

“All this is pretty much a desert,” he says. “But if we changed the way we managed it, the forest and wetland would actually come back very quickly.”

It’s easy to see what he means by desert. Scorched by the high summer sun, the hills and valleys in every direction are brown and dry and bare. The very earth looks like it would be hot to the touch. Even the cicadas seemed to be looking for shade.

At first glance, this valley south of Lake Hawea seems an unforgiving place – certainly not a landscape where you’d expect to find people growing an abundance of food and nurturing a forest. But that’s one of the reasons why Greg, his partner Lisa, and her family decided to buy Frog Song Farm seven years ago, and set up a thriving market garden.

“We chose this area to restore because it needs it the most,” says Greg. “Our principal idea was to buy a stuffed sheep farm and regenerate it. And we wanted to find out how you can do that and make a living at the same time.”

…………

An extract from our Nov/Dec 2024 issue – currently on sale – featuring the amazing family from @frogsongfarmer

Pick up a copy at your local bookstore, or subscribe at ontheland.nz to receive every issue direct to your door.

🖊️: @mikeydescribes

📷: @francinephotomachine

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#frongsongfarm #nzfarm #nzfarminglife #ontheland #onthelandmag

You won’t find sweet granadilla passionfruit, in

You won’t find sweet granadilla passionfruit, inga bean and thornless prickly pear in the usual supermarket trolley. But they’re regulars at Liadan and Arthur McInnes’ Northland home – and with their thriving rare-plants nursery Twin Falls, curious gardeners from all over New Zealand get to enjoy them too.

From a valley property in Northland, shared with four generations of their family, the couple have spent years developing a thriving permaculture garden and food forest.

The McInneses always had a goal of making a living off the land, but weren’t sure what format that would take. While building up their own plant supply, they realised they had a massive collection of plants sourced from around the country, as well as a whole lot of experience in propagating and growing them.

They eventually had enough to open their online nursery in 2020, giving their customers the benefit of their own years of trial and error, and the business has grown ever since.

“We’ve made lots of mistakes but we’ve figured things out as we went along and listened to that feedback from the land,” Arthur says. “It just naturally led to a commercial nursery where we could share that with the rest of the country.”

……….

An extract from our December 2023 issue, featuring the awesome team from @twinfallsnursery and their amazing property.

🖊️ @naomijarnold

📷 @jess.burges.photographer

A few years ago, members of the Nelson Whakatu Mus

A few years ago, members of the Nelson Whakatu Muslim Association gathered on a bare plot of land on the outskirts of the city to grow New Zealand’s first tiny forest.

Rapidly emerging on vacant plots of urban land throughout Europe, tiny forests (or micro forests) involve the dense planting of a wide variety of trees in small areas. They are seen as a practical, incredibly fast-growing way to mitigate climate change, reconnect people with plants, and restore biodiversity to urban areas.

After researching the work of Akira Miyawaki – a Japanese botanist whose research formed the basis of the global tiny forest movement – the Nelson Whakatu Muslim Association got to work: breaking up the topsoil, adding huge volumes of mushroom compost and biochar, and planting hundreds of native trees from 25 species in dense formation.

Since then, the forest has shot up at 1.5 metres each year, becoming a thriving example of a community-led reforestation project, built on a focus on soil health and the diversity found in natural systems.

…………….

This story about Nelson’s Tiny Forest was published in our June 2023 issue.

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#tinyforest #reforestation #nzforestry #ontheland #onthelandmag

"I witnessed the truly phenomenal power of food to

"I witnessed the truly phenomenal power of food to bring people together during the aftermath of the Christchurch and Kaikoūra earthquakes. With local food supply chains severely disrupted, many businesses were unable to get their produce to market and many consumers were unable to access the food they needed. To find a solution, I helped set up local fresh food markets that included free donated food and fundraisers to help those that were impacted by the earthquakes.

It was an inspiring time, and it showed me how major obstacles can be overcome when people combine their food-producing resources. Food is so much more than fuel. It’s a conduit for community – a way we can connect with each other and share what we grow in times of hardship."

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An extract from our May issue, in which Angela Clifford of @thefoodfarmnz writes about the importance of practising community sufficiency to meet the challenges of the future.

Head to ontheland.nz to read the full story.

🖊 @thefoodfarmnz
📸 @watermark_images

#foodrevolution #selfreliance #foodsystems #permaculture #community #localfood

In spring 2022, six months before she was to host

In spring 2022, six months before she was to host her daughter’s wedding on her Nelson property, Rachel Brydon started growing flowers.

She began by digging up the border of the driveway and planting it out with roses, dahlias, and echinacea. She then began sowing around 20 punnets worth of annual flowers that would be used to make the wreaths, the archway garland, the bouquet, and other decorations.

Then it was time to prepare the “venue”. She moved the sheep off the front paddock, which would be the site of the ceremony and party, and started mowing it with a push mower every week. She also continued tending her thriving vegetable garden, which would be the gathering space when the guests arrived.

As the big day got nearer, she began sewing the fabrics for decorations while her husband, Murray, started crafting the woodwork – coasters, picture frame props, signs, and cake stands from tree stumps – including one with a horseshoe welded on it.

By the morning of the wedding in late January, the front paddock of Rachel and Murray’s lifestyle block was a spectacle of colours and creations: flowers in full bloom, a hay bale couch, a rustic cocktail bar, vintage furniture, and countless sylvan crafts and curios – much of it crafted from materials found on the property.

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An extract from our Nov 2023 issue, showcasing the amazing examples of creativity, thrift and self-sufficiency that can help pull off a dream home-made wedding on family land.

Head to ontheland.nz to read the full story!

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#homemadewedding #weddinginspo #nzwedding #nzweddings #ontheland #onthelandmag

Have you ever wanted to make your chicken feed go

Have you ever wanted to make your chicken feed go further?

Studies have shown that fermentation is an excellent way to increase the nutrient availability of your feed, reduce the amount you're feeding out, improve your chickens’ gut health and immune function, and help your birds lay better quality eggs.

The best part: it’s incredibly easy to ferment chicken feed. Our amazing regenerative poultry expert @oliver_liddell at @altar.of.earth has provided a great recipe on the subject. All you need is some standard feed, water, herbs and spices and a few buckets.

Published in the Sep/Oct 24 issue of On the Land. Subscribe to read Oliver's awesome columns about regenerative poultry every issue.

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#chickenfeed #chickenfeeder #fermentedfeed #fermentedfoods #regenerativeagriculture #permaculture

We’re so grateful that the immensely talented Em

We’re so grateful that the immensely talented Emma Galloway of @mydarlinglemonthyme has come on board as the food writer for On the Land! Emma needs no introduction, but she is an incredible chef, photographer, author of several award-winning cookbooks, and a rising star in the artisan ceramics/pottery scene.

Thanks for sharing your words, photography and knowledge Emma!

Head to ontheland.nz for Emma’s latest piece about courgettes and subscribe to On the Land to read about Emma's passion for delicious homegrown food.

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#foodwriter #foodphotography #courgettes #courgette #nzfoodie #nzfood #growyourfood #growyourownveggies

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