Country Life

Food scraps from retirement villages and schools are helping to nourish a banana orchard and other farms via the City to Farm project, which aims to keep organic waste out of landfill and help curb climate change.

Rangiora High School students John Lundy and Harry Parish were awarded one of New Zealand's top primary sector accolades at last weekend's FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final in Southland.

This week Country Life returns to a vegetable farm to see whether it's radical plan to feed the community is working and looks at plans for plastic waste on farm. And the team meet a animal advocate who has turned her rural property in North Canterbury into a haven for rescued farm animals.

Sharlene Wilson has turned her rural property in North Canterbury into a haven for rescued farm animals who find healing, freedom and a place to truly belong.

Crooked Vege's pay-what-you-can model for its vege boxes may have been a radical idea two years ago but it's plan seems to be working. The small farm has had its challenges, though.

Agrecovery's seen huge growth in the 20 years it's been operating, with those in the primary sector looking for new ways to recycle on-farm plastic. "We know the farmers and growers are wanting solutions."

Country Life speaks to farmers and growers around New Zealand to find out about growing conditions over the past month.

This week Country Life dives underground to take a closer look at soils, from Canterbury farmers using the Japanese Bokashi system to a market gardener making garden beds as rich as chocolate cake in Taranaki. We also unpack the recently announced biodiversity credits.

Over the past 20 years, Jodi Roebuck and his wife Tanya have turned a bare paddock into a thriving market garden with an emphasis on microgreens, teachers others from around the world how to do the same.

Bokashi, the Japanese anaerobic composting system which ferments organic matter, is helping to maintain healthy soils on a sheep and dairy grazing farm in North Canterbury.

A round-up of the week's news from the primary sector.

News that the government is looking to support a market system to help fund the huge cost of restoring nature could be music to the ears of farmers and iwi wanting to do their bit for biodiversity but facing huge costs. So what are biodiversity credits and how do they work?