Harvest
Grape picking starts soon at organic Waipara Valley vineyard
A pre-harvest update from the Greystone Wines, that recently hosted the inaugural Underground soil, food and farming festival, with viticulturalist and farming advisor, Nick Gill. Audio
Asparagus season about to start in North Island
Horowhenua asparagus grower Geoff Lewis tells Sally Wenley about some of the challenges of growing a commercial crop of the vegetable and the best way to eat them. Audio
21 Years making Olive Oil - 'It's New Zealand in a cup'
Country Life joins Lot 8's twenty first olive harvest and talks to the olive oil brand's owners Nalini and Colin Baruch who are among the Wairarapa's pioneering olive oil producers. Video, Audio
A bumper feijoa harvest
On the slopes of Hawke's Bay's Te Mata Peak, many hands have been busy harvesting large plump feijoas. Country Life joins the pickers on a beautiful autumn day to find out more about Heather Smith's… Video, Audio
Guest - Stuart Weston, CEO Apata
Our guest this week is Stuart Weston, chief executive of the kiwifruit grower and packhouse operator Apata. The company is on the hunt for land around Whanganui. Audio
Birds vs Birds
Gisborne Grape grower James Millton encourages territorial birds to visit his vineyards during the harvest in the hope they'll see off others intent on pecking his grapes. Audio
A country lockdown
Rob Lyons and Joe Swann are mechanical engineers from Ireland and Scotland, making Triumph motorbikes. While in NZ on a mountainbiking trip, they found themselves stuck here because of Covid-19. They… Audio
View from the Vines: Into the Barrel
We're back at Te Hera Vineyard where winemaker John Douglas has had an unusually solitary time, thanks to Covid-19, nurturing his fermenting grapes, measuring sugar levels and pressing the grapes… Audio
View from the Vines: Grape harvest in a pandemic
The Covid-19 outbreak has meant tricky times for grape growers in the midst of harvest. There are fewer workers around to bring in the grapes and many winegrowers like John Douglas of Te Hera Vineyard… Audio
From Rot to Riches
Millions of dollars worth of New Zealand fruit and grapes were at risk of rotting on the branches due to a worker shortage. Until a bunch of growers took a risk. Produced by Eva Corlett. Audio
Learning Mandarin not as intimidating as it might seem
Mike Insley began learning Mandarin when he and his wife moved to China to work in a winery in the remote region of Ningxia in 2015. He's brushing up on his Mandarin skills as part of the NZ Chinese… Audio
Hemp Harvesting
North Island hemp farmer Dave Jordon says in the future there will be thousands of hectares of industrial hemp grown on farms around New Zealand. This year he hopes to get about 10 tons of hemp stalk… Audio
Harvesting Blackcurrants
The blackcurrant crop has been harvested and volume is down on last year says Geoff Heslop, a Canterbury blackcurrant grower, cropping farmer and chairman of Blackcurrants New Zealand. Audio
Cultivate Christchurch
Earthquake demolition work in Christchurch has made way for an urban farm that is equipping young people with life and work skills. Audio, Gallery