WATERSCAPE

We are the present stewards of about 50 hectares of mostly steep hills (the first ‘bits' of the Tararua Ranges), with some flatter land at the edge of an old shoreline. When we came here, in 1987, the ‘flats' was a paddock of grass, with one pine tree and a short row of macrocarpa trees at the bottom end, while the hills were in grass, gorse and scrub... The steep hilly land of the property was mostly retired to regenerate as native forest. On the remainder we have developed a mixed farm and forestry enterprise, similar to the more diverse practices of traditional farming, but adapted to the characteristics of the property and the local landscape and climate. Our approach is one of organic management, using biodynamic and other techniques to enliven and restore the land, while permaculture principles have also been used to guide the layout and integration of activities, and the siting and construction of the house and farm assets, and the overall integration of the farm... We have a..