Kazel's blog

The story of Chia seed is incredible.  This miraculous little herb, related to sage, was almost wiped off the face of the planet, but it survived and has now reclaimed its position as a superfood. » Read more

Could man’s best friend also be a factor in his demise?

In his book ‘In Defense of Food’ Michael Pollan asserts that the main thing we can individually do to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions is to eat less meat. I’ve had a secret suspicion for a long time that whole families could balance their environmental ledger better if they got rid of their obligate carnivore. » Read more

Chilly nights are upon us, with temperatures overnight falling low enough to seduce frosts into paying a visit.  Sometimes fleecy sheets and an extra duvet just isn’t enough.  This is the time of year that huge advertising campaigns will try to get you to buy their heaters and electric blankets.

Being cosy in bed on a cold night is a pleasure that is also considered to be a human right.  It is not healthy to shiver between the sheets, and we need to be warm to sleep well. » Read more

There’s a new shop on Church St in Opotiki that is going to save health conscious locals quite a lot of petrol and time.  Grass-Roots opened a little over a month ago and the owner Makita Helmbright says she wants to bring natural health and healing to the community. » Read more

Earth Hour came and went in Opotiki with hardly a murmur.  Last year we dutifully switched off our lights and used a wind-up torch to play shadow games, 
but this time around my lights were off because I was at a dinner party. 

The purpose of the event gets lost in the debate about whether or not switching off lights can really save the planet.  Local power companies did record a 6% drop in electricity use, less than last year, but it still shows that the combined efforts of many people do have an impact. » Read more

Bananas are a bone of contention in my household.  I pretty much stopped buying them two years ago when I started my journey into eating locally, organically or ethically.  Unfortunately, bananas couldn’t be fitted into any of those categories, much to the dismay of my husband and children.  The kids were delighted to get a bunch of bananas in their Xmas stockings, but I realise that puts me into a whole new realm of unconventional. » Read more

When I first read through a catalogue of fruit trees for my garden I confess that I actually skipped over the Heritage section.  I hadn’t really heard that term before associated with plants and I supposed that an old fashioned plant wouldn’t be as good as a modern one.  Surely with all those years of breeding technology they have figured out how to make a better apple? » Read more

Growing organically is more labour intensive than conventional growing; compare weeding a garden bed to spraying with herbicide.  It also seems to require more in-depth knowledge of the inter-relationships between plants and insects, lifecycles and seasons.  The WWOOF organisation was created to help farmers get an extra hand when they needed it, and to provide a way for people keen to learn and experience an organic lifestyle with practical hands-on work.  WWOOFers are Willing Workers on Organic Farms, and the group providing hosts with workers is still going strong world-wide nearly 40 ye » Read more

Two years ago a couple in Christchurch decided to go rubbish-free for a year.  During the year they allowed themselves a single rubbish bag to fill, and in trying to keep it empty they recycled everything they could and took extreme care not to bring rubbish into the house.  » Read more

February must be the busiest time of the year for those who want to be self-sufficient.  Harvest time is upon us and nearly everything needs to be dealt with urgently.  Peaches, plums, apples and wild blackberries are all ready for bottling, and my kitchen is a tangle of jars, pots, bottles of vinegar and bags of organic sugar.  The term ‘slaving over a hot stove’ is taking on new meaning for me as the jams and chutneys boil away madly in the humid weather. » Read more