Rural People & Issues

The Good Oil: Coming soon to a household near you: waste digesters

Q: Jack wants to know if it’s possible to get wastewater digesters which would deal with the sewage for an ordinary household.

The Good Oil: Roadside Wrangle

Broom swept clean

The Good Oil: Stray Concerns

Question: My neighbour’s stock keep breaking on to my land. What can I do?

The Good Oil: Get my drift?

Swaggie certainly did. Her question: what can you do if you or your property gets unintentionally sprayed?

The Good Oil: Dead Easy

Nothing ever is dead easy, is it?

Micro-hydro

Anyone living in a remote area without an existing connection to the national grid faces potentially expensive solutions to their power requirements.

Wind power

You live on a windy ridge. Sunshine is unreliable (imagine the west coast of the South Island), and you're a long way from the nearest power pole.

Solar power: the nuts and bolts

For most of us approaching the idea of solar power as novices, there are some daunting matters to get our heads around.

Solar power

Solar energy means different things to different people: is it solar water heating, or is it the use of photovoltaic panels to generate electricity?

Making your own cosmetics is cheap and easy - isn't it?

We have been told many times that cosmetics are a rip-off

Mostly harmless: making your own cleaning compounds

When you live with a septic tank, and are concerned for the environment, the use of modern cleaning compounds may be something that worries you.

The benefits of baking soda

Common household baking soda has been used in many ways for a very long time

Loads Of Rubbish

Those of us living on the land cannot help but be aware of everything that has to be disposed of

Recycling

Recycling is a serious fact of life when you live in the country.

Teaching Children To Cut Down On Waste

Lessons learned in childhood will usually last a lifetime,

Compost

Apple cores and teabags, onion skins and orange peel, and a fair amount of garden waste - all can be used to form compost.

The Productive Vegetable Garden

There are few sights so rewarding as a basket of your own freshly picked home-grown vegetables.

Buying Recycled Products

It’s becoming easier to buy products made from recycled materials, and it is also becoming easier to buy items that can be recycled.

Coping with Climate Change

Call it climate change or simply say the weather’s different.

Worm Farms

Decomposition is the name of the game.

Natural Beauty Products

Lay down in a darkened room and refresh your eyes with a cool slice of cucumber on each eyelid.

Natural Cleaners

Concern for the environment means that we are less inclined to fill our cupboards with proprietary brands of household cleaner.

Using The Freezer To Save Waste

It comes as a surprise to learn that deep freezing has been used for generations to preserve food and save waste.

Use Less Petrol

Oil prices rise, there is an outcry and we turn down the oil-fired heating, close the window, and wish we were not so dependent on fossil fuel.

Car & Equipment Sharing

Call them car clubs, transport co-operatives or wiggly buses, the idea is the same:

An introduction to Middelmost farm

A series of articles which will follow the fortunes, follies and foibles of an ordinary person on an ordinary piece of dirt attempting to maintain an ordinary sort of existence within the boundaries of time, money and skill.

28th May 2001

Well - this week was plain survival at Middelmost.

4th June 2001

It's amazing how things can change so quickly.

13th June 2001

Autumn is a time when I feel like a Smug-Little-Squirrel-Nutkin gathering up the summer and storing it away, but this year, things have gone wrong.

20th June 2001

The joys of living in the country.

The Good Oil: Coming soon to a household near you: waste digesters

The Good Oil: Roadside Wrangle

The Good Oil: Stray Concerns

The Good Oil: Get my drift?

The Good Oil: Dead Easy

Micro-hydro

Wind power

Solar power: the nuts and bolts

Solar power

Making your own cosmetics is cheap and easy - isn't it?

Mostly harmless: making your own cleaning compounds

The benefits of baking soda

Loads Of Rubbish

Recycling

Teaching Children To Cut Down On Waste

Compost

The Productive Vegetable Garden

Buying Recycled Products

Coping with Climate Change

Worm Farms

Natural Beauty Products

Natural Cleaners

Using The Freezer To Save Waste

Use Less Petrol

Car & Equipment Sharing

An introduction to Middelmost farm

28th May 2001

4th June 2001

13th June 2001

20th June 2001

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