This Farming Life by Tim Saunders

$37.00 NZD

Category: Farming

Farmer Tim Saunders manages to incorporate some writing into his days, and here he describes his life through the seasons: Summer, shearing, slaughter, crop harvest, conservation; Autumn, floods, trading stock, drenching, dagging; Winter, maize harvest, lambing; and Spring, docking, pet sheep, weaning. It's a tough life and through his powerful, poignant writing Tim tells of his connection to the land, why he loves farming, how he's also conflicted by it and what it is that keeps him tethered to that place. ...Show more

Shepherdess

$14.95 NZD

Category: Farming

George the House Cat who wants to be a Farm Dog

$23.00 NZD

Category: Farming

On the Hoof: The Untold Story of Drovers in New Zealand by Ruth Entwistle Low

$45.00 NZD

Category: Farming

Since the European settlement of New Zealand, drovers have moved stock 'on the hoof' from ships and stations to new homes scattered throughout the country. In this book - the first of its kind - Ruth Entwistle Low interviews almost 60 old-time drovers, revealing and reliving the practice of droving and the people who have underpinned it. Through original research, colourful storytelling and the voices of the drovers themselves, Ruth describes what the job entailed - where and how they travelled, the problems they faced, the ups and downs of the lifestyle. Ranging all over rural New Zealand, from our colonial past to the droving industry's 'twilight' years, Ruth documents both the day-to-day and the dramatic in a gripping narrative that will appeal to a wide body of readers. On the Hoof is a truly special book - a heartland history of New Zealand that seeks not simply to explain the drover and the droving way of life, but to honour them also. Also available as an eBook ...Show more

Tough Country: Tall tales of bushmen, bulldozers and back-country blokes by Mike Bellamy

$38.00 NZD

Category: Farming

Mike Bellamy's father Barry is as tough as they come. Widely credited as the inspiration for Barry Crump's back-country character Sam Cash, Barry was a roving worker in rural North Island during the 50s, 60s and 70s. Tough Country is a book about a father by a son, about a bygone era of bushmen, scrub-c utters, hunters and shepherds. It's also a book about the author's own life working the land, and the characters of the 80s and 90s, from tradies and digger-drivers to drain-layers and wharfies. ...Show more

Mountains to Sea: Solving New Zealand's Freshwater Crisis by Mike Joy

$15.00 NZD

Category: Farming

The state of New Zealand's freshwater has become an urgent public issue in recent years. From across the political spectrum, concern is growing about the pollution of New Zealand's rivers and streams. We all know they need fixing. But how do we do it? In Mountains to Sea, leading ecologist Mike Joy team s up with thinkers from all walks of life to consider how we can solve New Zealand's freshwater crisis. The book covers a wide range of topics, including food production, public health, economics and Maori narratives of water. Mountains to Sea offers new perspectives on this intractable problem. ...Show more

Many a Muddy Morning by Mark Warren

$38.00 NZD

Category: Farming

The off-roading, hillseeking and muddymorning adventures of farming legend Mark Warren. Mark Warren is a larger-than-life character of rural New Zealand. He grew up with an obsession with Land Rovers, council tip trucks, bulldozers, hill-country tractors, snow-plows - basically anything with four wheels . Interwoven with his stories of working as a grease monkey, rallying in a purpose built Toyota Landy, rescuing ski-bunnies off icy mountain roads, is his tale of being thrust into single-handedly managing a muddy Hawke's Bay farm in his twenties, just as Rogernomics was introduced and the removal of subsidies that would change the face of farming forever. Many a Muddy Morning is a funny, original and affecting read that will appeal to petrolheads and farmers alike. Mark brings together the traits we love to celebrate in our rural heartland in a book that is a colourful addition to the Kiwi story. ...Show more

John and Charles Enys: Castle Hill Runholders 1864-1891 by Abrahamson, Jenny

$50.00 NZD

Category: Farming

John and Charles Enys: Castle Hill Runholders (1864-1891) records the story of two Cornish brothers who ran the Castle Hill sheep run for more than 25 years in the late 19th century. Extracts from letters by both brothers and paintings by Charles that they sent to their family at Enys in Cornwell give a fascinating insight into a lost way of life. This book records the story of these neglected pioneers who painted and wrote about their adventures. The paintings by Charles Enys now mainly in the National Library of Australia are matched by photographs taken John O'Malley of today's Castle Hill. Historic photographs complement the paintings (some of which Charles painted using photographs). Other John O'Malley photographs feature the stunning scenery of Castle Hill. Pioneer sheep farmers, John and Charles Enys, enjoyed an adventurous life. While at times busy mustering and shearing they also hunted, fished, rode, went boating. As well they explored the hills and valleys collecting interesting specimens of rocks, fossils, moa bones, plants and insects. This book tells of the importance of John Enys in the early Canterbury settlement. He served on many committees, including the Selwyn County Council and the Canterbury Provincial Council. He shared an interest in nature with Julius von Haast, and was involved in founding of Canterbury Museum and the public library. He was a great collector of species and wrote academic papers about them. Charles sketched images of the views around their home and neighbouring homesteads, such as Craigieburn, Grasmere, Cora Lynn and Mt White. His paintings included landscape features such as waterfalls, mountains, rivers, lakes and the limestone rocks characteristic of Castle Hill. Unpublished letters from Enys and Porter family members add to the story. ...Show more

English Pastoral by James Rebanks

$40.00 NZD

Category: Farming

The author of the beloved No.1 bestseller The Shepherd's Life returns with a stirring history of family, loss and the land over three generations on a Lake District farm 'A beautifully-written story of a family, a home and a changing landscape.' - Nigel Slater 'Just about perfect.' - Wendell Berry James Rebanks was taught by his grandfather to work the land the old way. Their family farm in the Lake District hills was part of an ancient agricultural landscape: a patchwork of crops and meadows, of pastures grazed with livestock, and hedgerows teeming with wildlife. And yet, by the time James inherited the farm, that landscape had profoundly changed. The men and women had vanished from the fields; the old stone barns had crumbled; the skies had emptied of birds and their wind-blown song. English Pastoral is the story of an inheritance: one that affects us all. It tells of how rural landscapes around the world were brought close to collapse, and how the age-old rhythms of work, weather, community and wild things were lost. But this elegy from the northern fells is also a song of hope: of how, guided by the past, one farmer began to salvage a tiny corner of England that was now his, doing his best to restore the life that had vanished and to leave a legacy for the future. This is a book about what it means to have love and pride in a place, and how, against the odds, it may still be possible to build a new pastoral: not a utopia, but somewhere decent for us all.   ...Show more

A Short History of Farming in New Zealand by Gordon McLauchlan

$30.00 NZD

Category: Farming

Gordon McLauchlan continues his bestselling Short History series with an in-depth look into the history of the farming industry in New Zealand. From the early migrant farmers and regional produce trading, to the revolution of refrigeration - opening up global opportunities for our fast-growing export ma rkets in wool, produce and more, McLauchlan covers the development of our country's farming culture in this accessible and informative read. - Details the farming culture and methods of early Polynesian and Maori settlers. - European farmers adjusting to the temperate zone crops and wildlife of New Zealand. - The birth and development of regional trade industries in rural areas. - Refrigeration and exporting to the British and European markets. - The development of leading global trade exports in wool, dairy products, Kiwifruit and more. ...Show more

Antipodean Empire - The New Zealand and Australian Land Company in New Zealand by Noel Crawford

$60.00 NZD

Category: Farming

Life on Muzzle: Three Generations on New Zealand's Most Remote Station by Fiona Redfern

$45.00 NZD

Category: Farming

Remote Muzzle Station in southern Marlborough has captured the hearts and minds of generations, including Fiona Redfern and her parents before her. Fiona grew up and thrived in the splendid isolation, and wouldn't have it any other way. Now Fiona and her husband Guy are running the station and raising t heir two small children in this wonderful but challenging environment. As the crow flies, Muzzle Station is not too far from Kaikoura. But it's not easy to get there. First, the truck - and it has to be a truck - must make it across the Clarence River. If the river is swollen or in flood, there will be no journey. Once safely across, there are more than 25 smaller river crossings and a 1370-metre-high mountain range to get across. If all goes well it takes three hours to make the drive, but it is often blocked with rockfalls and slips, not to mention snow, or rain that turns the track's clay surface to mud, rendering it completely undriveable. There is another option. On a good day, it's just a 15-minute flight by Cessna 180 four-seater aircraft to Kaikoura. But good days are not always easy to come by in this part of the country, especially when they are needed! This is the story of family life on New Zealand's remotest station, and what it's like to live and work in what is literally the back of beyond. ...Show more