Jo Hardy – Dragon Driven Artist

  Interviews at Maungakaramea with Theresa Sjoquist  1994/2014/2016 Youth “I’m a messy worker,” said Jo Hardy in 1994. “Cigarette butts, apple cores, old mouldy coffee cups, lids off all the tubes and lost. From out of my chaos come excessively ordered images. Sharpened edges tidied obsessively are something I cannot resist. I’ve given up trying. […]

Permadynamics – New Zealand’s largest banana plantation

Permadynamics has the largest banana plantation in New Zealand: over 200 productive clumps, each of which produces between 60 and 70 kilos of fruit per year. Klaus Lotz and his family primarily grow Ladyfinger bananas (aka Misi Luki), but they also grow a smaller tangier Cavendish-like variety known as Goldfinger. “Banana growth is governed by […]

Permadynamics – Reaping Abundance

Ladyfinger bananas in the middle of winter at the Whangarei Farmers Market?  I’d found the owners of New Zealand’s largest banana plantation, a diverse sub-tropical wonderland. From just two acres at Matapouri, Klaus Lotz and his family sell vetiver plants, banana cuttings and a variety of fresh produce. A passionate permaculture expert who incorporates biodynamics […]

Charlie the Commentator – No.6

Charlie loves to be busy and has several favourite toys.  One of them is an old pink stud earring.  It’s metal and glitters – just his specialty.  He spends lots of time twirling it in his mouth, dropping it over the side of the dresser, and trying to remove the rubber stopper (he’s finally managed […]

Charlie the Commentator – 5

Charlie is still a baby, not yet six months old, but every day he ranges further out of his comfort zone, and sometimes get’s himself into sticky situations.  He likes to have a warm shower, and will stand, neck craned, gulping water from a single jet of water he has identified among the many jets. […]