Greenhouses in New Zealand

Private Taylor Built greenhouse - Photo Theresa Sjoquist

Brief history of greenhouse use in New Zealand, and the beginning of plastic covered tunnel greenhouses. Greenhouses have developed over the last 35 years from a framed glass hothouse kept in a backyard to extend the growing season of vegetables, or to grow out of season harvests, or flowers, into high-tech growing environments utilising specially […]

Fine Editing

Writer's room - Photo Theresa Sjoquist

Fine editing your work should start with reading it aloud. Does it flow properly? Do you stumble anywhere? Does your tongue trip over awkward combinations of words. Wherever you hear even a mild hiccup, stop and look at what caused it. It may be as simple as adding, moving, or removing a comma. Sometimes a […]

Christchurch Earthquake is Constant

Completely forgetting here in Northland that in Christchurch now some almost two months after the major earthquake struck  and destroyed many heritage buildings along with much of the city’s infrastructure such as sewerage, etc, I phoned a friend wanting to complain.  It almost cost me the friendship since that happened to be the day after a […]

Milking Goats in New Zealand – Indoor Farming

Milking goats under cover - Photo Theresa Sjoquist

Farming milking goats – Saanen and Toggenburg goats. Outline of indoor dairy goat farm operation. 1100 Saanen and Toggenburg milking goats are housed in six 80m x 9m sheds alongside one another with plenty of light for the indoor herd. Each shed, though they actually lack walls and are probably more accurately called covered pens, […]

Writer Versus Journalist

Writing is an act - Photo Theresa Sjoquist

Writer versus journalist – what’s the difference I’m often asked, especially when I say I’m not a journalist but a writer. A journalist is a recorder and their work is, or should be, strictly informational.  They work almost exclusively within news mediums including TV. Perhaps I’m wrong but it seems to me that the journalist […]