Country Life for Friday 15 July 2011

21:05 Gidday and Wool Based Disposable Nappies

Potroz-Smith Technologies is developing a super absorbent wool-based material called NatraZorb, to be used in disposable nappies, amongst other things. Derelee Potroz-Smith says the idea started on her family's Taranaki farm with romney sheep.

21:10 Regional Wrap

July's turned into an incredible challenging, wet and windy month around much of New Zealand.

21:17 How Good is the Sheep Heaven Wool Clip

A sample of wool from Arahi, one of the ewe hoggets gets taken to the National Agricultural Fieldays to test its quality. There's a new fancy machine which comes up with lots of useful measurements.

21:21 Making a Lifestyle Block Make Money

The Madsens own a beautiful home in a cluster of lifestyle blocks in North Auckland. They have a few pigs and a sheep on their one hectare of land. So far, so ordinary. But the couple have built a unique way of life by turning the idea of the unproductive lifestyle block on its head. They run a herd of 150 cattle, over a number of blocks.

21:31 A New Home for Koanga Institute and Gardens

For the past 25 years Kay Baxter and her husband Bob Corker have been saving New Zealand's heritage fruit trees and vegetables at Koanga Gardens in Kaiwaka. But five years ago they decided they needed a new place to live so have found a new home near Wairoa where they're developing a Community Land Trust which they hope will support up to 30 families.