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After their second child was born, Hayley Caradoc-Hodgkins and Leo Bruno Todd wanted out of London. She’s a photo editor and he’s a painter/art technician, and for years they had “dreamed of working together and hoped to find a place where we could host and look after people,” Hayley tells us. They set their sights on rural southeast Wales, just over the border from England, their own favorite getaway destination. During the summer of London’s first lockdown in 2020 the pickings were slim and the family was short on time: they needed to find a place to rent where Odette,...

Ahh yes, it was bound to happen eventually. My first foray into gluten free and dairy free baking. It’s not something I jump into lightly. I don’t believe it to be particularly healthy, but in true millennial fashion my gut has imploded in my 30’s and I’ve been dealing with undiagnosed GI issues for around 2 years now. They originally thought it was my gallbladder, but a low fat diet didn’t provide relief. Finally, in December, I eliminated some common offenders and started doing weight watchers (to help with GERD and to tackle the 30 lb I gained this past...

A technique taught in French cooking schools can help you get more done with less hassle on your block. Words Nelson Lebo  Images Brad Hanson, Nelson Lebo Who: Nelson, Dani, Verti, & Manu Lebo Where: Okoia, 10km east of Whanganui Land: 5.1ha (13 acres) What: permaculture, regenerative agriculture Web: ecothriftylife.com Most chefs and builders will tell you half the job is getting organised to do the job. Almost any lifestyle block owner will tell you it’s also the biggest barrier. Mise en place (MEEZ ohn plahs) is a French phrase meaning ‘to put into place’ and is used primarily in...

Why is it that most kitchens don’t have a dedicated drying spot for towels? I resort to draping my kitchen towel over the sink; I’ve seen others hang theirs on the oven handle. But I prefer a proper towel rod—which is why I love this kitchen hack in a rental renovation that Annie wrote about for Remodelista (see A Two-Week, $1,000, 500-Square-Foot Rental Overhaul by a Design Student in Bushwick, Brooklyn). Above: Renters Kristina Line and Anton Bak designed and built their kitchen from scratch. The Grundtal Rail provides a drying spot for their kitchen linens, and the slatted shelf below...

After proving he could run a cherry orchard without burning a single fossil fuel, Mike Casey is keen to move other growers towards electric tech. Words: Claire Finlayson  Photos: Thomas Green Miles Holden When Mike Casey sold a successful software start-up in Sydney and became a Cromwell cherry farmer, his former colleagues weren’t surprised. “They thought, ‘That’s pretty much Mike’s MO: to go and do something insane,’” he says. Insane, because he had a profound lack of horticultural nous. That lack turned out to be an asset, forcing him to think outside the square. Three years on, he’s at the...