According to Gwynne Dyer , the era of cheap food is ending.

With the end of the National government’s 100 day action plan, we can pause and take stock. I don’t just mean stock of what National has achieved as a substantive matter. There’s been enough (largely positive) comment on this issue for me to pass over it in silence. Instead, I want to look at how National has gone about turning its policy promises into reality.

Apropos George Monbiot, I have been thinking about how to inculcate the necessary sense of urgency. In the eye of the perfect storm, not much seems to be happening.

The case for gardening for food is simply this: turning your lawn into vegetables saves money, saves the planet, tastes good, and is good for you.

Charles Darwin, founder of the theory of evolution, was born 200 years ago today. Events around the world this year celebrate not only the bicentenary of Darwin’s birth but 150 years since the publication of his seminal work On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.

Living as I do in rural rustication in the Horowhenua, this time of year is a particular delight. Everywhere the eye glances crops are ripening. Seasonal foods abound and, best of all, my own garden produces a small harvest of edible produce. But this is no time to dally along the verges of the vege beds.

It's showtime... Dog shows, that is.