# Left my home town of Huntly, # headin' out in the cold. From the sunny north to the wild south, NZ is overflowing with breathtaking backdrops, heavenly harvests and a whole lot of fabulous foodies. So jump on board with us as we hang out with the locals, wrangle some wildlife and feast our way around this magnificent country. Come on, Toppy. We got people to meet and food to eat. Yeehah! # Nga iwi e. # I'm just a local farmhand... # This week we head down to Paeroa to learn how seaweed is saving the earth. Agrisea ` it's the way of the future. And then we're back in the milking shed. It's been a long 30 years, but we haven't lost our touch. You can't beat a teat! But right now, we are meeting the tastiest organic vegetables in the universe and the people who grow them. This Wairarapa-Eco-Farm family has a pretty cool motto ` 'Walk the talk, learn by doing, and lead by example.' We're at home today with Josje and Frank to discover the passion behind their biodynamic market garden. They provide fruit and veggies to over 200 families a week. Wow. Everything on this farm just oozes with love. Well, look at this wildly incredible table of veggies. ALL LAUGH Did you grow them all? Yes, we did. We didn't; it's the soil actually grows it. The soil grows it. This is the most important thing, isn't it? It all starts with soil. And microbacteria in the soil, the bugs in the soil. If we got healthy soil, we've got healthy food, and then we've got healthy people. It must be working, eh? Because you two are, what, 106? ALL LAUGH Not` Not` We are getting there. We never really wanted to be veggie growers. Our idea was to educate. So more and more young people come and help us in taking over the real growing of the veggies, we have more time to go out there and` < ...and grow people. ...and grow people. Today you're going to grow Jools and me, aren't you? Yes, exactly. We're looking forward to that. Plant Jools in some soil. ALL LAUGH What are we gonna do, Frank? We have to move the chicken coops. We need to gather the poo, turn it into fertiliser for` That's right up my alley, shifting poo. I've done that all my life. Right, we'll leave you guys to it, eh? We'll go and find out what we gotta do. OK, what are we gonna cook? I thought today we're gonna cook potato, Jerusalem artichoke gnocchi, with some sauteed kale and the radicchio. Shall we get our basket? So spuds. Need some spuds. Spuds. Jerusalem artichokes, there. That's those. Yeah, it beats going to the supermarket, doesn't it? It does. It does. Out in the open air, picking our` Nice day for cooking organic veggies. It is. CHICKENS CLUCK MOTOR STARTS, REVS Yee-hoo! We're moving chookies! Hold it! (TURNS MOTOR OFF) That was easy, Frank. How many chickens have you got here? Yeah, at the moment in this area here, which is about an acre and a half, there's about 60 chickens. When the grass gets a bit longer, we send in a small flock of sheep that graze the grass short, yeah? But at the same time the sheep spread some manure. But then the chickens come in, and they like the little critters in the manure that digest the manure, and they are spreading it all around. It's` It's a little community working together. So the sheep are helping the chickens, the chickens are helping you, and you're gonna` Yeah, and this stuff is gonna get fermented. < Fermented? Fermented, yeah. Like a good` Like a good pickled red cabbage or something, is it? It's pretty much the same like that. We gotta go and cook the old fertiliser up, have we? Yeah, that's gotta go into the digester, as we call it. OK. Hi, piggies! Hey, we got visitors. Yeah, the pigs love it. (LAUGHS) Let's put in a bit more then, eh? Yep. Can you carry all that, Jools? I can carry lots. (CHUCKLES) I'm a good old farm girl. Beautiful. And that goes into a digester, which has another set of microbes. Oh, OK. And that we can feed to the plants in winter, when the bugs in the soil are asleep. Well, let's go fermenting. Cool. (CHUCKLES) So, today I'm doing half potato, half artichoke, because the artichoke is a really great vegetable but can be a bit overpowering if it's 100%. Is it easy to grow? Very easy to grow, Lynda. It's, um, almost like a do-nothing crop. You've chopped up your spuds a little smaller than mine. I have, because they need a little bit more cooking. They'll cook for around 20 minutes. (GROANS) BOTH LAUGH OK, what have we got in here? Oh wow! Holy Toledo, look at all those bugs and stuff. Look, there's mushrooms over there, Frank. And all that stuff that's floating around is algae ` the green glimmering stuff, that` that's all the organic matter. OK. But it's not one microorganism; it's a whole community. A whole community. Yeah. There's a lot going on in there. Yeah, there's a lot going on in there. Righty-o, look at all that beautiful chook poo for making fertiliser. You really love bacteria, don't you, Frank? Uh, it's, like` It's` We can't do without the bacteria. What's next? That makes a good brew. Now we gonna have to stir it up. Here's Frank. He's a soil microbiologist and a shit-stirrer extraordinaire. You got that right! (CHUCKLES) (LAUGHS) OH, look at that. There's Clover. She's our pet lamb. (CHUCKLES) She thinks she's a dog. If we let her, she would sleep outside the door every night. She'd probably want to sleep on the couch, it looks like. (CHUCKLES) So, that's all boiled really nicely, nice and soft. Yeah. As you can see, the yellow ones are the Agria potatoes, and the white ones are the artichokes. So we gonna make a little hollow. That egg goes all in there. Gonna mash that all up on the bench. Yeah, the kids love doing this part. And Frank seems pretty passionate about his veggies and everything like that. He is. He is passionate about life. We` We would not have been able to do the things we do individually, kind of; we are definitely a team. He is passionate about life, about me and about the kids and about soccer. He's passionate about you? Oh yes. Yes. (CHUCKLES) That's always good. That's a plus. It is. And even still after almost 30 years, so that's good. We are ve` We are different, uh, but at the same time, the same. Yeah. He's a holistic thinker. He thinks in big pictures. Yeah. And I'm thinking more in the detail. That sounds like a good combination. A perfect combination. Yes. So we'll cut them into pieces like this. Is that about the right size? Oh, that's perfect, yes. Perfect. Yes. Now, the next stage is that we roll up the little pieces of gnocchi, create a bit of a dimple in them. So they look like gnocchi when they come out. (CHUCKLES) Exactly. We look like professional gnocchi-makers now, don't we? We do. It's easy being organic, isn't it? (CHUCKLES) Just have to cut things the right size. (CHUCKLES) Uh, it's easy being organic. It's just a matter of going with the flow. GENTLE MUSIC This is Frank's famous fertiliser that we made. Whoo-hoo! OK, only a little bit, you fellas. They're really beautiful-looking. These are gonna feed all the families that buy the veggies off you. Yeah, yeah. So, at the moment, we got 150 families that buy a share. Yeah. So basically that means they've already paid for all these plants. These plants are already sold. And it must be really exciting for you to know that you're helping feed all these communities here. Yeah, yeah, there's nothing cooler than see them growing up on the food that we grow. Yes. They're growing up on your veggies, eh, buddy? Yeah, yeah, and that's a really cool thing. People wanna be responsible for their own health. That's one. People wanna be responsible for looking after the environment. That's another one. People wanna be responsible for the local economy. That's` So that's three wins in a row. Yeah. The CSA concept combines that. CSA ` what does that stand for? Community-supported agriculture. So, then, they're not just buying veggies; they're buying` ...a concept. they're buying a concept. Well, let's go` let's go eat, buddy. OK, cheers. We've done our hard work for the day. We did, indeed. Whoa! Look at that. Beautiful. From virgin gnocchi-makers to experts. That looks perfect. Smells good. Little bit of cream, kale. Hey, you two. Hope you made enough. I've got the whole damn family with me. That looks good. There you go. Pass it on down. < Everybody gets some. Just enough for the cooks. Hey, I'd like to make a toast. To Wairarapa Eco Farms and a wonderful concept ` feeding your community. Know your farm; know your food. Know your farm; know your food. Yeah. I'll drink to that. Cheers! ALL: Cheers! Gnocchi's absolutely amazing. It's melting in your mouth... 1 Welcome back to Topp Country with Lorna and Mavis in the kitchen. Have we got a healthy treat for you today? Yes. Organic scotch eggs in a nest of sprouts. Take your free-range, organic egg, and wrap it in pork sausage meat, and bake till crispy. This organic thing has really caught on, hasn't it? Yes, it's not just for hippies. It's for people like you and me. Finish it off with a beautiful organic celery tree. There's more fibre in that than a bale of hay. Keith Atwood and Jill Bradley are fertiliser pioneers of the seaweed variety. But the seaweed's not just destined for the land and livestock; they eat it and drink it too. Agrisea is changing the way NZ farmers increase their productivity. And it's all thanks to this amazing seaweed. Ahoy! How come you guys ended up with a seaweed empire? Oh, it's quite by accident, really, eh. It all sort of started when we were WWOOFing around NZ ` you know, like, 'Willing Workers on Organic Farms'. BOTH: Willing Workers on Organic Farms. He said, 'I'll take you on a holiday.' ALL LAUGH It sounds romantic (!) ALL LAUGH And then we ended up on a farm in autumn, and that was different to any other one that we'd been on that summer. What was different about it? Have you walked in a place that is healthy? Yeah. And you can see it ` like, the grass was a deeper green. Yeah. And we got to taste, like, the veg` like what your grandparents would have had, you know? You can really taste it. And their major input into that farm was seaweed. And you thought, 'That's the magic stuff'. We thought, 'Wow, what is this all about?' It was a life-changing moment. It really was. It's amazing. You never look at a beach the same again in your whole life. We'll give you a bit of a tiki tour around the factory and let you have a look-see. Righty-o. And where did you two meet? In prison. In prison? ALL LAUGH No, no, no, we were teaching. We were teaching at a kids' prison. A teenage` Yeah. You were teaching at a kids' prison? (SNIFFS) Oh my God. It smells like the sea mixed with caramel. This is a native NZ seaweed, Lynda. This is ecklonia radiata. This is the stipe piece here. There's a lot of sugars in that piece. Yeah. And we use all that and what's in here as well. All these bales that you see around you are all from collectors. We've probably got about 80 collectors, from Ngawi, down in Wellington, right up to Kaitaia. And it's all beach-cast seaweed, so it's cast up on the beach, and they go and collect it and passively dry it. And so the people who are collecting it, are they` are they specialised in seaweed or...? Yeah. You know, they're from remote coastal communities, and they'll have other jobs as well, but when the seaweed's running, they'll be out there loading it on. Oh, OK. It's a real hands-on, isn't it? Right from the` Oh, big time. Big time. ...from the beginning to the end. Yeah. And they're just local people. Yeah. Yeah. Because we're very keen on turning it into a NZ industry. Why do you think this is going to be the future of fertiliser in this country? Yeah, it's not, like, an additive, like you're putting in an ingredient. We're stimulating the photosynthetic process. Well, there ya go. If we really wanna be 100% pure, that's the stuff that we need to be putting on our land. Would you put that on your lawn at home? Yeah, you'd have to get the lawnmower out a bit too often, probably, but, um... (LAUGHS) Don't put that on your lawn at home. Otherwise you'll be just there every second day, mowing the lawns. BOTH LAUGH This is exactly what you make fertiliser with, is it? Absolutely, yes. And we're cooking with it? We are. It's not gonna be a problem to eat it? Not at all. It'll be beautiful to eat it. That is organic carrot, or it wouldn't be here. Yeah. Those are organic eggs. We are making something fabulous. Yep. Carrots go in, Jools. Organic spelt flour, raising agent, the butter. Look at that. Looks amazing. Is that a bread or a cake? A loaf. A loaf. OK, in she goes. We are magicians. How long's that gotta go in the oven for? 40 minutes. 40 minutes. 40 minutes at 140. Safe and sound and ready to go ` ready to chop seaweed. (CHUCKLES) MACHINE WHIRRS LOUDLY Yeah! Yeah! (LAUGHS) OK, I'm ready now! It's amazing how much human attention this seaweed gets! Picked by humans, sorted by humans and hand-fed through the grinder by me! It's not as easy as it looks, though! Shut her down! Whoa, that is a noisy machine! We'll get somebody else to do that. That's too hard, that job. (LAUGHS) (LAUGHS) Our seaweed bread is in the oven, and it's only right and proper that our next course has something to do with fish. What are we gonna do with it? We're going to wrap it in kelp and roast it. That simple. Mmm. Sounds good. Just so that the fish absorbs the beautiful seaweed nutrients while it's roasting. Now, what's the best thing about Keith? Oh, he's just really honest, ya know? Yup. Like, a really honest guy, you know? Even though he was born and bred in Auckland,... (CHUCKLES) ...he really is one of life's good guys. And all your family, are they`? Are the whole family part of this whole business? We're lucky. We've got a son and a daughter-in-law who are now` My son's now general manager. We want our great-grandkids to be working with, you know, the pickers that we've got now around the coast. Well, it sounds like you've got an amazing family,... Yep. ...a brilliant business. Would you wanna change anything? Definitely not. Yeah. And NZ will be better off because of it, eh? I hope so. You wanna add value. What's the use of being in the world if you're not adding value, eh? I'm valuing this meal. We've added value to our fish with the kelp too, haven't we? (LAUGHS) You'd better get in the oven. Get in the oven for 12 minutes. I'll put the fish in. Yeah. I won't get in. (LAUGHS) It'll be bloody too hot in there. OK, so, we've got about 205kg of powdered seaweed here that we chopped up. Yep. OK, and what are we gonna do now? We're gonna` We're gonna add some warm water there, Lynda. Yeah. We'll get you to start off put the starter herb in. We use 12 different herbs` 12 different herbs. Yeah. Is that a secret recipe? Yes, it is. (LAUGHS) If I tell you, I'll have to kill you. (LAUGHS) (IMITATES GUN FIRING) That's the one. (CHUCKLES) When you first started out with this, did they think you were, you know, a crazy old greenie? Oh, hugely. Do you think you are a crazy old greenie? Probably. (CHUCKLES) Probably. (LAUGHS) And what sort of`? What sort of lady is Jill? She's a very compassionate person, you know? She's one of life's special people. (STRAINS) Oh, yum. There ya go. It looks pretty good. That'll fizz way up. The fizzing will come right up to here. So it ferments just like a beer. There's a big brew of the best fertiliser in the world. Mmm. Tastes good too. You trying it out. Definitely. (SLURPS) Yeah, it's` Different, eh? It's just mild. It's sort of almost a little bit syrupy, isn't it? Yeah. What a delicious entree. Shall we head off and have some real tucker now? Yeah. (LAUGHS) Keith, Jill, here's to the greatest resource we have in NZ ` the seaweed. And thank you very much for bringing it. And to the next generation who's going to carry it on. ALL: Cheers! And all the little mokopuna who are going to take on the business later on in life. Here ya go, Toppy. See what ya think of it. Beautiful. So fresh and gorgeous. You can taste that little bit of seaweed in it, can't you? Yup. Hey, you kids. Why's the sand yellow? I don't know. Cos the sea weed. LAUGHTER 1 You can take the family out of the Waikato, but you can't take the Waikato out of the family. Neil and Janette Perett and their daughter Carla move their herd of 150 organic dairy cows to where ever the grass is greenest. Settled for now up north, the cows and the humans alike are living the organic dream. So, what do you`? What's your job on the farm? Oh, I'm just the bottle washer. ALL LAUGH That's cos it's only a two-woman cowshed, and they` you know, the cows don't like a man in there. Not allowed in the cowshed, eh? The only male allowed in the cowshed is the bull. No, we're all a team effort now, and, yeah, we can't do it without one another. It's gotta come from the heart. Yeah, if you haven't got your heart in it, you don't do it. That is organic silage, and it smells absolutely incredible. I can feel myself producing milk already. (CHUCKLES) This is sort of a food show, but this is the first time I've cooked fertiliser. Can you tell me what you're making here today? We're making efficient microorganisms ` EM, for short. Is it really different from the fertiliser that we would normally put on? The superphosphates and all that sort of stuff. Yeah. Superphosphates are dead. It's dead? They're dead. OK. EM's alive. Oh, so this is actually a living fertiliser that you're putting on? It's a living microorganism. OK. So, we've got the molasses to feed it. That's what it survives on. And then we're going to put 4 litres of the starter in with that. 4 litres of this. Let me have a smell of it. See` It smells` It actually smells like beer. Do you wanna drink it? (CHUCKLES) No, thank you. I'm going to leave it for the soil. (CHUCKLES) So it's sort of like making ginger beer? Yeah. When you have the plant, and then you've got to add it and keep feeding it all the time. Yeah. Is this gonna feed the worms and all that sort of stuff? Yes, if you look after the soil, you're gonna in turn get healthy cows, healthy milk, healthy farmer. Righty-o, what's our next step? Put the fish warmer in and leave it. Fish warmer? Fish warmer. Are there fish in there, are there? No. (CHUCKLES) (LAUGHS) It's gonna keep it at 32 degrees for seven days. OK, so now we do have to cook it. Yes. And then you can spray it out on the paddock. Yep. All ready to go. OK, we've got hidden ingredients here. Is that an organic thing? It's very organic. It's called kaffir. It's been around for probably thousands of years. Right, we're not drinking that today, though, are we? No. No. It's a bit old, that one, isn't it? LAUGHS: A bit old, yes. Here we go. Wow. Smells like sort of a fermented kind of milk or something. It looks pretty thick. It's a bit yogurty. Yeah, you tip that in there, and then you'll see the magic granules. OK, so the little brown bits are the kaffir. Yep. So if you lift that up, you can see the kaffir at the bottom. And like I say, it's not supposed to be a yoghurt; it's supposed to be a drink. Pass? It's like fizzy, smooth yoghurt. (LAUGHS) Thin, runny, smooth, fizzy yoghurt. Righty-o, and that goes into the jar? That goes in the clean jar. You fill it up with fresh milk. Fresh organic milk. Fresh organic milk. It's just so simple to make. Have you always wanted to be organic? No. BOTH LAUGH Look, I was the biggest sceptic out. Just hit a brick wall. All of a sudden, yeah, the cows weren't as healthy. We had vets' bills which were 26,000. We got that down to 2000. What about Neil? What's his take on organics? Um, yeah, he` he's our guinea pig. (LAUGHS) He's a guinea pig? (CHUCKLES) Oh, the poor old bugger. (LAUGHS) A guinea pig. (CHUCKLES) Well, we're in the kitchen; why aren't we baking? We'd better make some scones, I s'pose. Batch of scones? Yeah. So, in you go with the hands. Yeah. A bit of dirt never hurt anyone. (CHUCKLES) You feel proud about being organic? Very proud, yeah. And it's really nice that Carla is actually the` She's gonna be the next generation. She's the next generation. Yeah, no, she's a great little farmer. She loves her animals. She'll say, 'Oh, number 56 was sick today.' Mm, OK, what one's that one? (LAUGHS) We'd better get these bloody scones in the oven and get down there and get her fed. MOTOR RUMBLES The old boy's sitting down on the job again, eh? No, that's Neil's job. He's the fertiliser man. Dad's job. You wouldn't wanna be doing that job though, would you? No, I do sometimes. What's your job here? I just love working with the cows. They're my family. Do you know every single one of them? Yeah, I do. What about your wee boy? Do he go to the school ` the local school? No, I'm going to homeschool him. I don't want him to follow the mainstream. I want him to make up his own mind. Eh? Gonna be a rebel. (CHUCKLES) In some ways, people might even think that you're rebels, cos you're outside of the idea of what it is to be a farmer. Yeah. You're going down a new track. Yeah, I've never been a follower. Never` Never have, so I guess that's the reason why I want him to look outside the square and find his own destiny. And do you think you're looking outside the square now too? Yeah. Have you ever had a crack at another job? No. No. No desk for you. No desk for me. It'd be like a ball and chain, would it? (CHUCKLES) It would be. You'd be tied to it forever. Good on ya, buddy! (CHUCKLES) COWS LOW Bring 'em up, Ruby! Whoa, baby. Whoa, baby. Whoa, baby. Whoa! When was the last time we milked cows? Um... We probably would have been about 15 years old... Oh, yeah. ...on the home farm. Only a couple of years ago, Jools (!) Not long ago, no (!) She's my favourite cow, even though she did try to kill me. (CHUCKLES) She's a bit of a kicker. You know, you never lose the feel of how to milk a cow. It's quite beautiful. Even though we're not milking by hand or anything, you swing them cups around and put 'em on. You know` We used to milk by hand. Our mum used to put the teat between those two fingers there and squeeze not pull. She taught us that you never pull a teat. The cows smell good. Smell really good. They smell good. And there weren't too many runny poopies. No, I think they were a bit scared of us, cos they like a routine. Put something new in the shed and they have a bit of a poop. But it shows, because ` see, look ` the shit has only come up to my knees. Yes. In most cowsheds, it'd be up to here. Yeah. Yeah. What do they say? Had to be like a pavlova. Yeah. Like a pavlova, Jools. Absolutely. Are you hungry? We go and eat something. Yeah. Starving. Come on, then. LAUGHTER Yeah, that's the story. Hurry up, Toppy. That would've been the most udders you've had in that shed for a while, wouldn't it? Yes. (CHUCKLES) < There's a little bull in there as well. # Three steps back, one step right. # Swing her round, and hold her tight. # Do-si-do, and take a bow. # Circle round the holy cow. # SOUTHERN AMERICAN ACCENT: Oh, come on, Toppy! Yeehaw! (PLAYS HARMONICA) ALL: Cheers! What's here on my scone? LAUGHTER It's got milk on it. Here, Jools. Get that down ya ` kaffir. JAUNTY HARMONICA MUSIC Oh, it's sort of like fizzy yoghurt. It's amazing. It's like an udder explosion. BOTH: Holy cow. LAUGHTER NZ, let's get cracking. It's time to go organic. If we all pull together, we could save this bloody planet. No chemicals or pesticides. We'd all be pleased as punch, cos there's nothing more revolting than poison in your lunch. The times they are a-changing, Ken. We'd be proud of what we sell. Cos the product that you're making would be oh-so natural. How's your bamboo underpants, Ken? Good. I found a panda bear in there the other day.