Year in Review: Ruapehu couple’s sustainable lifestyle in a remote valley

David and Rebecca Stewart, of Fodder Farm. Photo / Summer Stewart

The Country looks back at some of the biggest and best stories of the past 12 months, including readers' favourites, news events and those yarns that gave us a glimpse into rural lives and livelihoods across the country.

Originally published May 11 on Coast & Country News. By Catherine Fry.

At Fodder Farm, in a remote valley in the central North Island, Rebecca and David Stewart have put their hearts and souls into creating an off-the-grid lifestyle for their family.

They are four years into regenerating the property and managing their soil and livestock to enable them to live seasonally from the land.

Both were born into rural families, met while working in town and later owned a greengrocery.

“We became interested in healthy eating and the concept of using food to nourish and heal the body,” Rebecca said.

“David became very sick with a digestive issue, he needed to break his sugar addiction and found changing to a low-carb diet, high in meat helped.

“Our first daughter is severely intellectually disabled and needed us both around, full-time, as I was incredibly sleep-deprived and exhausted.

“We needed more land to continue living in a more basic, self-sufficient way on a low income.”

A fresh start in Ruapehu

The 1920s off-grid homestead at Fodder Farm. Photo / Summer Stewart

After taking time to sell their 0.8 hectares on five titles as three properties, the couple bought their 6.2ha remote block near Ōwhango, south of Taumarunui.

“Remote was what we wanted. It had a creek and a gravity-fed spring for water, beautiful trees, a 1920s bungalow that we loved, and it was already off-grid.

“We’ve added more solar panels and have a petrol generator as back-up.”

Four hectares of pine on the property wasn’t so favourably viewed but was harvested early in the piece.

David worked hard clearing and refencing and, three years on, the land is back to pasture.

“Our soil is a work in progress. We get high rainfall and lots of leaching.

“There’s also a layer of hard-packed volcanic material about 30cm down that roots need to break through to the fertile volcanic soil below.”

The regenerating pine land has been regrassed mainly by feeding out locally sourced hay and having the animals trample it in with some beneficial seeds added.

It’s a diverse mix including clover, plantain, chicory and lotus.

Lotus and much of the tree fodder is high in tannin and, combined with culling known worm carriers, has removed the need for drenching stock.

“We manually remove weeds using a weed eater before they flower and seed. We get willow weed, foxgloves, blackberry, thistle, inkweed, ferns and dock on the ex-pine block.”

Living self-sufficiently

A lowline Angus/Jersey cow will be milked once she has calved. Photo / Summer Stewart

The couple have planted many young fruit trees in addition to the ones already there, added berry bushes and have extensive vege gardens.

Rebecca has experimented with preserving and pickling and other ways to store food for longer periods.

Nothing is wasted, with the animals also getting fruit and veges in their diet.

“We follow natural farming practices and use homemade compost, vermicasts from our worm farm, comfrey, seaweed and a fermented brew of manure, grass and water.

“We use lime if required, woodchips from our trees and sawdust from milling happening in our valley.

“Our stock have salt licks which add minerals into our soil via their manure.”

Rotational planting of crops like lupins to fix nitrogen, or mustard to cleanse soil that has had diseased plants, all helps with soil health.

While their low-carb diet made great improvements to their health, it produced great challenges in the kitchen.

“Having been raised on good old farm-style cooking, it takes a huge effort to leave most of that behind and walk another food path.”

A recent shift to a carnivore-based diet has made further improvements to their health and waistlines, but they missed vegetables and have reintroduced selective seasonal ones to their diets, along with some fruit.

Managing livestock

Kunekune pigs are bred for meat. Photo / Summer Stewart

The property currently supports four breeding ewes, their lambs and a ram, two beef cattle, two kunekune sows, their piglets and a boar, Indian game birds for eating, and chickens.

“We have a dairy cow that we’re hoping to milk again once she’s had her calf.”

The Stewarts raise only what they need to sustain them.

David kills and butchers the lambs, pigs and chickens but the cattle are professionally shot, skinned and gutted before being returned as a carcass which David butchers.

Mindful that “you are what you eat”, thought is put into the animals’ diet, including fodder trees for browsing and cutting tree hay.

Tree lucerne on the property makes nutritious hay. Māhoe trees bring up precious selenium from the soil and the livestock love it.

David and Rebecca’s dedication to their lifestyle and their willingness to adapt and keep going when things don’t quite go to plan is documented in free blogs on their Fodder Farm website.

Information on their experiences and methods can also be found on their Fodder Farm Facebook and Instagram pages.

Rebecca has written three books with a fourth coming out in 2024.