Caccia Birch House Open Days
Historic Caccia Birch House in Hokowhitu, Palmerston North is open for viewing each Sunday afternoon in May.
Sunday 5th May - 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Sunday 12th May - 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Sunday 19th May - 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Sunday 26th May - 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Featuring beautiful handcrafted rimu timber panelling, lead light windows and watercolour artwork painted in 1880's by Lydia Lardin (Ethel Birch) aunt of William Caccia Birch.
Explore the house and gardens, learn about the past owners and how the house was rescued from dereliction and destruction in the eighties by PNCC and many supporters. Then brought back to life in the nineties to become a thriving venue with stories of the past to tell.
On Mother's Day (12th May) we will have a couple of wondeful artists here displaying their work:
Mike Ryan
Mike is a talented artist who resides in Foxton. He creates beautiful portraits on the spot and teaches art classes. He will be on site to do portraits on Mother's Day.
Rob Haakman
Rob has been a practising artist for 25 years. His quirky style uses a variety of mediums He will have a selection of his work to view and purchase on Mother's Day. With autumn upon us, the deciduous trees are stunning colours and leaves are falling. Pick up a guide to the several protected trees on the property, they are amazing specimens!
This is also a good time to view the venue if you are planning on holding a wedding or function. Feel free to approach our friendly staff for a chat or pick up one of the brochures from the foyer that contain all information on making a booking.
PS. Only half the house will be available for viewing on Mother's Day due to the hosting of Artisan Kitchen's High Tea, the main room upstairs will be unavailable. Apologies for this.
Poll: If we want to reduce speeding, what do you think actually changes driver behaviour? 🛻🚨🚓
In the Post's article on speeding penalties, the question is asked whether speeding fines are truly about road safety, or are they just a way to boost revenue for the Crown?
What do you think? Should speeding motorists receive speeding fines or demerit points?
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32.5% The sting of a fine (Money talks!)
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67.5% The threat of demerit points (Nobody wants to lose their license!)
Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
Share your favourite main crop potato recipe and win a copy of our mag!
Love potatoes? We will give away free copies of the May 2026 issue to readers whose potato recipes are used in our magazine. To be in the running, make sure you email your family's favourite way to enjoy potatoes: mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, by March 1, 2026.
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