Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Newstalk ZB

Yesterday saw the release of Jordan Rakei’s fifth studio album The Loop, an album he’s wanted to make since he was 19. 

He took his 35 acoustic demos and refined them down to 13 tracks, recorded over two “action-packed” weeks with an orchestra, choir, and band.  

Rakei says it’s his most ambitious project to date, inspired by becoming a father. 

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Five Bad Deeds by Caz Frear  

Teacher, mother, wife, and all-around good citizen Ellen is juggling nonstop commitments, from raising a teen and two toddlers to job-hunting to finally renovating her dream home, the Meadowhouse. Amidst the chaos, an ominous note arrives in the mail, People have to learn there are consequences, Ellen. And I’m going to teach you that lesson. Right under your nose.

Why would someone send her this? Ellen has no clue. She’s no angel—a white lie here, an occasional sharp tongue there—but nothing to incur the wrath of an anonymous enemy. She’d never intentionally hurt anyone. But intention doesn’t matter to someone. Someone blames this supposed “good person” for all the bad they’ve experienced. And maybe they have reason to? Because few of us get through life without leaving a black mark on someone else’s. Could the five bad deeds that come to haunt Ellen explain why things have gone so horribly wrong? As she races to discover who’s set on destroying her reputation and her future, Ellen continues to receive increasingly threatening messages... each one hitting closer to everything she cherishes. 

 

You Are Here by David Nicholls 

Sometimes you need to get lost to find your way 

Marnie is stuck. 

Stuck working alone in her London flat, stuck battling the long afternoons and a life that often feels like it's passing her by. 

Michael is coming undone. 

Reeling from his wife's departure, increasingly reclusive, taking himself on long, solitary walks across the moors and fells. 

When a persistent mutual friend and some very English weather conspire to bring them together, Marnie and Michael suddenly find themselves alone on the most epic of walks and on the precipice of a new friendship. 

But can they survive the journey? 

A new love story by beloved bestseller David Nicholls, You Are Here is a novel of first encounters, second chances and finding the way home. 

 

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Staying sustainable when out and about can be something of a challenge, but the key lies in what you bring with you on the go.  

Kate ‘Ethically Kate’ Hall has mastered the art of reducing waste while on the go, and joined Jack Tame to run through her essentials. 

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Mortgage rules are changing, but what does this mean? Will it be easier to get a mortgage? Harder? 

Andrew Nicol of Opes Property joined Jack Tame to discuss the changes that come with the updates to the Credits Contracts and Consumer Finance Act (CCCFA). 

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Allium Rust on garlic has become quite an issue of the past 10 years, not just in Canterbury, where I live, but in many places of New Zealand. Many people complain that this fungal disease strikes in late winter/early spring and the only thing that stops it from hammering the garlic plants is by regular spraying with Copper or copper/sulphur fungicides (Organics!). And regular might be as frequent as every fortnight. 

Rust is transmitted by air movement – the spores float with the wind and can travel from great distances. If you are in a densely populated area with many gardeners that grow onions, shallots, leeks, and other Allium species, the spores will be all over the place. 

Traditionally garlic used to be planted on the shortest day (third week of June) and harvested around the longest day (Just before Christmas), but I’ve done some trials now for the last half a dozen years or so to bring those dates forward by at least a month and a half. 

With rather little success, to be frank – I still need to spray regularly and when I am on the road and miss one of the sprays, the leaves will turn that yucky yellow-orange with the rust. 



This year I decided to go inside my tunnelhouse; A week ago (on the 4th of May) I planted a few narrow beds of garlic in-between the lingering Tomato plants 



The tomatoes are still going for at least another month which gives the garlic enough time to develop leaves and do some photosynthesis. 

The beds go north-south and will be in full sun during the winter months, especially when the tomatoes are pulled out near the shortest day. At the moment, while the soil is still relatively warm, the garlic will have enough heat to sprout the leaves in record tempo. 

Just when the development of the bulbs starts to take place the spores start flying outside, but with a bit of luck those spores will find it hard to gain access to my tunnelhouse. 

Fingers crossed! 

 

Varieties available from farmers markets and Garden Shops: 

Printanor is the common old garlic variety you buy at “New World”. Often it is imported from China and treated to stop it sprouting That means no good for planting!! 

Buy some planting cloves that are either organic or simply not treated. 

At farmers market you can sometimes purchase interesting varieties: 

- Californian Red Turban – can grow into huge bulbs (15 cm diameter bulbs) 

- Macedonian – strong flavour – and somewhat oily 

- West Coast Miners – rather good, large cloves too 

- Hard-neck garlic; gets little flowers/bulblets up the stem – edible as soft green salad component, in mid-spring 

- Elephant garlic is actually a leek, with a swollen stem – not a garlic – very mild flavour 

Shallots can also be planted now! 

Well-drained soil, shallow planting (tip just above the ground) – 15 cm spacing. Cover with ground sheep dags (KINPACK) or fine, rich compost. 

Keep moist but not overly moist, because that encourages rotting. 

Harvest when the foliage dies down (in my case Early to Mid November) 
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"Amid the treasury of winning attractions across the West Coast, sampling its spoil of historic pubs, steeped in character and heritage is an irrepressible draw. They are keepers of the past and bridges to the present, proudly speaking to our pioneering history, of heady gold and coal rushes, and trail-blazing development. A starring specimen is Formerly The Blackball Hilton, located at the foot of the Paparoa ranges, just 29km from Greymouth."

"From Blackball, it’s a short drive to one of the most powerful heritage sites on the West, the Brunner Mine Memorial Site. In a region wrenched by many a mining disaster, this magnificently preserved site is a memorial to New Zealand’s worst mining disaster of all. Strung along the slopes of a deep gorge carved out by the Grey River, Thomas Brunner not only named the river, but the mine bears the name of this intrepid overland explorer, who discovered the vast black coal seam in 1847. Straddling both sides of the river, and crowned with a dramatic suspension bridge, every twist of the pathways around the 2km-long loop walk leads you to vestiges of the old mine."

Read Mike's full article here.

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