New Police Minister GARDENING THIS WEEK

Household items useful in gardening:

There are a number of items that can be used in your garden to the benefit of plants. For instance a year ago I wrote the article about using Apple Cider Vinegar on fruit trees to increase their performance and to reduce disease problems.

The formula is 250mil Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) mixed with 5 litres water in a 5 litre sprayer. Spray the mix in the evening when the sun has just gone off your trees or plants, so the sun isn’t heating/burning leaves through the liquid spray droplets on them, and there’s time for the spray to dry before nightfall.. Spray the whole tree, vine or plant.. under and over leaves, the trunk, branches, twigs, fruit everything.. This will also feed the tree through the leaves (when they are there for deciduous trees) as a foliage food. Baking Soda applied at a tablespoon per litre of water with Raingard added is good to prevent some fungus diseases such as black spot. (Dont use on calcium sensitive plants) Baking Soda can be sprayed over the foliage of oxalis to dehydrate the leaves. Oxalis to sensitive to calcium. It does not affect the bulbs below but regular spraying of baking soda will keep the garden free of the oxalis foliage without affecting other plants.

To deal to the bulbs in the soil, mix Wallys Super Compost Accelerator at 200 grams per litre of water and water liberally over the foliage down into the soil to compost the bulb and bulblets. Then there is table salt which can be sprinkled on weeds to kill them which is ideal on pavers and where you dont have other plants growing. Cooking oils and vinegar can also be sprayed onto weeds in full sun light to dehydrate the foliage and kill annual weeds. Condys Crystals, (potassium permanganate) a quarter tea spoon per litre of water with or without Raingard to control leaf diseases such as black spot, rust and curly leaf. Sunlight Bar Soap (big yellow bar) lathered up in water to spray over aphids and soft body insects to kill them. (The fatty acids breaks down their soft bodies)

By Wally Richards

By Frank Neill

Hutt South MP Ginny Andersen is the new Minister of Police.

The Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins, announced on 20 March that Ms Andersen would become the Police Minister following the resignation of Stuart Nash.

Ms Andersen worked for the Police for more than 10 years, including working as a ministerial adviser, before she entered Parliament as a list MP in 2017.

She then won the Hutt South seat at the last election in 2020.

Her appointment as Police Minister comes only a few weeks after she was brought into Cabinet, ranked at number 19.

Her Ministerial portfolios on entering Cabinet were Digital Economy and Communication, Seniors, and Small Business.

She is also Associate Minister of Immigration and Associate Minister of Treaty Negotiations.

She has also chaired Parliament’s Justice Select Committee.

Dish washing liquid lathered up in warm water to break surface tension to allow water to penetrate. Aspirin: in plants, just like in mammals, salicylic acid helps them cope with stress and disease. By adding Aspirin to the water, gardeners are hoping to help their plants cope with problems and grow faster and stronger. The acid is effective on plants because many plants produce it themselves in tiny amounts. Plants produce this acid when stressed or fighting disease. Feeding them a greater supply of the acid proves beneficial. Giving the plant too much aspirin can have a negative effect as it can burn its leaves. Dissolve 250mg to 500mg of aspirin in 4.5 liters of non chlorinated water and spray plants two to three times per month. Similarly soak the leaves of willow trees in water for a week or more and use that as a spray as you would the asprin. Willow water is ideal also for putting cuttings in to help them form roots quicker. All great uses and here is the most interesting one of all: Hydrogen peroxide 3%. I read about this some years ago and it was again brought to my attention recently. Hydrogen peroxide, well known as an ingredient in disinfectant products, is now also approved for controlling microbial pests on crops growing indoors and outdoors, and on certain crops after harvest.