Rules for thee but not for me… https://t.co/tjzw9TfsFD

— Cam Slater (@kaiviti_cam) November 1, 2026

by Geoffrey Churchman

Although I’m not a fan generally of TV commercials, a current exception is the one for telco 2^o which has a small group trekking up a mountain to visit a local who happens to be sitting in an outhouse at the summit, or as they are called in A/NZ, a dunny. A knock on the door results in a response of ‘occupied’. I have seen calendars devoted to the subject of rural dunnies and there is a joke about banging like a dunny door in the wind.

The more common slang used widely in the UK and NZ is ‘the loo’ which is perhaps an anglicisation of French le lieu (‘the place’), or maybe Waterloo.

In Europe the standard term for a unisex toilet is Water Closet, always shortened to W.C. and pronounced ‘vay say’.

When I first went to America I quickly learned the equivalent is ‘the john’, although it’s not as common as loo is in Britain.

Of course there are other terms, particularly in the UK — ‘the bog’, ‘throne room’, ‘privvy’, ‘can’, ‘khazi’, ‘drop zone’.

My favourite Te Reo word is ‘wharepaku’ which literally means small house.

In Denmark ‘bog’ means a book — here book and idea — and a ‘boghandel’ is a bookshop, but for Brits it must also suggest something else. 🙂

CDC is now warning people not to fly who got the Covid vaccine. OH THE IRONY.

Somehow “I told you so” doesn’t quite do this justice.

Remember this next time they try to pull this on us and you see people like me getting kicked off of airplanes. Cause they will try it again.… pic.twitter.com/3IcGGkZYFS

— Ian (@Iwendtster) October 29, 2026

Qiulae Wong apparently completed the 11km traverse at the Auckland Marathon today. But did she? The Opportunity Party has posted a photo of Qiulae on their social media, however the race number she is wearing, isn’t hers. I’m asking the party to please explain. pic.twitter.com/Nz1oqmVqim

— Penny Marie NZ (@pennymarienz) November 1, 2026

And TV1 News led last night’s 6 pm bulletin with a clip of — you guessed it.

The front yard of Studio 55 at 55 Manly Street, Paraparaumu Beach. The studio is the building on the right in the top pic.

by Wally Richards

NOVEMBER GARDENING

With the passing of our traditional planting time (Labour Weekend) we are at that point of the season where it’s about 8 weeks to the longest day.

This means that over the next 16 weeks we are going to have more hours of sunlight than any other similar time of the year. Think about that for a moment; that is a time frame of nearly 4 months and most vegetables that we grow will mature within that period of time with the longer daylight hours.

So not only is the growing conditions of the weather suitable for planting out the more tender plants such as tomatoes and capsicums, it is the optimum time for light hours.

The weather here in Marton and from what I gather in much of the country is still not the warm to hot days that we normally experience at this time of the year. In fact at times it’s very chilly [so much for ‘global boiling’ —Eds]

This makes me very grateful to have glasshouses where my tomato plants are warm and secure from the elements. They are sharing this protected environment with cucumbers, capsicums, aubergine and cayenne peppers, many of which would either not survive outside of the glasshouse or sulk and not grow.

I pity those gardeners that are facing similar weather conditions, wanting to get their more tender plants going outdoors so they don’t miss this optimum time.

Until the weather settles you can use various ways to protect your plants so you can have those early tomatoes to pick along with other vegetables.

For upright growing plants such as a tomato or capsicum place four strong stakes deeply driven into the soil about 30 to 40 cm apart at the cardinal points, the first stake should be facing the prevailing wind, the second about 40 cm behind and the other two diagonally opposed to the first two. []

Plant your seedling tomato in the centre putting some Neem Tree Powder in the planting hole along with Wallys Real Blood & Bone and Rok Solid.

If psyllids have been a problem in past seasons the new Wallys Rok Solid will toughen up the tomato plants cells making the young nymphs unable to feed. Then sprinkle Wallys Secret Tomato Food with Neem Granules onto the soil to get the best results from your tomato plants in regards to size and flavor..

Use the same product for all flowering and fruiting plants including capsicums, chili, egg plants, pumpkins and cucumbers.

Next take out your plastic wrap and wrap a couple of times around one stake starting about 4 cm above the soil level. Then run the wrap around the outside of the other 3 stakes and back to the starting stake keeping the bottom of the wrap about 4cm above the soil.

This allows an air passage for the wind to pass through and strengthens the base of the plant against wind damage later on when the shelter is removed. You run the wrap around two or three times up the stakes to about 40cm in height. Later as the tomato grows you can add more wrap to a higher level.

If your stakes start to bend inwards simply put a couple of slats of wood across the tops of the stakes and secure with a small nail into each. That forms a cross above your plant.

For an early start of dwarf beans make some hoops out of number 8 wire to place into the soil about 20cm apart down the row. The hoops should be about 20 cm tall in the centre with a similar spread.

Down the furrow where you are going to plant your seeds sprinkle Calcium & Health along with Rok Solid and Real Blood & Bone then plant your bean seeds.

Over the hoops place crop cover and secure down on all sides. Later when weather settles remove and side dress the plants with sheep manure pellets or any preferred natural manure..

For climbing beans plant in the same manner in front of the frame they are going to climb and then out about 20cm, drive home some strong stakes every 50cm in a line.

Staple a windbreak to the stakes to protect the beans while establishing. Windbreak can be used similarly to help protect other crops.

Hardy plants such as brassicas, silverbeet, lettuce and celery do not require extra protection but will grow faster if it is provided.

Growing your own vegetables naturally without using chemicals is extremely good for your health and the the health of your family. They taste much better than commercially grown produce and are more satisfying and filling when considering your weight.

Weight increases are often caused by the body not getting the goodness it requires from the food you are consuming; so your body calls for more food (feeling peckish) hoping the next lot will have more nutrition and be more satisfying.

Then there are all the chemicals used while food crops are growing.

To make this point I read a while ago that in the United States there are more than 34,000 pesticides derived from about 600 basic ingredients that are currently registered for use.

I doubt there are that many in NZ yet but there are far too many in commercial crops; most if not all are unnecessary when plants are grown naturally..

If Certified Organic Producers can grow their crops without using any of these chemicals then they are proof it can be done.

Logic also tells me that for thousands of years people grew crops without harmful chemicals.

It is only because of man made fertilisers including superphosphate which have forced crops to grow unnaturally and sickly. This brings in Nature’s Cleaners; insects and diseases to attack the sickly plants to get rid of them and make way for healthy plants.

To prevent damage to the crops many insecticides and fungicides are used so the harvested plants have no holes or blemishes; but unfortunately contain a time bomb of harmful chemicals to affect your health. Besides, the forced plants have very little to no real nutritional value, vital to your well being and health!

Using these chemicals means that in the general population, illnesses are on the rise, including asthma, autism, learning disabilities, birth defects, reproductive dysfunction, diabetes, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, along with several types of cancer. Their connection to pesticide exposure becomes more evident with every new study conducted. We see that in our day to day lives; for instance one person I spoke to this week told me that 3 friends had been diagnosed with cancer in the last few days.

I quote the following from a recent study:

‘Agricultural practices that rely on this type of chemical addiction are stripping the soil of nutrients with remarkable implications.

They are devastating the nutritional value of crops, making dramatic changes at an alarming  rate in less than a lifetime, to be specific.

As an example, there has been a 41.1 to 100% decrease in vitamin A in 6 foods: apple, banana, broccoli, onion, potato, and tomato.

Of them, both onion and potato saw a 100% loss of vitamin A in a 48-year span from, 1951-1999.

It’s a two sided sword; the chemicals pollute the environment and poison our food while vital minerals are lost.

Is it any wonder that there are more sick people than ever along with health problems starting at much younger ages than we saw 50 years ago.

Gardeners I talk with every week, from all over NZ who are growing as much of their own produce as possible tell me that their gardens are great and that they and their children are of good health, seldom seeing a doctor because there is no need.

Remember the Father of modern medicine said; Let Food be Thy Medicine and Medicine be Thy Food. Say no more!

Phone 0800 466464
Garden Pages and News at www.gardenews.co.nz
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or does this make you feel rosy?

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s presence at a G20 meeting in the US has angered European diplomats, with several reportedly threatening to boycott a group photo. Germany’s top diplomat, Johann “What-a-fool” Wadephul, objected to being photographed alongside Lavrov but ended up in the same frame as him.

Lavrov arrived in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday for the two-day gathering, which precedes the G20 leaders’ summit scheduled for mid-December in Florida.

US President Donald Trump has expressed hope that Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the summit, although Moscow has yet to decide whether to accept the invitation, according to the Kremlin.

“There will be no family photo featuring our European partners together with Mr. Lavrov,” Wadephul told reporters, insisting that “we must avoid sending the wrong visual signals.”

Full article