by Wally Richards

THE ULTIMATE RAISED GARDEN

Now is a excellent time to prepare for the coming season in August and one of the best ways to garden is with a raised garden about hip high that you don’t need to bend to work and can grow healthy vegetables with minimum effort.

I also worked out the cheapest way was to use new sheets of galvanized roofing iron.

One thing I did discover with the first one I built was that roots from surrounding plants, vines, trees and shrubs would discover the raised garden full of lovely food and they would send feeder roots up into it and fill the whole thing with a mat of dense fibrous roots.

Within one season the raised garden would be useless to grow anything in.

This you need to put down a concrete pad to sit you raised garden on. (The pad only needs to be about 50 mm thick as it’s only there to prevent invading roots.)

Either that or place it on existing concrete like around read of your home.

Here is what you need and how to do it;

Three new sheets of galvanized iron 1.8 metres long and two 100 x 100 mm fence posts also, the length of which is half the width of the of the sheets of iron.

Cut the fence posts in half so there’s no wastage. The fence posts are treated with chemicals; to overcome that problem, apply a couple of coats of acrylic paint all over the wooden surfaces.

The posts are not going to be dug into the ground and the whole raised bed will sit in on the concrete.

Construction is simple; lay the two painted fence posts on the ground and place one sheet of iron over the posts to completely cover the two posts. Check to make sure its square fitting and then drill holes of suitable diameter to take the roofing screws.

On a roof you would fasten the ridge part of the iron sheet so water would flow down the gully part.

For your raised garden the reverse applies. Screw in the roofing screws at both ends of the sheet.

The reason for using screws as apposed to roofing nails is they are easy to unscrew if you want to move the raised garden or extend it.

The same is done on the other long length of iron. You now have two sides so next the ends.

The final sheet of iron is cut in half making it 90cm long, a nice width to work on from one side or both. The posts are going to be inside the bed.

The two ends are screwed to the fence posts. It is best to assemble where it’s going to sit — ideally one long side should be facing in a northerly direction.

Now you have the raised garden ready to fill. To fill take any trimmings of trees and shrubs and place onto the concrete pad inside the raised garden. along with any rubbish organic material which can be grass clippings (not sprayed with herbicide for over 18 months) sawdust, newspaper, old spent compost, old potting mixes and even some top soil (which is likely to have weed seeds in it.)

Fill the raised garden to about half the depth. You can even trample it down and add more till about half full.

Over this you put several layers of newspaper. Cover this with purchased compost that is NOT made from green waste. Daltons & Oderings Composts are two safe ones along with straight mushroom compost.

The fill will take it to about 35 cm from the top of the raised garden. Now you spread some goodies such as Blood & Bone, sheep manure pellets, Wallys Neem Tree Granules, Wallys Unlocking Your Soil, Ocean Solids, chicken manure and then cover these with another layer of purchased compost about 5 cm deep.

This should then be about 20 to 30 cm from the top of the raised garden and ready for you to sow seeds or plant seedlings.

After planting you can stretch some netting or crop cover across the bed and holding secure with a nail in each corner post.

This will stop birds and cats from getting in and destroying your plantings and if crop cover is used it will stop most insect pests as well including butterflies.

Having one long side facing north will heat up the contents through the iron, warming nicely the mix.

The gap between the mix and the top creates a wind break and so you have your own special micro-climate and plants will grow twice as fast compared to if they were in open ground.

When a crop is harvested just place more goodies into the bed and cover with more compost.

You will get years of pleasure and nutrition dense vegetables for your health.

You can easily extend the raised garden with two more 1.8-metre sheets and one more post cut in half.

Unscrew one end that you want to extend, removing the end section. Unscrew the sides at that end so your new sheets will overlap onto the existing and be screwed on together.

Posts at other end will take the end half sheet and now you have 3.6 metres of raised garden.

Fill this as previously.

You may need to place a brace across the middle two posts to prevent it bowing outwards.

Happy Raised Gardening.

I am now doing gardening sessions with Rodney Hide on Reality Check Radio.. The sessions are available as replays at https://realitycheck.radio/replays/real-talk-show-replays/

If you want to hear me chatting away then have a listen.

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It doesn’t need sunshine, colours survive misty grey weather. (Rob Davison pic)

England, but this guy saw who Comrade Jacinda was (slide to 4:54).

On 17 April the KCDC issued this media release after PM Hipkins and minister McAnulty announced modifications to the co-governance-motivated plans first made public in mid 2020.

During the week Cr Glen Cooper posted a Facebook video stating that the media release had been issued without the subject having been discussed at the council table, which given the highly controversial nature of the whole scheme, is something that one would have expected.

Waikanae Watch asked Glen if the Mayor and Chief Executive had seen and approved the statement, which most likely had been composed by senior staffer Janice McDougall.

Glen said that Mayor Holborow had seen it, but did not know if Darren Edwards had. He has not received any feedback as a result of his video.

This Media Release therefore seems presumptuous in the extreme, particularly considering most councils in the country have been and remain opposed to this government’s plans. Given that the country’s two main opposition parties have both made clear that they will scrap the Three-5-10 Waters plans if elected government in October, this seems like a simple fulfilling of Mayor Holborow’s pledge to the Labour Party to support all of its policies in return for their support in her election campaign last year.

In contrast to the KCDC’s pro-Labour government stance (at least by Mayor Holborow), there is this statement from the Waimate Council (click to read full size):

by Caleb Anderson from Bassett, Brash and Hide

Announcements over the weekend seem to have finally clarified Labour’s intentions, and determination, with respect to co-governance.

After years of awkward double-speak and downright obfuscation, the message is clear – full steam ahead, no matter the consequences, and a pox on the houses of all who stand in our way.

This was always their intention.

To this government, and to those who pull its strings, co-governance means control, if not outright, then by veto. Control of water would be the first skittle to fall. Once precedent has been established, beaches will follow, air waves will be next, conservation land soon-after, and so on … with the ticket being clipped at every point along the way, and in perpetuity.

And all this based on distorted interpretations of the treaty, lies about the past, manipulation of dubious legal rulings, and simple self-interest.

It would be difficult to think of more far-reaching constitutional changes than some of the co-governance scenarios being promoted by the Greens, the Maori Party and Labour’s left. The implications of these changes would be far-reaching, and while some outcomes would be predictable, because we can see examples now, others would be unanticipated. Sometimes you don’t get a true picture of whether change was worth it until you are picking up the pieces, it cannot easily be wound back, and once the damage has been done … it has been done.

While the government is fast running out of examples, it persists in its efforts to draw attention to where co-governance is going well.

Perhaps we should actually show more interest in examples of where co-governance seems not to be going well. There are plenty. The government and the mainstream media are very good at highlighting the former, while ignoring the latter.

The reason we should look more closely at where co-governance is not going well, is that the downsides, and not the upsides of change, are always the things that impact most. At the end of the day, no-one will care if co-governance is working well in 70% of cases (which is unlikely), if it is a disaster in 30% of cases. The downsides will quickly negate any upsides in the mind of the public.

When we are assessing how reforms have worked, on balance, costs always trump benefits in the public mind, because these are the bits that bite.

So what do existing efforts at co-governance tell us more broadly? How are they unfolding at the local level, and at the level where most people transact life?

You will never read this in the public media, but the downsides of co-governance are becoming evident to many New Zealanders.

Some parks returned to Maori are now derelict, the public has been banned from beaches in some areas of New Zealand, some mountain walks, enjoyed by generations of New Zealanders, are now off-limits, and gates have been erected on public roads, moved only when council paid to have these re-opened. Our education system is in disarray, and we are being told that the health system is on the brink of collapse, both tainted by the darkening shadow of co-governance.

Stories abound about Kiwis heading to their family bach, only to find it broken into, property stolen, and Maori youth telling them to get off Maori land. I know of cases where those selling their properties in remote locations are being told by activists that they are to sell only to Maori.

I have heard time and again of cases where those managing government funds directed to iwi, have no idea where the funds have gone, or what they were used for, of people working for organizations with unpronounceable names, driving very nice cars, flashing their business cards, visiting clients on day one and never again, but still being paid. I have heard of funds being used in some cases to teach young Maori, not how to turn up to work, but how to engage in effective activism.

I have heard of non-Maori students at tertiary institutions leaving these institutions because of the constant denigration of their viewpoint, and even of their right to have a viewpoint.

The point is not whether these are majority or minority instances, and none of this should undermine the critical, and often selfless, work being done by some iwi. The point is, what might this tell us about where co-governance could end up? What does it tell us about what happens when an embedded sense of victimhood is coupled with political muscle?

The separation of powers inherent within the Westminster system of government, protection of property rights, the right to a fair trial, application of common law principles, and the sovereign rights of individuals, are things we take for granted, and yet these are historically the exception. Those who have lived under the Westminster type system of government are among the most privileged generations in history.

The concept that every individual has rights total and indivisible is a radical idea, it is not an accident of history, it is the product of a thousand years of common law, and of bloodshed on many a battlefield. The sovereign rights (not tribal rights) of each individual make these individuals accountable for their actions, and the state accountable for its actions. The whole concept of human rights is derivative of the very system that some of our politicians seem hell-bent on dismantling.

Democracy requires that even the most powerful people are accountable, that issues are debated openly in the public domain, that we can rid ourselves of our politicians when we want to, and that no person’s vote should be worth more or less than another’s. Human nature is constant, people are often self-interested, and nepotism and corruption are not the exclusive domain of any one group, Maori included … we need safeguards. Maori themselves need safeguards.

The Maori party has called democracy a tyranny. Well if democracy is the tyranny of the majority, just wait for the tyranny of the minority which may just be around the corner.

The Maori Party, and some within Labour’s caucus (and cabinet), seem to have drawn a line in the sand. Give us exactly what we want, or else. I guess “or else” means civil unrest and marches on parliament. Perhaps we can console ourselves that parliament now has experience in managing this sort of unrest. Refuse to meet with them, legislate under urgency, ensure the media ignores them, or reports on them negatively, politicians can call them rivers of filth to their heart’s content, the speaker can turn on the sprinklers and Barry Manilow music, the police can don their riot gear, and the PM can spout that this is all the product of misinformation. Yes, parliament knows exactly how to manage this sort of thing now.

Comments by Kieran McAnulty, and others within Labour’s caucus, that it is safe to play around at the edges of democracy are dangerous in the extreme and stunningly ignorant. Co-government and democracy cannot co-exist. Co-governance is antithetical to democracy.

While differentials in power, status, wealth, intelligence, health, propensity for political engagement (etc) will always exist, democracy remains a beacon to the inalienable right of the weakest among us to stand no higher or lower than others, and to hold to account those who seek to rule over us and to rid ourselves of them when we choose.

This beacon has shone brightly in our past but it flickered over the weekend, a reminder to us of just how much is at stake.

Caleb Anderson, a graduate history, economics, psychotherapy and theology, has been an educator for over thirty years, twenty as a school principal.

UPDATE – Watch the Jack Tame interview of Kieran McAnulty here

Jens Stoltenberg showed up in Kiev/Kyiv on Thursday for the first time since the bloc’s hot war with Russia began in February 2022.

Stoltenberg, who is a direct puppet of Washington DC, said he discussed a “multi-year support initiative” with President Volodymyr Zelensky, adding that it would help Ukraine transition from Soviet-era equipment and doctrines to “NATO standards” which would “ensure full interoperability with the alliance.”

The bloc, on the Biden administration’s orders, has played a critical role in supporting Kiev/Kyiv, donating billions in military aid and other support. The NATO boss said that since February 2022, the alliance’s allies have delivered more than 150 billion euros ($165 billion) of support, including 65 billion euros of military aid. “Allies are now delivering more jets, tanks and armored vehicles,” Stoltenberg said. “NATO stands with you today, tomorrow and for as long as it takes.”

Part of Russia’s premise for its invasion of Ukraine was to fend off NATO from expanding close to its borders and Stoltenberg’s comments are an obvious invitation for Russia to come and take over Ukraine proper by rolling right up to NATO borders, installing a pro-Moscow regime in the same way the Obama administration installed a pro-Washington regime.

But NATO is looking for a way out of Ukraine according to recent reports. These claims come on the heels of the mysteriously timed document leaks showing the war in Ukraine is unwinnable for NATO unless it wants to launch WW3. The news also follows recent independent reports showing that Russia just destroyed a heavily fortified underground bunker that housed over 300 top NATO and Ukrainian leaders. Why is the media silent on this story?

credit: associated press

Did the CIA help President Biden win the 2020 election? According to former acting CIA Director Mike Morell, they did indeed. 

During a closed-door testimony this week, Morell said that Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was at the time a campaign staffer for Joe Biden, asked him to discuss suppressing the Hunter Biden laptop story. 

Morell said that at least five former CIA directors and other ex-senior officials signed on to organize a campaign that would re-frame the laptop story as Russian misinformation. 

The laptop story has been the center of much controversy from online censorship to media complicity. This seems to suggest how integral the Biden campaign was at organizing this media blockage.  (from Redacted)

Why would the CIA want Biden rather than Trump? Because they knew Biden would willingly provoke a war with Russia.

From exposé-news.com

You have likely heard that 97% of scientists agree on human-driven climate change. The overwhelming majority of scientists take no view on the question of whether climate change is man-made, for it is beyond our present knowledge to answer.

Only 0.3% of science papers state humans are the cause of climate change. And when surveyed, only 18% of scientists believed that a large amount – or all – of additional climate change could be averted.

There is no scientific evidence or method that can determine how much of the temperature change since 1900 was caused by humans. We know that temperature has varied greatly over the millennia. We also know that for virtually all of that time, global warming and cooling were driven entirely by natural forces.

“97% Consensus” — What Consensus?

By Gregory Wrightstone, Executive Director CO₂ Coalition

You have likely heard that 97% of scientists agree on human-driven climate change. You may also have heard that those who don’t buy into the climate-apocalypse mantra are “science deniers.” The truth is that a whole lot more than 3% of scientists are sceptical of the party line on climate. A whole lot more.

The many scientists, engineers and energy experts that comprise the CO2 Coalition are often asked something along the lines of: “So you believe in climate change, then?” Our answer? “Yes, of course we do: it has been happening for hundreds of millions of years.” It is important to ask the right questions. The question is not, “Is climate change happening?” The real question of serious importance is, “Is climate change now driven primarily by human actions? That question should be followed up by “is our changing climate beneficial or harmful to ecosystems and humanity?”

READ AT THE LINK

BREAKING – Just 0.3% of Scientists agree Humanity is causing Climate Change; NOT 97% as falsely spread by the UN