Saturday Morning with Jack Tame

Newstalk ZB

Jack Tame’s crisp perspective, style and enthusiasm makes for refreshing and entertaining Saturday morning radio on Newstalk ZB.

News, sport, books, music, gardens and celebrities – what better way to spend your Saturdays? read less
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Episodes

Ruud Kleinpaste: Autumn holes in the ground
6d ago
Ruud Kleinpaste: Autumn holes in the ground
A few days ago, we celebrated our Autumn Equinox; that was on Wednesday 20th March at 16:06 to be precise.  It really has nothing to do with this story, apart from the fact that you'll notice quite a few good-looking holes in your lawn around this time of the year. It shows you that life-cycles either come to an end or change from one phase to the next. A good example is the mess made by starlings in my lawn: hundreds of sizeable holes per square metre really stands out.  Autumn rain has finally made the soil quite wet; Grassgrub larvae (juveniles) are moving upwards in the soil to avoid being drowned and starlings literally probe the soil for tasty grubs. I'm not that worries: these starlings provide a gratis pest-control service.  On soils where there are few plants (think of those "naked" vertical clay banks) you'll often find medium-sized round holes with an opening that looks "counter-sunk" in shape. This is the job of our native tiger beetles. When they are larvae they create these tunnels into the soil and block the entrance with their head, while waiting for suitable prey to walk past.  From now on, you'll notice that the holes are open - the larvae will finalise their juvenile stages underground and emerge in late spring as fast-moving adult beetles. And from now on there will be critters that come out of the soil, especially after good rain events. Earthworms will move up easily to grab some organic material from the surface of the soil and to drop some casts off on top! These worms are recyclers and literally live off of the dead plant material (and other natural waste, such as animal droppings). This planet is perfectly designed in and around our soil.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jack Tame: Well wishes for the Princess of Wales
1w ago
Jack Tame: Well wishes for the Princess of Wales
Just before 6pm Friday local time, Kensington Palace published a rare video of Catherine, Princess of Wales. Having taken a few weeks to process and digest the news in private, and having taken time to tell her children, she announced to the World she is being treated for cancer.   Apart from that, we don’t have a huge volume of information. We don’t know much more except she says she received the diagnosis after tests following abdominal surgery in January. She has begun receiving preventative chemotherapy.   First of all, hearing those words is a shocking and affecting experience. For anyone who has had friends or family with cancer – and I would suggest that’s most of us – it snaps you right back to your own experience. At a really basic human level, I think many of us feel a real sense of empathy for what Kate and that family must be going through.  Personally, I found my thoughts drifting to the issues of the last few weeks: The internet conspiracies about Princess Kate’s health and whereabouts and the now-infamous doctored family photo.   I also found myself trying to imagine all the complicated dimensions that being a prominent royal adds to this situation. You would think that the privilege of that position will afford Kate the very best medical care. But at the same time, there is an extraordinary level of public attention that will come with this experience. Even before this announcement, medical staff in the U.K were trying to illegally access Princess Kate’s health records. That’s tough.  And finally, my thoughts settled on Kate’s health in the broader context of what the Royal Family is going through right now. Both Princess Kate and King Charles are now being treated for cancer. It must be a huge stress on the family... and I am acutely aware that Prince William is sitting there in the middle, trying to support both his father and his wife as they are undergo their treatments.   I think everyone will be wishing them a speedy and full recovery. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Stonefruit jobs in March and Autumn – Prune and Control Leafcurl
16-03-2024
Stonefruit jobs in March and Autumn – Prune and Control Leafcurl
Leafcurl on stone fruit: peaches, Nectarines, plums, peachcotts, peacherines, apricots, etc always a sad sight on the leaves – it manifests itself in Spring and Summer – after flowering.  The leaves become distorted and discoloured (pretty yellow and orange coloration); when infestations are serious the number of leaves that drop off can be substantial, causing a reduction in photosynthesis and hence the ability of the tree to “feed itself”.  In spring the answer to “cure?” it will always be: “You’re too late!”… Right now, in late summer/Autumn you are still ahead of the 2024 infection game.  Taphrina deformans is the fungus that causes this leafcurl. Note how “deformans” is quite aptly chosen as a name, as it deforms the shape of the leaves quite obviously.  The disease becomes active at bud-break: when the leaves and flowers come out of the buds in spring. The spores of Taphrina deformans are already settled on those buds, making infection quite easy.  Those buds are initiated by the trees in autumn, which is just a few weeks away.  What to do?  First of all prune your stonefruit right now – after the last peaches, nectarines etc etc have been harvested, pruning can be done. Doing it this early has another advantage: you avoid bacterial diseases in the cooler months (late autumn/winter is a dodgy period for bacterial infections!)  Pruning now also reduces the amount of tree to spray in April.  Around mid April, when the leaves are falling off the deciduous stone fruit trees, the new buds for the next season are formed. Taphrina deformans will then be invading those new buds and overwinter on those buds to infect the trees again in spring.  First thing to do is to remove all fallen leaves from under the trees. That reduces infection chances.  Next thing is to apply a double dose of copper spray (copper oxychloride, liquid copper, or copper-sulphur mixtures, available form garden centres) on the remaining leaves and on the branches/twigs/buds of the tree.  Don’t worry about “burning the rest of the leaves off: they were going to fall anyway.  Use a “sticker” if you can, to increase coverage and stickability  Do this again a few weeks later and ensure good coverage of all parts of the tree.  This autumn spray exercise is the most important preventative thing you can do to avoid Leaf curl.  If you still get some infected leaves in spring there is no point in spraying with copper fungicides as that will burn those leaves quite badly. Best thing to do is to remove and get rid of infected leaves as much as you can – especially fallen leaves. “Getting rid of them” does not mean COMPOSTING them!!  Fertilising the tree in spring allows it to make new leaves and get some resistance to the infection, especially when you use Seaweed Tea and such marine-originated liquid fertilisers.  During the period when fruits grow and expand, check for fallen leaves that show signs of leafcurl, and get rid of them. REMEMBER “Getting rid of them” does not mean COMPOSTING them!!  Autumn is the time to start controlling leafcurl on stonefruit for the next fruiting season:  Some people use Lime sulphur; that’s OK too as a winter clean-up; seeing the trees are getting to dormancy this Lime Sulphur won’t harm the leaves either; but I think that lime may not be a great material for apricots as it has the ability to raise the pH levels.  A last smack of Copper spray before budburst should “mop up” the last surviving spores before the flowering and fruiting season begins again. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.