Bananas

Warmer weather means people can now grow fruits like pawpaw and bananas as far south as Invercargill. Audio

A botanist on the West Coast wants locals to start planting growing edible perennials that are growing in his nursery and food forest. Audio

Best of 2022 - Rich and Jose van Alphen say people either love or hate cherimoyas. They've been growing them organically in the Far North for more than 30 years. Audio

Hugh Rose is the Chair of Tropical Fruit Growers and has an impressive stable of interesting sounding fruits growing on his Northland property. He talks Anna through them. Audio

Scores of hectares of bananas are grown here, mainly in Northland. Whangerai farmer Hugh Rose has a banana plant nursery, where he also grows paw paw and sugar cane. When Hugh's not growing tropical… Audio

New Zealand could be producing its own sugar, according to the chair of New Zealand's Tropical Fruit Growers' Association. Hugh Rose has been growing trial plantings of sugarcane on his property near… Audio

Kūmara is currently the biggest crop in Northland's Kaipara district, but one day peanuts could be added to the mix. Kaipara Kai has been established to promote opportunities for landowners to plant… Audio

Samoa's agriculture minister says entry to the New Zealand market is a "huge deal" for Samoan banana farmers. Audio

When you visit Klaus Lotz on his small plot of community-owned land in the Far North settlement of Matapouri you'll first be offered a cup of coffee. That might seem like commonplace Kiwi hospitality… Audio

Matt Weinert is the Industry Development Officer for Bananas with the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries. He's otherwise known as the Banana Guru.  Audio, Gallery

Our tennis correspondent Dave Luddy with the latest from the Australian Open. Audio

The Coronation Garden in Little River is a living memorial for local men who died in WWI and WWII. Designed by local nurseryman Bruce King, the garden is packed with perennials, rhododendrons, flaxes… Audio, Gallery