Mayor4Unley

Before leaving for the UK, it was sad to see the mass of ripening quinces, olives, pomegranates and chillies in the home garden. Six weeks later, arriving home, it was a busy week picking and processing the fruit. Olives now in brine, chillies 🌶 picked and 'sun' dried and chopped, pomegranates squeezed and juice in the freezer and quinces being slow cooked today. Tip: a splash of pomegranate juice in a gin is superb 🍸

Joy at picking my first chillies of the season. Picked just before the extreme heat. My fav. Yellow and very hot - a nice intense burn ;) Added some finely cut to a crab and prawn spaghetti marinara. The other chilli bushes are coming on nicely. Tip: when using chilli: add dried and flake chilli when cooking add fresh chilli to salads and on top of cooked food

I'm just so pleased with my Candy Pink Agapanthus. Such beautiful flowers. The Christmas Holly arrangement for the table needed a bit of colour. For some reason this year the holly didn't have any red berries. So we added red roses and a Candy Pink Agapanthus. Just stunning! more info re my candy-striped-pink-agapanthus

This year my tomato plants won't get burnt in the hot summer sun. Some people use big umbrellas or old bed sheets. A bit cumbersome. Imagine my delight at finding a triangular (3.4x3.4x3.4m) heavy duty shade cloth at a garage sale. Just 5 bucks! (Actually, I gave them $10; it was the woman down the street.) My delight was a bit short-lived during erection. That triangular shape was a bit tricky, especially finding the right spots to tie to nearby trees. Anyway, its up, well before the onslaught of the hot weather. The tomato plants are doing well in this hot period. It's going to be a great crop. The best looking plants for years!

No more buying cucumbers for a few months. My cucumber vines are loaded and will bear well for a few months. Nothing beats a fresh home gown cucumber, especially the old fashioned heirloom varieties that taste so good.They are grown for flavour and not for transport and wrapped in plastic. The best way to eat a cucumber is salted and peppered on lightly buttered fresh bread. Here's a photo of the second one picked this season. I'm in cucumber heaven 😛

Some months ago I attended a half day plant grafting workshop. I went home full of enthusiasm and grafted plum on plum, white peach on yellow peach, avocado on avocado and pomegranate on pomegranate. Results: Plum ✅ Peach ✅ Avocado ❌ Pomegranate ✅ I discovered that avocados are best grafted in late November in Adelaide. But I had given up on the pomegranate graft attempt. It wasn't looking hopeful. I remember just how hard the wood was; and the plant stalk was a bit thicker than I would have liked. Nothing seemed to be happening. Yesterday it was pure joy to discover that the graft had taken and had several shoots. The type of pomegranate I grafted is called 'Wonderful'; a modern and sweeter fruit with better eating seeds. Over time I will make this graft dominate the tree.

We need to look after the native bees in our gardens. They have special needs like the type of flowering plants and a place to live. Why not consider building a ‘bee hotel’ to encourage more to live in your garden. It’s a great family (or school) project. A ‘bee hotel’ comprises many pieces of wood with long holes drilled. Small diameter hollow bamboo is ideal. Google ‘bee hotel’ for more information. Give it some thought. We need to encourage and protect native bees in our gardens. I’m all abuzz about the upcoming #Unley Council election. Vote 1 BOB SCHNELL #Mayor4Unley Written and authorised by Bob Schnell, 10 Halmon Avenue, Everard Park 5035

It can be difficult selecting a plant for that special spot at home. You may want a tree or a shrub, something for the shade or a sunny location. To make the decision much easier, the Botanic Gardens has a plant selector website. You can refine your search to postcode, height, aspect, soil type etc. Give it a try. Here’s the link to the website

Grow Grow Grow Your Own , an Unley based sustainable community group is holding a workshop on Sunday 8th July, 2.30pm. The  topic is " Managing water use in your garden ". This is a fantastic community group and the workshops are popular. I encourage you consider attending. Below is an extract from an email I received about the upcoming event. See you there - Bob Hi fellow veggie growers Please find attached our flier for the fourth workshop for 2018; the topic is  "Managing water use in your garden".   The workshop is at  2.30pm on Sunday 8th July at Unley Community Centre, 18 Arthur St, Unley.   The workshop will be led by Melissa Bradley, Program Manager for  Water Sensitive SA.   Melissa is a strong advocate for the creation of more liveable cities and towns using integrated water management objectives and best practice water sensitive urban design.  Please see the flier for more information on the workshop and dates for our othe...

There has been recent public comment about the decline in tree canopy across Unley. It is claimed there has been a 20% loss. Blame is being attributed to residents and developers felling trees on private property. But, what is reality? What is actually factual? Back in 2016 Unley Council implemented a regeneration  tree program as part of a 2016-19 tree strategy. The target was renewal of 2,000 Street trees in 5 years with many trees removed to be replaced by 2 trees. At the time, Council clearly understood that the canopy cover would decline and then rapidly rise. So - in 4 years we will have a far greater tree canopy than we had 2 years ago. I’m so annoyed that an operational activity designed to increase tree canopy has been so unfairly attacked. It would be unfortunate to have the street tree renewal program stopped. I supported the tree renewal program back in 2016 and I will continue to support it over the next 2 years. It just makes sense! Vote 1 Bob Schnel...

Volunteers are the backbone of most community organisations. At Unley Council there are 400 volunteers who service the community. Many Council services would fold (or be reduced) without the help of volunteers. I salute all of these volunteers ... from bus drivers to home services to the library ... the list just goes on. I was delighted to read that one of the best new release camellias has been called Volunteer to honour the volunteers across Australia. This camellia has gloriously ruffled blooms. They really are quite different with petals that open a soft pink with white at the edge. As the season progresses, the colour deepens and retains a white edge. The centre of the flower is heavily textured and has a pin cushion in shape. The bush grows to 2m in height. If you're thinking of planting a camellia then consider the Volunteer .

The quince paste has been made (using home grown fruit of course). It’s a glorious ruby red in colour. A dash of pomegranate juice was added to enhance the colour. The taste is just fantastic. Yes it takes a lot of preparation and cooking, but the end result is worth it. The best batch in #Unley.

It's that time of year, a golden time of the year when the quinces are ripening. My tree at home (in #Unley) is heavily laden. Not a lot of fruit, but they are huge - just so big. Next weekend most of them will be transformed into quince paste - a must have with cheese over the next 12 months. A few will be slowly poached for hours and then become a glorious dessert. The quince really is an understated fruit. It's a signal that, despite the recent warm weather, autumn is upon us. A tip for other quince growers, don't pick them too early. They must be yellow, not green. How to tell if they are ripe? Use a thumb and rub the furry skin and if the fur rubs off then they are ripe.

Have just recently picked my crop of pomegranates (grown in #Unley). The Rainbow Lorikeets were starting to show an interest. Not a huge crop because I heavily pruned the tree last year, but the fruit are huge. I struggled to fit the pomegranate halves in the juicer. I'm reshaping the tree to be a big bush - as it should be. The juice is fantastic and so good for you.

I’m a big fan of cider vinegar. Great to drink, make preserves, salad dressing and superb for washing your hair; I use it weekly and it gives my hair a real shine and softness. Tip: close your eyes tightly when doing the hair wash and leave it on for a few minutes. Anyway, however you use it, it’s a better alternative to normal harsh vinegar. Making: Apple Scrap Vinegar It is just so easy. Here's the recipe and instructions ... Apple scrap vinegar: you can drink it straight, use it as a household cleaner, drizzle it over your favourite salad and rinse your hair in it. Let’s talk about how seriously good this stuff is, as well as being crazy easy to make. While not being new to the wonderful world of fermenting, apple scrap vinegar was something that up until now I hadn’t made. I’d used it in cooking, I had drunk it and I knew my hair benefitted from rinsing with it, but making it from scratch? Nope, I hadn’t gone there yet. With a stash of apples from t...

Now is the time to plant your garlic in #Unley. An older school of thought is to plant it in late May or early June and harvest in December. Talking with other garlic growers, the consensus is to plant it in mid to late March when the soil is warmer. It enables the plant to get a good start and be established before the colder months. Also the cloves will be bigger and plumper. So, plant your garlic now. Dig in organic fertiliser and just bury the cloves. The pointy part of the garlic clove should be just under the surface. Cover with pea straw and water lightly each day until the growth is established; and then ease back on the water. It’s a good cash crop; ready to harvest in mid December. With proper storage, the garlic will last 12 months until the next harvest.

It's something that I've suspected for a long time. Now, it has been proved; that rainwater stored in tanks is unfit for drinking. Researchers at Flinders University have found that more than 50% of tank water tested contains the dangerous E. coli bacteria. E. coli causes vomiting, diarrhoea and stomach cramps. Nasty. Yes I have rainwater tanks, but I only use the water for the garden. I would even consider it for drinking. Just think about all the bird and possum and rat poo that gets washed into the tank! #Unley

With the end of the heat wave I have converted my heat stressed tomato patch into a pumpkin patch in #Unley. I should get a good crop during this long Indian Summer. Ready to harvest in May with very little effort. If you store them properly, they should last 12 months in the shed. I've planted butternuts; my fav. Tip: don't go and buy the seeds or seedlings; why give money to Bunnings when you don't need to. Save some seeds when you next cook pumpkin. Plant 3-4-5 seeds 50cm apart and let them spread. They will fill an area quickly.

I can't live without my chillies 🌶 and they are in full production in my garden in #Unley. My fav is a yellow #chilli that's just so hot. I got the seeds from a Vietnamese woman who got them from her father who probably brought them to Australia. Very hot, but with a refined burn!

Many homes in #Unley don't have a bird bath in their garden. As birds and small animals lose more and more of their habitat (through housing development) the more they rely on us to provide food, water and shelter in our gardens. So if you don't have a bird bath, then get one. Also consider a shallow water dish on the ground for the lizards and other natives that crawl abound. And don't forget a hollow log or two. It gives great joy to see birds in the bird bath; having a drink or a slash on a hot day. And of course the bees 🐝 need water; daily. Your garden will be transformed with more native birds 🤗