Mayor4Unley

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...

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 .

Lunch today was home-grown and home-made tabouli. Yum! Stuffed inside a fresh bread roll from the local baker at #BlackForest. Absolutely superb!! Parsley, tomato, cucumber, lemon & garlic ... all from the garden. I must confess to buying a #LocalSA red onion on #GoodyRoad. Tip: pick a 1/2 bucket of parsley early in the day before the heat and soak in lightly salted water for 35 minutes. Leave long stems on the parsley so that after soaking it can be bunched and then shaken outside to remove the water. #EatinUnley #GrowinUnley #ShopinUnley #BestinUnley #iChooseSA #Unley

Major felling of trees at Parkside ... There has been a major uproar by residents about the felling of so many trees at 186 Greenhill Road, Parkside just before Christmas ... and 4-5 more trees are planned to be removed. Residents are just so annoyed by what has happened. It happened without any warning and Council had no prior knowledge of the planned activity. A review has revealed that all the the trees felled were what is classed as 'non-regulated' and the property owner had a legal right to remove them. This is a legal right imposed by the State Government. What was a forest is now just 5 trees. One is scheduled to be removed soon. The other 4 trees are what is classed as 'regulated' and they require planning approval. I understand that approval will be considered in January/February 2018 by the Council Assessment Panel. I am sure that this meeting will be well attended by local residents.

I'm just so happy. My Sturt's Desert Pea has started to flower in the garden at home. It will be a mass of flowers in a few weeks. The flowers are just so sensual.

Slugs are a gardener's nightmare and efforts are made to eradicate the slugs. Damn things come out at night and munch on the greens in the garden. We squash them and poison them; or at least some people do. But, the humble slug has captivated the minds of medical researchers. The slime of the slug has been studied and now replicated with reasonable success. Its use as an adhesive is a medical break-through. The laboratory made slug slime is now emerging as an adhesive and is being used during surgery instead of staples and stitches. At least, it worked well during surgery on a pig. A great outcome by scientific study of the simple slug. Read the slug slime story ...

"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now." ...  Chinese Proverb Help to green your local area by planning to plant another tree. The best time to plant is late winter, early spring. So, over winter give thought to what type of tree and size given limited suitable locations in the typical home garden.

It was a big storm a couple of days ago; with wild wind. The next day I surveyed the damage in the backyard. Several of my prized pine cones from the Queensland Kauri Pine tree were lying on the ground. Whilst holding one of the cones and contemplating what size it might have become, I felt a tugging at my trousers and looked down and was surprised to find a Pikachu Pokemon; they are still in the area. They're tough critters and being somewhat annoyed, I  considered dropping the heavy pine cone on Pikachu.

Eggplants; one of the most versatile fruit in the garden (and no it's not a vegetable). If I were a vegetarian then it would be at the top of the list with field mushrooms. As a meat eater, the eggplant is at the top of my list as an accompaniment; an accessory to meat. Cook it Afghan style and you're in heaven. There's so much you can do with eggplant. A recent discovery (and joy) was thinly sliced eggplant fritters. As a meal or snack whilst watching State of Origin rugby or as a side dish with red meat. Give it a try 😍 Here's the recipe

It's Autumn and that means Quince season. Actually it's still a bit early; at least for my Champion variety Quince; it'll be another month or so before they are ripe. I bought the Champion because it has a big fruit with a brilliant dark red coloured fruit when cooked; some of the Quince varieties are a bit dull and only a pale pink. It's a young tree; the first year with a decent crop. Maybe the fruit is larger because my young dog pruned all the fruit trees of fruit up to a height on 1 metre; nothing like a green chewy ball to pick and play with; and then pick another one. How to use quinces: Paste to enjoy with cheese; freeze for serving over the year; my fav :) Jelly or Jam; can be a bit running Poach with a vanilla bean Stew; have with muesli Add it to a Middle Eastern stew Endless possibilities ... More information about quinces

My best ever Christmas present this year was a plant. A simple $4 plant. It's a Climbing Spinach (Basella Rubra) that climbs 2 metres. Description: Edible climber with succulent red stems and green foliage. High vitamin and iron content. Suited for salads, stew and stir fries. Maturity 10-12 weeks. Pick as needed. I've planted it next to a 2m stake and already it is heading up the pole. Also a bonus - it will have nice pink flowers. A simple gift that will give me much pleasure.

With fruit, berries and tomatoes coming into season why not consider natural dyeing of clothes. Get that unique home grown colour into your clothes. Commercial dyes are not ethically produced and should be avoided. Buy a white T-shirt and experiment. Mulberries and raspberries are excellent for producing vibrant colour. A fresh juicy tomato will give a lovely orange/red splash. Alternatively, you may wish to add a splash of colour to your hair; perhaps a few raspberry streaks. Here's a link for more information

Down in the South East, @ Coonawarra, there are SA Government plans to build a bypass road around Penola. A good idea. This will divert high speed traffic and heavy trucks away from the slower paced road used to visit wineries on the famed terra rossa soil. Locals are angry because a proposed diversion cuts directly across vineyards on terra rossa soil that produce premium wines that sell for $100 a bottle. The local anger is led by Jonathon Hesketh of Parker Coonawarra Estate Wines. His proposal is that the bypass be shifted and lengthened so that it skirts to the east around the 15km x 1km region of coveted terra rossa soil. This is a sensible alternative proposal. I hope that the SA Government reviews the alternative and settles on a solution that has zero impact on the famed terra rossa soil. It’s just common sense. If you care (and you should) then contact your local MP and object to this unnecessary destruction. It’s bad for business, bad for the economy, bad for touri...

Last night I went to pizza night at the Community Garden, Fern Avenue, Fullarton. A fantastic garden with heaps of fruit and veggies ripe for picking. The pizzas were home made using produce from the garden and cooked in a wood oven. I took a jar of home grown dried Cajun chilli. The pizzas got hotter as the night progressed. Wine was from a small backyard winery nearby. Absolutely superb. Good company made the night perfect. Now I'm not normally one to scrounge through pre-loved rubbish left on the verge (although I always have a good look), but it was rick pickings in front of a house on Fern Avenue. Good stuff was left abandoned on the verge, probably ready for a booked hard rubbish collection by Council. It was left overs from a recent garage sale. There was something for everyone. The top item I spotted and took was a good looking metal rooster. Despite the one wobbly and rusted leg, it will look nice in the garden amongst the chillies. All up, it was a good night.

I visited Forestville Reserve last night. There were a few families out walking and visiting the newly developed area on the East side. Someone jogged past. A lot of bikes zoomed through. It's looking good. The culvert entrance to the creek has been improved with the top layer of stones removed - my suggestion - it was too high, over engineered and served no purpose. Skaters were using the newly surfaced concrete. Some kids were shooting hoops at the basketball/netball court. The new lawn is coming on nicely. The weather is perfect to get it started. There is a mass of new plants and trees. I would have planted more medium sized trees on the boundary. Perhaps they will go in later, but I suspect not. All of this is in stark contrast to the ongoing vandalism of the long mural on the support wall for the tram overpass. Back in November I sat on the wall of the skate park and watched the spray can artists at work creating a fantastic mural. Their work was repeatedly vandalise...