Growing your own

A Zucchini Flower

Growing a vegetable garden is so rewarding!

Plant a tiny seed and watch it burst valiantly through the soil. Follow the tiny plant's struggle against the odds as it is preyed upon by its natural enemies like slugs, snails and insect pests

See it grow, mature and flower, then produce fruit - vegetables so tasty they are without comparison to the produce available from your local supermarket.

Young Rouge de Marmande Tomatoes

Perhaps you are lucky enough to have inherited a fruit tree from your predecessors too.

Summer brings a rich harvest of fruit and vegetables that are a sensual joy to taste.

The whole experience is delightful and gives me a lot of pleasure. But the pleasure is not limited to me - neighbours, family and friends will come to your door seeking the rich spoils from your soil toil.



Nearly Ripe Roma Tomato

In my neighbourhood it's a two way thing. A neighbour from Lebanon grows copious quantities of figs, olives, broad beans, loquats and tomatoes which they hang in bags on my fence.

I reward them with cucumbers, Rouge de Marmande or Black Russian tomatoes, lettuce, capsicums, zucchinis (by the tonne), apricots, peaches, and astringent persimmons.

My neighbour across the road returns some of my zucchinis cooked in a delicious cheesy crumbed casserole, while another down the road sends me a jar of Cointreau marmalade made from my oranges.

Broad Ripple Yellow Currant Tomato

I find the hours spent preparing, planting and maintaining the garden to be rewarding, stimulating my thoughts in the absence of conversation and music. Watching the plants grow and thrive brings new interest as the harvest is keenly anticipated.

Then in early Summer my rewards increase ten-fold with the arrival of tasty temptations. Picking fresh basil and tomato to pile on a crisp new roll, puts a pleasant complexion on any morning.

You should try it.

Home Grown Orange

Enjoying Adelaide history and architecture

I enjoy wandering about Adelaide and noticing its architecture. Even the more modern buildings, although I feel that many older buildings have so much more character than a rectangular structure. I nearly said rectoid, but the Urban Dictionary quickly put a stop to that.

It's true that buildings such as the SA Water House and the Commonwealth Law Courts  are eye catching, and stand out from the repetitive masses of plain concrete and glass structures, but I don't get a feeling of warmth or joy from seeing them.  Perhaps it's my age, although I am certainly not as old as some of the buildings that I appreciate.

One gets a sense of the history of Adelaide as you stroll North Terrace from Gawler Place to the Adelaide University. There must have been a diverse collection of architects, but all of the buildings are grand and imposing, designed to catch the eye of passers-by and impress. Wander the grounds of Adelaide Uni  and you will see even more fine examples, although there are some that were built between the 1920's to 1960's that are just plain boring,  more like some schools in Adelaide.



There are also some great examples of unusual heritage listed architecture at the Waite Uni of Adelaide campus, not to mention the beautiful Arboretum and Conservation Reserve.

Port Adelaide is positively packed with fascinating quirky old buildings that ooze the history of Adelaide, tempting you inside to learn some of the things the buildings have seen over the last hundred years. Initials, names and motifs for long gone organisations and people litter the facades of these places.

What were the A.W.B Buildings used for when they were erected? A strange crest, possibly Freemason adorns another place at the start of Dale Street.  The words discount lounges can just be discerned under flaking paintwork on Butler Street's corner with Commercial Road. Who remembers the name Golden Port Tavern (also once known as the Globe Hotel), hiding beneath a coat of thick brown paint on St Vincent Street? How long is it since a chemist occupied Kirby Building, as seen engraved along the top of the building.

Doubtless the Port Adelaide National Trust could answer some of the questions above. Or you could simply search the National Library of Australia's excellent online Trove of historical information.

Who knows, if you ask me a question I may write about it for you on Weekend Notes.

There is a splendid variety of architectural styles in the Port but many of these are not protected under heritage legislation in any way.

Sadly you will not find in Adelaide anywhere near the number or variety of older buildings that the Port has. That number is rapidly reducing as the Weatherill government begs developers to do what they will with any part of the city, rather like a greedy whore who has not yet realised that each transaction devalues her worth.

Adelaide City Council has had information on the heritage of significant buildings for many years, but past planning ministers have refused to listen to pleas for preservation. The current Government regime appears no more sympathetic, indeed I predict they may well find ways to tighten existing legislation protecting our heritage to discourage more listings.

Let me make it clear I am not against development in Adelaide. It is an essential part of Adelaide's growth.

However there are ways to redevelop Adelaide in a manner sensitive to its heritage. Ways that allow Adelaide to develop its personality, rather than become a uniformly rectangular collection of structures that will date and become ugly long before they are due to be renewed.

Here is an example of a building whose facade has been preserved, enhancing the streetscape while creating a pleasant atrium inside. Once the Salvation Army's People's Palace, the facade preserves a link to the past while enabling the present and future to do what it will. Why can't we have more creative designs like this around Adelaide?

In the Beginning

I have long thought that Adelaide is underrated as a city.

After living in London for five years and travelling to other cities in Europe, US, Africa and Asia I have always been content to call Adelaide my home. Many others do not, exhibiting the classic Adelaide Cringe and happily bowing to the perceived superiority of the Eastern states.

"Adelaide is boring" they moan. But I believe being bored is a state of mind, not an attribute of a place.

For a long time I have felt that Adelaide hides its highlights very well, burying event announcements on small signs at busy street corners and in classified advertisements in  newspapers that are no longer read.

Several years ago the government funded a local community group to set up a website to list Adelaide events, but this initiative failed because the group was not interested in looking at ways to collect event information.

After exploring a few dead ends I eventually located a website that I thought went some way to putting their finger on the pulse, and subscribed to its newsletter. It gave me some good ideas but I decided I could do better, and started writing for Weekend Notes myself in May under the profile name Dave W. It has been a blast!

Today I reached a milestone - 150 articles in a little less than 6 months.

Not only do I now have tens of thousands of readers every month, but I have also seen the website improve and grow and provide me with even more ideas of things to do. My days are never boring, and it's hard to find time to do things I should do (like housekeeping!). Instead I am out meeting people, attending events, exploring new places, and tasting foods that I haven't tried before. My writing also gives me enough pocket money to buy new toys like fancy cameras and electronic gadgets which I love. 

I hope that my articles on Weekend Notes give other people as much pleasure as it gives me in writing them. In some small way I'd like to think I'm making Adelaide a less "boring" place.