On Sunday, 20 November, Unley Council presented the inaugural Unley Spring Fling Community Picnic. Initially planned for Soldiers Memorial Gardens but was moved to Unley Town Hall as the weather turned stormy.

In the main hall, the event featured workshops on growing food in your own garden, with horticultural experts on hand to provide gardening tips, market and informational stalls with a Spring flavour and live music. Food trucks took care of our lunch needs and coffee intake, and there were plenty of kids’ activities in the library.

Grow Grow Grow Your Own group (GGGYO) and Sustainable Communities SA shared a stall that gave out lots of seeds (thanks to Anne Wilson), tomato seedlings (thanks to Pat and Diana Bickford) and giveaways (wicking pots and fertilisers, thanks to Pauline). We also displayed information about other groups and projects of Sustainable Communities SA, sold lots of Boomerang bags and enjoyed the company of some amazing people.

GGGYO also organised the main feature of the event – the workshops. All three workshops with over 30 to 40 attendees at each session. The first two terrific presentations from Chris Day on Growing Vegetables and Caring for Fruit Trees had many questions from an interested audience. Chris emphasised the importance of designing/ planning the garden with the sun and location in mind. In the third workshop, Jenny Deans gave us ideas about Bringing Good Bugs into our garden. Lots of examples of plants that attract beneficial insects, e.g. alyssum, saltbush and wallaby grass.