Category 21

Coffee Grounds

coffee-grounds

Using spent coffee grounds is one more way for us to turn so-called waste into a useful and valuable resource around the home.

An average cafe collects around 320 kilograms of coffee grounds each month and if it gets put into landfill, where it breaks down anaerobically, it converts to harmful greenhouse gases.

In The Garden

Spent coffee grounds contain a whole range of useful things for gardeners, like nitrogen, potassium, calcium and trace minerals. While coffee grounds can be sprinkled sparingly – no more than one handful per square metre – straight onto the garden, they can be acidic, so you’re better off adding them to your compost or your worm farm to break down and neutralise the acid. If you do opt to use them directly on your garden, aim to use them around acid-loving plants like blueberries, and steer clear of any seedlings, where research has shown it can stunt young plants’ growth, and a light application is key. If you’re unsure, observe any impacts it has on your beds by performing a soil test.

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Brains Trust

seed-germination

Can I save the seeds from a pumpkin I purchased from the supermarket?

It’s not a good idea, because cucurbits – think pumpkins, squash, cucumbers and zucchinis – cross-pollinate really easily. This means if your neighbour is growing a different variety than you, they will cross pollinate and the seed you save will almost certainly not grow like its parent. This can occur within a two kilometre radius. There are things you can do to ensure your cucurbits stay true to type, but it means identifying and isolating certain flowers on your plant and carrying out the pollination process yourself. It’s doable, but tricky and you need to know what you’re doing. We’ll look to cover this in more detail in an upcoming issue.

How do I know when to harvest seed?

Peak eating time is generally much earlier than when seeds are ripe to harvest and save. When we deem things like cucumbers and zucchinis ripe to eat, for example, their seeds will be too immature to sometimes even see, let alone germinate. While pumpkins are an exception, more often than not you’ll need to let a plant or fruit pass maturity in order to ripen its seeds. A pea or a bean, for example, you’ll need to let the pod dry on the plant before the seeds are ripe. And for vegetables without obvious seeds like lettuce, spinach and onions, you’ll need to wait for the plant to go to flower which, once dry, will form seeds. When the flowers have matured and are starting to dry out, cut the whole stem off and place it in a paper bag to dry completely.

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Dadirri

DADIRRI

I want to talk about special quality of my people, one I believe to be the most important, and our most unique gift. In our language, this special quality is called dadirri. It is inner, deep listening and quiet, still awareness.

Ngangikurungkurr means deep water sounds. Ngangikurungkurr is the name of my tribe. The word can be broken up into three parts: Ngangi means word or sound, kuri means water, and kurr means deep. This is about tapping into that deep spring that’s within us.

Many Australians understand that Aboriginal people have a special respect for nature. The identity we have with the land is sacred and unique. Many people are starting to understand this more. There are many Australians who appreciate that Aboriginal people have a very strong sense of community. All persons matter.

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Five of a kind: Fire-Resistant Edibles

five-resistant-edibles

Bushfires are becoming more frequent and often harder to control, making our homes and properties more vulnerable to fire than perhaps they once were. For those of us interested in protecting our properties, the call to plant fire-resistant plants is at an all-time high. If we can incorporate trees, shrubs and ground covers into our design which are slower to burn than some other species, while at the same time providing us with food and nourishment when it’s not bushfire season, then we can’t really go wrong.

There is a long list of trees and plants that can help us to provide a resilient layer of practical edibles that can help hold back encroaching wildfires. For those thinking of growing a fire-resistant boundary, here’s a couple of edible options across five different plant types that are well worth considering.

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Pip Picks: Things We Like

Burgon & Ball

National Trust Pocket Knife

Burgon & Ball began manufacturing agricultural shears in the UK in 1730, so it knows a thing or two about gardening tools. Its National Trust folding pocket knife features a stainless-steel hook-shaped blade to ensure cuts are clean and made in one pass for better plant health. Boasting a seven-centimetre-long blade and an FSC-certified hardwood handle, the knife has an overall length of 18 centimetres and comes with a ten-year warranty.

$37.50

www.qualityproducts.com.au

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Pip Noticeboard

Pip Magazine Noticeboard

Nominations are open for the 2021 Pip Permie Awards which recognise the individuals and organisations working tirelessly to create positive change. As Australia’s leading permaculture title, Pip will reward the businesses, people and projects who best demonstrate permaculture’s three key ethics of earth care, people care and fair share.

There are three coveted awards up for grabs this year: 2021 Ethical Small Business of the Year, 2021 Permie Project of the Year and 2021 Permie of the Year.  Both the Permie of the Year and the Project of the Year will be featured in a 2022 issue of Pip magazine, while the Ethical Small Business will receive a complimentary advertising package through Pip Media.

To nominate a project or person doing amazing things, head to www.connect. pipmagazine.com.au/ pip-awards and tell us bit about who they are and what they’re up to. The winners will be announced in the final issue of the year.

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Editorial

In the face of climate change and all that is currently challenging our world, planting and saving seeds to grow food is one of the most powerful actions we can take.

An act of radical hope, it is taking control of how the food you eat is grown, you are actively reducing your food miles and you are stepping away from a system that values profit over the environment.

But you are also creating hope for the future. A future with greater food sovereignty, where food is produced more locally and shared among households, where we aren’t reliant on big companies that are destroying our soils and our environment in a bid to produce food at the cheapest price possible for the greatest profit. Instead, creating a future where it’s possible to regenerate the soil and our ecosystems while we grow food.

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