Category 22

Pip Picks – Things We Like

PICKS

Hello Snowglobe
REUSABLE GIFT WRAP

Every year, Australians throw away around 350,000 km of wrapping paper. Why not opt to use reusable wrap this festive season which can form part of your gift for friends and loved ones. With a large range of festive and decorative designs printed on 100 percent cotton, the reusable wrap is designed to make use of traditional Japanese wrapping styles, where knots and bows are tied in the fabric to wrap the gift

From $19 www.hellosnowglobe.com.au

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International Projects

permaculture-world

In the Mayan highlands on the shores of Lake Atitlán of Guatemala is the Instituto Mesoamericano de Permacultura. It was created in 2000 by a group of Indigenous Maya Kakchiquel people dedicated to reclaiming native seeds and traditional Indigenous knowledge systems, and have chosen to use permaculture as the platform to help them achieve it.

After 36 years of internal armed conflict in the region that wiped out hundreds of communities and displaced millions from their land, this work is critical. The conflict disrupted the transfer of cultural and ancestral knowledge and the Indigenous community faces the very real challenges of poverty and malnutrition. Indigenous people were disproportionately affected during the war and left largely dispossessed when the peace deal was signed.

The institute is focused on restoring knowledge and local communities through access to land, seed and permaculture education. So far, the institute has trained more than 10,000 smallholder farmers and has helped to increase the community’s capacity to adapt to climate change and address malnutrition. It has been shortlisted for a 2021 Lush Spring Prize.

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Brains Trust

Brains Trust

When is the best time to mulch my garden?

Soil never wants to be bare, so whether you use your plants as a living mulch or cover the soil around your plants, always ensuring you don’t have exposed or bare soil reduces degradation. There are times though when a thick layer of mulch is not a great idea, like in winter with its heavy rainfall periods because young plants can rot if mulch is too thick and soggy around their bases. Mulch will hold moisture in the soil, so summer is a great time to ensure plants are mulched well. Just make sure your soil is well watered before spreading mulch and water again once it’s spread. Ensure mulch isn’t hard up against plants where they emerge from the soil, to reduce the risk of rotting and allow airflow.

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Letters To The Editor

letters-editor

We’d love to see if we’ve inspired you to embark on any projects. The letter of the issue will receive a limited-edition Pip magazine print featuring archival inks on textured, 300 gsm rag paper. Email your letters and photos to editorial@pipmagazine.com.au

From the start

I just wanted to say a huge thank you! I recently subscribed and I have learnt so much already from one issue. The articles are written in a way that are easy to read and understand – particularly for those, like myself, who are at the beginning of their permaculture journey. I found there was just so much information online that it became overwhelming finding what were good starting points. Your magazine gives clarity and easy steps to make humbling progress. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I can’t wait for the next issue.

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Permaculture Design – Planning Your Place

permaculture-design

Turning a challenging piece of land into a productive permaculture patch doesn’t need to be as daunting or as difficult as you might think. Successful design starts with providing honest answers to the right questions.

Michelle and her two kids live in the northern suburbs of nipaluna/Hobart on a 750 mÇ urban property. Chosen for its low-maintenance house and the relatively large land size, other would-be owners saw overgrown lawn and a steep slope, but Michelle saw her future edible landscape.

As a passionate gardener striving for a productive patch, Michelle wasn’t interested in just popping in a garden bed here and there, she wanted to completely transform the property. We worked with Michelle to first understand what she wanted and how we could realistically achieve it given her challenging urban block, before turning it into a waterpreserving, soul-nourishing and nutrient-dense foodscape.

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Indigenous Teachings – Timeless Traditions

indigenous-teachings

Patricia Ellis has devoted her life to teaching Aboriginal language and culture. Not only helping Indigenous Australians reconnect to their heritage, but also teaching non- Indigenous people ways to develop a deeper connection to Country and a genuine respect for the oldest culture on earth.

For Aunty Trish, as she’s often respectfully referred to, teaching culture and language is about uniting Indigenous people, empowering them to connect with traditions that have been lost since colonisation. After 30 years working in Aboriginal-identified roles for government, schools, TAFEs and the private sector, she established Minga Aboriginal Cultural Services in 2017 to respectfully share the rich diversity of Indigenous culture and heritage.

As well as running tours, she hosts workshops in bushfoods and medicines, Dreamtime stories, fire making, cultural awareness, smoking ceremonies, tool making, as well as wood, grass, stone and shell technology. Her sessions are primarily for Indigenous people to come together and relearn culture, but she also includes those closely related to or working with Indigenous people, as well as making them available to non-Indigenous people.

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Natural Building – Earth Oven

earth-oven

Whether it’s for pizzas, bread or slow-cooked roasts, earth ovens are delightful to use and made from natural and breathable materials.

Building your own earth oven is a great place to start your natural building journey and an excellent way to test the clay content of your subsoil. The following is a guide for a medium-sized oven. You can increase or decrease the size of your oven, but it’s important to stick to the ratios which not only ensure the most efficient burn, but means you’ll e1liminate the need to incorporate a flue.

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Activist Patch – Strawberry Brooch

strawberry-brooch

Patches and brooches are fun to make and a colourful way to express yourself or your feelings. They can be made from just about anything, be sewn or pinned on a bag, on a cushion or worn proudly on your chest.

The only thing that makes a brooch different from a pin is that one can be pinned to something whereas the other is generally sewn, either as a standalone statement or as a personalised way to mend a garment. Limited only by your imagination, these can be flat, colourful shapes, a three-dimensional item representing something you love, or they can portray a message with words that might be humorous or honest. This tutorial covers the basics of all three scenarios, giving you the know-how to create a patch or a brooch for yourself, or a personalised gift for family and friends.

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Tried & True

cling-wrap

The number of commercially available cling wrap products claiming to be compostable is on the rise. It means companies are recognising how important it is to stamp out plastics, but it also means they’re reacting to the demands of the buying public which is great news for all.

However with greenwashing rife across all sorts of consumer-driven industries, I wanted to find out not just how compostable these products are, but also how responsible their production processes are, how earthconscious their packaging is and, importantly, how effective the actual product is in day to day use.

I’ve sourced three readily available products, Eco Clingwrap by Sugar Wrap, Compostic 100% home compostable cling wrap and Great Wrap’s Home Compostable Cling Wrap to compare.

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Kids’ Patch

kids-patch

Our kids’ patch winners for this issue are Hettie & Poppy Knight from Raworth, NSW, you’ve won a copy of the 2021 book Bee Detectives, written by Vanessa Ryan-Rendall and illustrated by Brenna Quinlan. It’s for any aspiring bee detective who wants to learn how to attract native bees to their backyard and we’ve got another one to give away next issue.

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