Category 25

We’d love to receive your feedback, questions, ideas or to see if we’ve inspired you to embark on any projects. Email your letters and photos to editorial@pipmagazine.com.au

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I’ve had a life-long interest in gardens but as I age – I’m now nearly 77 – I’m not so agile. I’m interested in tips for composting, worm farms, weeding and herbs. But I can’t kneel down.

Dianne via website

You must have amassed a wealth of knowledge over the years and this is where sharing a garden can be such a great idea. You could share that knowledge with a more able-bodied person and together you could do great things. Otherwise everything raised is the go; raised beds, raised worm farms and smaller manageable compost systems. We’ll keep the articles coming. Robyn

The recent detection of varroa mite (Varroa destructor) at the Port of Newcastle in New South Wales poses enormous challenges not just to Australia’s commercial honey industry, but to the pollination vital for producing the food we grow and eat.

Why is everyone up in arms about varroa mite?

Varroa mite is a parasite which feeds on both the brood and the blood of honey bees, weakening the colony, spreading viruses and, if left unchecked, eventually killing the hive. Varroa mites breed on larvae and pupae, which can cause malformed bees and reduced populations. Weak bees means a lower rate of how many bees return to the colony after foraging during the day, too. Until recently, Australia was the only honey-producing country in the world that had successfully kept varroa mite out.

With the rising cost of fresh produce, there has never been a better time to grow your own leafy greens. While growing lettuce in winter is straightforward, things get trickier with the arrival of summer’s hotter temperatures which sees the fragile plant wanting to wilt or bolt to seed. Instead, why not invest your energy in establishing perennial leafy greens in your garden. Permaculture staples like Okinawa Spinach, Mushroom Plant, Lebanese Cress, Brazilian Spinach and Sambung Nyawa are the best of the best when it comes to low-maintenance and productive leafy greens.

These perennial powerhouses are must-haves whether you live in an apartment or on acreage. They are hardy, delicious and highly nutritious. Just as happy growing in a pot or in the garden, they will provide your family with an abundant supply of fresh leafy greens all year round and best of all, as hardy perennials, you can pretty much plant and forget. Delicious eaten raw or cooked, these nutrient-dense plants are far more hardy than lettuce or spinach, so come summer when those European crops are either bolting to seed or wilting in the heat, these perennials are at their productive best.

Soul Fire Farm is an 80-acre farm located on land historically stewarded by the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohican Nation, more recently known as Petersberg, New York.

The Mohican people were forcibly removed in the 1800s to a reserve in Wisconsin, 1600 km away. This farm is a way to restore seed sovereignty, build relationships with the land and community, and uproot racism in the food system against the Afro-Indigenous community.

Directed by Leah Penniman, author of Farming While Black, the farm organises food justice workshops for urban youth, creates home gardens for city-dwellers living under food apartheid, shares wildcrafting skills, coordinates a native seed exchange and actively engages in ecosystems restoration. It also offers a harvest delivery for households which reaches over 160,000 people each year.

This triple-fired enamel mug is a reminder from the Ngangkari traditional healers in the remote western desert of Central Australia to take a moment for yourself and relax. Handmade in Poland, the eight centimetrediameter mug features words in language on the outside which mean ‘take a long, slow breath’ and ‘Have a cuppa, take a deep breath and relax’ is inscribed on the inside.

BUDDING FILMAKERS

In a bid to educate the next generation of environmentally conscious smartphone consumers, the 2022 MobileMuster Student Film Competition is underway with student’s being urged to submit a one-minute film based on this year’s theme of The Science of Recycling. Open to individuals, groups or classes from the following five categories – Lower Primary (Years 1–4), Upper Primary (Years 5–6), Lower Secondary (Years 7–9), Upper Secondary (Years 10–12) and Tertiary (university, TAFE or college students) – there’s up to $30,000 worth of prizes up for grabs. Entries close 30 September. For more info, head to www.mobilemuster.com.au.

This is our 25th issue and we have been publishing Pip for nearly nine years now. During that time we have had the work of many artists featured on our cover. You may have noticed we have given our cover a revamp this issue and we hope you like it.

Pip is evolving and growing up and we wanted the cover to reflect that, too. Thanks to those of you who have been with us since the beginning when our beautiful duck waddled out onto our very first cover. And for those of you who have recently joined us, welcome to the Pip family. Your support is what keeps us going.

We all need to be supporting one another at the moment by buying local, supporting smaller businesses and sharing what we have. We need to be creating more connections within our neighbourhoods and learning how to be more self-sufficient within our own households and our wider communities. And with the cost of living going up, we can’t forget our local independent businesses who are providing us with variety, quality and knowledgeable services.