Category 27

Known as the world’s most expensive spice, the bright-orange saffron threads have been prized since biblical times for their fragrance, flavour, colour and medicinal value.

Saffron is the stigma of an autumn-blooming bulb called a crocus. The saffron-producing flower (Crocus sativus) is lilac in colour and globe shaped, and grows from a bulb to about 75 millimetres tall. Its most notable features are the three long, orange-red pistils that protrude from the blossoms.

The stigmas at the end of these are what saffron powder comes from. And the reason it’s so expensive is because you’d need nearly 100,000 flowers in order to produce a kilogram of saffron powder.

Downsizing I was devastated when early this year I had to leave my rental of 17 years. I had built up a huge plant collection over that time that had become accustomed to its own funky little microclimate. Due to overwhelm, and moving to a third-floor apartment with no lift, I gave away 95 percent of my plants. I honestly went into grief-mode as I mourned the loss of my beautiful garden I had built up over the years. So I decided to start again. Start small. And as I now have abundant sunshine on my small new balcony (my […]

What is soil?

About 95 percent of soil is crushed rock minerals (crystals of sand, silt and clay), about five percent is organic matter (things that have been alive at some point), and about 0.5–1 percent is living microbes. Up to 25 percent of living soil is air, by volume, and vital for healthy soil.

How is soil made?

Lichens, fungi, worms and microbes can help break down rock, but most comes from other actions such as freezing and thawing, glaciers or gradual erosion. Organic matter comes from leaf matter and animals – so dead roots, leaves and the like, along with insects, microbes and so on.

Plants feed the underground ecosystem with sugars and other organic compounds, essentially pushing organic matter into the soil because they can construct carbohydrates through photosynthesis. Nature makes soil at a similar rate to it being lost, but humans have typically degraded soil faster than it is made.

When it comes to sourcing seed for a green-manure crop, microgreen garnishes or to keep the kids entertained during the holidays, chances are you won’t need to head to your local garden centre or crop swap to source viable seed. While it’s always advisable to source fresh, open-pollinated seed in order to start off the crops you intend to eat, you’ll be amazed what will germinate from the spices and other edibles you already have in your pantry.

When it comes to the edible seeds and legumes we use in cooking, many people believe in order for them to germinate, they need to be certified-organic, meaning they haven’t been treated with chemicals or are in some way different to garden seeds. But that’s not the case, as we found out after rifling through the pantry to see what would germinate. And the rates of germination were surprisingly high, making them perfect for a green-manure or cover crop to protect your soil between plantings.

Tap O’Noth farm is a food forest, a permaculture education site and homestead situated on the side of Tap O’Noth hill in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The eight- acre farm was started in 2012 by James Reid and Rosa Bevan with the aim of showing how to create a cold-climate permaculture homestead.

James and Rosa have created a farm that functions like a forest ecosystem and share this with as many people as possible, while living a simple ecological life. They host permaculture education programs, run a half-acre agroforestry CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) market garden, invite people to stay at their their restored shepherd’s hut and are regenerating the woodlands and wetlands.

James and Rosa’s ecological vegetable box scheme feeds 50 households in their local area. They keep dairy goats and sheep to graze as well as geese and chickens to sell eggs alongside their organically grown vegies. Tap Farm hosts regular visitors, volunteers and students.

If you want to learn more about what they are doing and how they are doing it, subscribe to their Tap O’Noth Permaculture – a Forest Garden Farm YouTube channel.

An Australian company founded by a couple with Mexican heritage, Mexican Sole shoes sources its huaraches from a family-run producer in Mexico. Handmade by experienced weavers using sustainably sourced leather, each shoe is created using a single strand of leather that’s been woven into the sole, making them durable and long lasting. The colours are achieved using vegetable dyes and the process uses a 200-year- old method which takes 28 days. They’re available in a range of styles in both men’s and women’s sizes.

From $149.99 www.mexicansole.com.au

In January this year, New York became the sixth American state to legalise human composting as a sustainable alternative to burial or cremation. Known as Natural Organic Reduction (NOR), bodies are laid in a mixture of organic material such as straw and sawdust and the microbes already in the body do the rest. The process takes between 45–60 days and the family of the deceased is given the resulting soil to do with what they please. While it’s currently not a legal practice in Australia, Micah Truman, who’s the CEO of American NOR facility Return Home, told ABC Radio National’s Breakfast program he ‘just hosted a man from Australia at our facility two days ago, who is super keen to do it in Australia.’ Stay tuned!