Category Regulars

Explore Pip Magazine Issue 33’s noticeboard for the latest updates, events, and essential tips. Stay informed and connected with our community! 2024 GIIYONG FESTIVAL This year’s Giiyong Festival will be held in Eden on the far south coast of New South Wales on Saturday 9 November. Giiyong, which means ‘come to welcome’ in the language spoken by local Elders, was lunched in 2018 and has grown into an annual celebration of the area’s traditional and contemporary Aboriginal culture. The multi-art festival features dance, art, food, music, workshop and cultural tours. Earlybird tickets are available now via humanatix.com. NATURAL BEEKEEPING Pip […]

Black Duck Foods creates small-batch native-grass flours using regenerative farming methods. Climate smart and water-wise, this Indigenous-owned social enterprise is at the forefront of native-grass flours in Australia. It has recently added Dancing Grass Flour to its offerings, alongside mitchell grass, button grass and wattle seed flours. One of the first crops to re-emerge after the 2019–20 bushfires, it’s is the first time since colonisation Aboriginal people have milled flour from dancing grass.

Pip magazine Issue 33 international projects features permaculture projects from around the world. Words by Morag Gamble: www.permacultureeducationinstitute.org Photos Courtesy Of The Projects. 1. MAYAN PERMACULTURE ECOVILLAGE www.laventanapalenque.com In the heart of the Mexican Mayan Jungle is a 50-hectare ecovillage and sanctuary called La Ventana. It is a sustainable, educational, ecotourism and ceremonial place based on permaculture principles and it works with three local Mayan communities. Established in 2009, La Ventana understands how valuable permaculture is to help rediscover and reconnect with traditional, sustainable cultural practices. In this context, it is supporting the revival of the rich, long-lost culture of […]

While we all might hope for a resident blue-tongue lizard, a nest of native birds or a colony of microbats to call our newly installed bat box home, not everyone has the space or ability to attract reptiles, birds or mammals into their garden.

Native insects, however, play a very important role in Australia’s ecosystem and they’re on the decline. And because we all have access to the outdoors and the air insects roam in, there’s no reason why we can’t all have a hand in supporting these important pollinators.

Just as we humans benefit from a good dose of fermented foods rich in probiotics, so do our gardens. Anaerobically fermented, biofertilisers can reduce disease, pests and stress to plants as well as maximising yields and vitality.

If you’ve ever made a compost or comfrey tea which you’ve allowed to sit for a few days to improve, there’s a good chance you’ve unknowingly made your own basic biofertiliser.

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

Self-care

The article on radical rest (Pip Issue #32) was just the tonic I needed. I’m going through a difficult phase of my life at the moment and even though I know the steps I need to take to get through it, I often become overwhelmed.

Elders are the backbone of our societies, the heart of our communities, the soul of our Countries. We offer our respect and gratitude for their patience, love, strength and resilience.

The words of Elders stay with you on your muru (path) and resurface again when you’re ready to hear the message more clearly and grow in understanding. We are grateful for their teachings, guidance and discipline, and for holding a mirror up to us until we can see where we are stumbling. Elders have their eye on peaceful, healthy communities and Countries and have the capacity to stand strong in the face of injustice.

Gotu kola (Centella asiatica) can be used to improve mental clarity, cognitive function and focus. In Ayurvedic medicine, gotu kola is known as a mental rejuvenator.

Compounds in gotu kola can stimulate skin repair and growth, as well as increase collagen production. This can provide relief from the symptoms of psoriasis, eczema, burns and wounds. The herb is well known as a helpful remedy for relieving the symptoms of arthritis and reducing joint inflammation. Gotu kola is a part of the carrot family and has a taste similar to carrots, parsley and parsnip.

E-fuels are synthetic emission-free drop-in replacements for petrol, diesel and avgas and can be completely carbon-neutral.

The prospect of clean petrol that can be used in every vehicle currently on the road makes by far the most sense of all the proposed emission-free solutions. It appeals on several levels – it can be 100 percent carbon-neutral, it’ll keep our petrol-powered vehicles out of landfill and we don’t have to mine elements from the earth to produce it.

Brassica oleracea var. acephala – brassica is simply the name used by the Romans for cabbage, oleracea for ‘vegetable-like’ while acephala means ‘without a head’ in Greek. Also know as Kale. ORIGINS Kale is the closest plant to the ancestor of the cabbage, the sea kale (Crambe maritima) that still grows wild along the coasts of Europe. DESCRIPTION Kale is a biennial of very ancient cultivation. It was not developed for its flowers, like the cauliflower and the broccoli, nor for its heads like the Savoy cabbage, but for its profusion of leaves. It is open-hearted like collard greens, but […]