Category Regulars

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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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.

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.

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.

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.

Chef Annie Smithers takes us on a generously honest journey of finding, connecting to and regenerating land that can support her family, her restaurant and her desire to live more sustainably.

Part cookbook, part journal, Recipe for a Kinder Life is a warts-and-all account of the realities of caring for the land and reaping its bounty. Sincere, frank and often laughout- loud funny, Annie details the lessons she’s learnt through chapters such as Land, the Productive Garden, Buildings, Water and Weather, each punctuated by her favourite recipes from her decades of experience.

‘The path I have chosen over the past dozen years does not make me an expert in sustainable living; I’m just a regular person trying to step a little more gently on the earth and to live a kinder life,’ she writes. ‘Yet, I feel there are more and more like me who want to make a change for the better: to simplify their lives, to lessen their footprint, to have time for things that matter, for each other, to reconnect with skills and lessons that have been forgotten.’

We love seeing kids getting out into the garden and enjoying home-grown produce. Here are some of our littlest Pip folk sharing what they’ve found in the patch.

This issue’s winner is Rohanna from Hilldene, pictured with this issue’s permaculture animal—the worm! Congratulations Rohanna! You will receive a copy of the CD Listen to the land: Stories and Songs for Children by Annie Bryant. This CD includes seven songs and six audio stories about growing food, living on the land, caring for the bush and bees, and listening to Mother Earth.

Next issue’s prize will be a Kid’s Garden Trowel and Fork set by Ryset. Parents, you can send photos for this page through to editorial@pipmagazine.com.au, including your child’s name, age and suburb in the email.

Emptying the ever-filling ash box might seem like just another chore, but it’s actually another great resource around the home.

As winter arrives, some of us will find ourselves with an abundance of wood ash. As a byproduct of timber, most of us feel okay about small amounts to the compost, but there are other great uses for wood ash around the home.