Pip_CoverBanner_Issue_11

Introduction To Biodynamics

Biodynamics is a method of organic farming that views the entire farm (or garden) as an organism. Biodynamics utilises a closed-loop system where growers aim to produce everything needed by the farm on the farm itself. While this sort of system is used in other…

Continue reading

Dreaming Of A House Cow

Do you dream of milking your own cow? Having fresh, raw milk available on tap? The thought of all of that warm, frothy sweetness pouring into your bucket is very appealing to many but before you consider bringing a house cow into your daily life,…

Continue reading

A Year From The Garden

Could you survive if the only fruit and vegies you ate for a year where those grown in your own backyard? Jodie Vennitti from Perth, WA decided to set herself a challenge and try it out?

Jodie’s garden is productive and beautiful, although it hasn’t always…

Continue reading

Green Connect

The winner of Pip’s 2018 award for Best Permie Project is Green Connect. We’re excited to share what makes Green Connect stand out as an example of permaculture at its dynamic best.

Green Connect is a social enterprise doing good things for people and the planet….

Continue reading

Your Complete Guide To Manure

Manure is an amazing waste product that can transform the health and vitality of your garden. There is a lot of information out there about using manures in the garden, but it can be confusing. Which type should you use for what, do you need…

Continue reading

Do-Nothing Pest Management

Do you feel like you’re constantly battling pests in your garden for your fair share of the harvest? Do you wonder what you can possibly do to grow more food? As strange as it may sound, a ‘do-nothing’ approach to pest management might just be…

Continue reading

Cob Heart House

Jodie Lyn Brown’s ‘Cob Heart House’ sits at the top of a hill in Maleny, Queensland, surrounded by a garden full of fruit trees, herbs and vegetables. This beautiful hybrid home (half cob/half timber) is made even more special as it was built by Jodie…

Continue reading

An Introduction To Natural Cheesemaking

In Natural Cheesemaking we work with nature, instead of against nature, to make cheese. By using a starter that we make at home, harnessing the rich microbial ecology in raw milk, and honouring traditional cheesemaking methods, we can create cheeses that are more healthy, delicious…

Continue reading

Broadscale Permaculture At Millpost Farm

In the hills east of Canberra, down a dusty lane that winds up past the Lake George escarpment through Yellow Box Woodland (full of finches, thornbills, cuckoo- shrikes, kookaburras and robins), there is a rusty old gate with a stencilled sign that says ‘Millpost’.

Millpost was…

Continue reading

Natural Burials

Death is not an easy subject to talk about, but it’s an inevitable final chapter of life. By choosing a natural burial over a conventional burial or cremation, you minimise your environmental impact and depart the world in a way that is aligned with your…

Continue reading

Thoughtful Design, Easy Living

The site of Marg and John Sandefur’s house was a bare paddock on top of a ridge overlooking the ocean. The views were amazing but their location meant they were exposed to some wild weather.

They didn’t do the usual thing of building the house first…

Continue reading

Pip Permie Of The Year 2018

This is our inaugural Pip Permie of the Year Award. We started this award because we wanted to celebrate dedicated people making change in the world with permaculture.

NOMINEES

Callum Champagne, Che Hall, John Champagne, Karen Lenehan, Kat Lavers, Kate Venning, Kelly Ryder, Oscar Woods, Peter Axisa,…

Continue reading

Granny Square Fingerless Gloves

Fingerless gloves are perfect for keeping your hands warm without restricting your fingers. Here is how to make a pair of retro style granny square fingerless gloves. Rather than being strict instructions, this is an inspirational idea kind of pattern.

As is the tradition of making…

Continue reading

Build Your Own Wicking Bed

We know plants need water to grow, however understanding when and how much they need can seem like a mystery only ‘green thumbs’ can solve. Enter the wicking bed!

Wicking beds are an innovative vegie bed irrigation solution. They minimise the watering challenge by creating a…

Continue reading

Seedwell

At the gate that opens into the gardens of Seedwell’s St Kilda site, there is a blooming eucalyptus caesia. For the people of the Kulin nation, this gum represents coming of age for young people and for Seedwell it represents a similar idea.

Seedwell is an…

Continue reading

Coffee With Heart From Timor-Leste

It’s early morning in the misty, humid mountains of Timor-Leste, one of Australia’s closest neighbours. Chickens and roosters roam free, smoke from the cooking fires fill the air and the village of Baguia is coming to life.

Paulino has been in his jungle garden since 5…

Continue reading

Mindfulness In The Garden

Too often, we get caught up in our busy lives. We become overwhelmed and never quite catch up with all the tasks we’ve set ourselves. Becoming more aware of our surroundings through mindfulness is one way to reset ourselves and improve our wellbeing.

Observation is an…

Continue reading

Kids’ Patch

Is the garden your happy place? Do you like to go out there to play, explore, look at the flowers, pick some vegies, get your hands dirty? We love seeing Pip kids having fun in the garden and enjoying nature’s bounty.

Our Kids’ Patch winners for…

Continue reading

Permaculture Around The World

Not far from downtown Portland, Oregon, lives this small intentional community. Foster Village is ‘retrosuburbia’ in action. What started as a single shared community home has now evolved into three houses—an urban community homestead with 11 people living collectively on 1/3 acre.

The villagers started in…

Continue reading

Pip Picks: Things We Like

If you like to drink your coffee with a clear conscience, it goes without saying that it’s worth buying fair trade. WithOneBean is a not for profit coffee roaster based in Melbourne. Their coffee is made from 100% Arabica beans which grow as wild coffee…

Continue reading

Noticeboard

PERMACULTURE AUSTRALIA OPEN GARDENS AND FARMS

All Year, Nationwide

Permaculture Australia is encouraging permies all over Australia to open their farms and gardens to the public. This will introduce permaculture to more people, encourage social interaction with like-minded citizens and help fundraise towards the operating costs of…

Continue reading

Pip Brains Trust

How do I encourage worms into our soil and to stay there? [Rebecca, Maryborough, QLD]

In the words of Kevin Costner, ‘If you build it, [they] will come’. Worms live in soils with high humus content. Humus is the product of decaying organic matter. The best…

Continue reading

Letters To The Editor

Email your letters and photos to editorial@pipmagazine.com.au. We’d love to hear what you think of Pip and if you’ve embarked on any projects as a result of our articles. Each issue, one published entrant will receive a limited-edition Pip magazine art print, printed with archival…

Continue reading

Permaculture animal: Cattle

Cattle (cows, bulls, oxen, heifers, steers, bullocks or calves) are valued for their ability to provide large amounts of milk or meat. They can also be used for labour and when well-managed, in maintaining grasslands. Yet cattle are very large animals, expensive to purchase and…

Continue reading

Eat your weeds: Fat Hen

A weed loved equally by humans and hens, Fat Hen (Chenopodium album), also known as Lamb’s Quarters, is valued for both its culinary and nutritional benefits. An inoffensive texture and flavour makes it the perfect entry level weed for novice foragers. Fat Hen can be…

Continue reading

Save your seeds: Fennel

BOTANICAL NAME: Foeniculum vulgare. Translates to common (vulgare) little hay (foeniculum), the latter of which refers to the shape of fennel leaves.

ORIGIN: Thought to have originated in Italy, fennel was a favourite food and medicine of the Romans.

DESCRIPTION: There are at least two main types…

Continue reading

In The Garden: July – October

• July: Beetroot, lettuce, mustard greens, onion, peas, radish.

• August: Artichoke, asparagus (crowns), beetroot, cabbage (summer varieties), capsicum (undercover), chilli (undercover), eggplant, kohlrabi, leek, lettuce, parsnip, peas, potato, radish, rocket, spring onion, strawberry (runners), sunflower, thyme, tomato (undercover), melon (undercover).

• September: Artichoke, asparagus (plant crowns),…

Continue reading

Book Reviews

This book is for anyone thinking about giving up their day job and taking the step towards making a living as a farmer. Andrew Campbell and Anna Featherstone left the city ten years ago and did just that. They moved to the country and bought…

Continue reading