Choosing The Best Tomato For You

When it comes to growing tomatoes, there are so many varieties to choose from and it can be hard to know where to start. Our deep love of the tomato, coupled with the tomato’s ability to mutate readily, has led to it being carefully selected…

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Hempcrete: A Revolution In Healthy Building

Much is being made of hemp as a superfood, and its sibling, medicinal cannabis. But little is known about the health benefits of buildings constructed with hempcrete.

Industrial hemp is a variety of the Cannabis sativa plant species that is grown specifically for a range of…

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Eating Insects

As superfood fads go, the movement towards eating insects has a lot of hype, but is less commonly adopted. An untapped source of protein, high in amino acids, wildly abundant, easy to grow, with a tiny ecological footprint—the sales pitch sounds great to most of…

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Urban Farming: Spoke & Spade

Simeon Hanscamp finished his university degree and was searching for meaningful work. He took a short business course, worked on a market garden, studied online with Curtis Stone (the urban farmer, not the celebrity chef), watched a bit of YouTube, and decided he would have…

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Reading Landscape With David Holmgren

Permaculture invites us to slow down and really take stock of what is happening in a place before we go about changing or developing it. Whether a garden, farm or something else, we start by asking what is unique about this place and how did…

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Let Nature Nurture Your Microbiome

We use and value diversity in our gardens, farms, national parks and nature reserves. Yet do we use and value the diversity in our bodies, in that vast collection of unseen communities we call our microbiome?

When there are trillions of microbes involved that can directly…

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Biogas: Creating Power From Waste

There is a simple way to make your own renewable energy at home and use it for cooking, heating and lighting. It’s called Biogas, and the concept is – add your kitchen scraps or animal manures to a large tank called a ‘digester’ and the…

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Waste-Free Celebrations

Celebrations often carry their own set of rituals and expectations. Many of these rituals can be unsustainable in terms of the increase in consumption and waste which is often inherent to them. Here are some tips to help you rethink your celebrations in order to…

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Charlie Mgee

In his career Charlie Mgee has performed to a crowd of 10,000 ‘doof heads’, to five-year-olds in a kindergarten class, to Vandana Shiva at a Seed Freedom conference. His music has even been played at a UN official ceremony. How did he end up playing…

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The Tropical Permaculture Guidebook

We are very conscious that climate change will hit the tropics, and especially the most vulnerable, very hard. The aim of the Tropical Permaculture Guidebook (TPGB) is to be part of simultaneously creating lifestyles that contribute to environmental regeneration rather than climate change and degradation…

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Homemade Crackers

When we’re doing our best to make everything from scratch with the most wholesome ingredients and to avoid processed food and all the plastic trappings it brings, there is one food that can be our undoing. It’s that ultimate versatile snack food—crackers.

Wheat crackers, rice crackers,…

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Kids’ Patch

We love to see our little Pip fans and we’d like big kids to be in Pip magazine too. So if there are big kids out there doing great things in the garden (come on tweens and teens!), get out your selfie sticks and show…

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Permaculture Around The World

Sabar was adopted into the world of permaculture at the age of 12 when he and his brother were orphaned in the 2004 tsunami. He was taken in by IDEC, a centre for permaculture and sustainable living in Ubud, Bali, which became his home and…

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Pip Picks: Things We Like

It’s estimated that 6 million tonnes of single-use plastics (such as cutlery) is thrown in to landfill every year. This reusable cutlery set, which includes a knife, fork and spoon, is made from bamboo. It comes in a handy canvas pouch to make for easy…

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Noticeboard

To place your event here, email editorial@pipmagazine.com.au

PERMAFUND

Permafund is Permaculture Australia’s tax-deductible fund. Donations are accepted and a dedicated voluntary committee distributes the funds to worthy permaculture projects both in Australia and overseas. $500–$2000 go a long way in many countries and it’s a tangible action…

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Pip Brains Trust

Where do I start in planning my permaculture garden on my bare 2 acre block that I’ve just built a house on? (Anna, Candelo NSW)

Start at your door. Create a small kitchen garden while you get to know your whole site in-depth and make your…

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Permaculture plant: Buckwheat

Despite its name, buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) is neither a grain nor is it related to wheat. Originating from Asia, this fast growing annual is most closely related to sorrel and rhubarb. It’s most prized for its triangular edible seeds which have a long tradition as…

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Permaculture animal: Guinea Pig

Guinea pigs (cavies) are a useful permaculture animal because they can be a zero-input, multi-functioning addition to rooftop, backyard and homestead gardens.

They keep grass down, provide manure, recycle your food scraps and don’t need much space or make any noise, unlike our clucky friends the…

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Eat your weeds: Yellow Dock

BOTANICAL NAME: Rumex crispus (Yellow Dock, Curly Dock, Narrow-leaved Dock)

FAMILY NAME: Polygonaceae (that’s the buckwheat family)

DESCRIPTION:

Yellow Dock is an abundant weed that commonly grows in disturbed damp soils. It is easily found in pastures, waterways, wetlands, riparian vegetation, roadsides and waste areas in temperate and…

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In The Garden: November- February

• November: Basil, beans, beetroot, cabbage, capsicum, carrot, cauliflower, chives, coriander, cucumber, lemongrass, marjoram, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, tarragon, and thyme, English spinach, kohlrabi, leek, lettuce, onion, parsnip, pumpkin, radish, silverbeet, swede, sweet corn, tomato, turnip, zucchini.

• December: Lettuce, rocket, Asian greens, carrot, beetroot, celery,…

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Book Reviews

Milkwood have done it again. Everything they do has equal parts style and substance and this book has both in spades (excuse the pun). Rather than trying to do what a lot of gardening/ permaculture books do and try to cover everything in one book,…

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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…

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Editorial

Hey Pipsters,

Often we spend our lives walking around seeing only what is in front of us, but it is the microscopic, that which we cannot see, that is responsible for what is before…

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