Issue 20

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Growing Citrus: Zest For Life

Citrus is a mainstay of Australian yards. From the ubiquitous lemon tree in the corner through to a kumquat in a pot on the balcony, citrus has so much to offer home gardeners if cared for correctly.

When they’re healthy and productive, backyard citrus is a great addition to any size…

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Homegrown Nuts: Get Cracking

When it comes to adding productive trees to your garden, it’s easy to just think of fruit trees. But nut trees provide a productive and nutritious addition to the harvest each year and there’s a nut tree to suit every climate and situation.

Walnuts, almonds, pecans, macadamias or pistachios, it’s hard…

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Native Grains: Grass Roots

Bruce Pascoe is working hard to reintroduce native grains and flours into Australia’s food system. Easier to grow and more nutritious than European-introduced wheat, Bruce’s work is as much about protecting the grasses as it is about protecting the knowledge.

Aboriginal Australians used, and still use, over 600 different species of…

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Slow Cooking: Low And Slow

There’s nothing better than coming home to the enticing aroma of dinner cooking. Not always about convenience, the key to slow cooking is a lower temperature over a longer period of time which both slows ourselves down and allows us to draw more nutrients from the food we eat.

Cooking slow…

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Passive Heating: Inside The Box

By understanding the principles that underpin passive heating design, the building you create or retrofit will produce enduring comfort, be far more sustainable and deliver significant financial savings.

The most important design principle when retrofitting or building a new home is to ‘build tight’. This means eliminating air gaps in walls…

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Electromobility: On The Charge

Greenhouse gas emissions from transport have recorded the highest rate of growth of any sector in the last 30 years. The key to changing the projected trajectory, which forecasts continued growth through to 2030, is about finding cleaner transport solutions.

According to the Climate Council, Australia is the second-largest producer of…

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Kitchen Garden: A Patch From Scratch

A productive food garden starts with great design. Applying permaculture design principles early on in the design phase means striking a balance with nature to get it working with you, achieving practical and permanent efficiencies to help feed you and your family.

Building a vegie patch from scratch can seem daunting,…

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Then & Now: One And 20

We catch up with three interviewees featured in the very first issue of Pip and find out where their permaculture journey has taken them and what they’ve learnt along the way.

HANNAH MOLONEY

How do you describe yourself and what you do?

I’m a permaculture designer, educator and community worker focused on growing…

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Living Without Money: Wealth For Toil

Six years ago, Jo Nemeth felt an overwhelming need to to give up money and has since lived comfortably without the one thing many of us rely so heavily on. If that’s not enough, she’s now turning her attention to becoming fossil-fuel free by 2023.

In 2014, Jo Nemeth lived a…

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Winter Wellness: Fire Fighter

In the lead-up to the coldest months, now’s a great time to think about herbal remedies to boost you and your family’s immunity.

Being able to boost your immunity through homemade tonics is a more natural and more sustainable alternative to commercially sourced options. By including ingredients sourced from your own…

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5 Plants For Vitamin C

Vitamin C is a vital nutrient we can’t do without. The body cannot make it or store it, so it’s important to include vitamin C regularly in your diet. While scurvy is thought of as a thing of the past, it can still be found in today’s refugee camps where…

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Brains Trust

Should I be doing anything different in winter to keep my chickens happy?

Hens can be fed more in winter, around 1.5 times what you normally feed them. They need the extra food to keep warm, recover from high egg-laying times and to grow new feathers after a moult. Extra protein…

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Wood Ash

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,…

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Read & Watch

When a crises turns the world upside down, a garden can be a place of rest and healing – a place to remake your life. Grounded shares Liz Zorab’s personal story of courage and transformation alongside that of her small but abundant homestead in South West Wales, UK.

After a debilitating…

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Guinea Fowl

Notoriously noisy, fiercely territorial and adept foragers, guinea fowl can be a really useful addition to a permaculture patch.

As far as domesticated birds go, guinea fowl are on the wild end of the spectrum. Originating in Africa’s sub-Sahara region, they have plenty to offer the home gardener, but they also…

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Beetroot

Beta vulgaris – beta is the name ancient Romans gave to the beet, while vulgaris means common.

Origin

Wild beets are native to northern Africa and the coast of Spain and Portugal. They were introduced to northern Europe by the Romans who fed them to both their troops and horses. Beets adapted…

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Kids’ Patch

Our kids’ patch winners for this issue are Arvea and Isola Crosier from Toodyay, in Western Australia, you’ve both won snazzy new T-shirts from Izwoz!

Next issue we’ve got a pack of Permaculture Action Cards to give away by Brenna Quinlan and Charlie Mgee. The pack features 65 durable cards depicting…

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Pip Noticeboard

Welcome to the milestone of Pip’s 20th issue! An idea conceived a decade ago by founding editor Robyn Rosenfeldt who was not only committed to reducing her and her young family’s impact on the planet, but who wanted to inform, inspire and encourage people all around the country to do…

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Letters To The Editor

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

Bubble rap

I love that you have a recipe for soap…

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Pip Picks – Things We Like

Dark Emu

DARK LAGER

Bruce Pascoe, Bunarong/Yuin man and author of Dark Emu, has released a dark lager brewed with Australian native grains grown and harvested on his property. Produced in collaboration with Sailors Grave Brewing in Orbost, Victoria and launched under Pascoe’s new Black Duck Foods banner, the smallbatch beer is…

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Editorial

Welcome to Pip’s 20th issue. Wow, what a journey! When I started Pip my three girls were running around at knee height and now they’re mostly taller than me. Almost like a fourth child, Pip has grown and evolved with lots of attention and love and has come a long…

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MAY-AUGUST

What to sow

MAY

Broad beans, beetroot, carrot, chives, fennel, garlic, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, mizuna, mustard greens, onion, parsley, peas, radish, shallot (plant bulbs), silverbeet, spinach and turnip.

JUNE

Broad beans, garlic (divide and plant cloves), mustard greens, onion, peas and radish.

JULY

Beetroot, lettuce, mustard greens, onion, peas and radish.

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