Issue 21

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Growing Peas: Keeping The Peas

Biting into a sweet, crunchy pea pod straight from the vine is a highlight of any gardener’s year. As diverse as they are versatile, the humble pea is a nutritious and easy-to-grow annual that deserves a space in every home…

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Seed Germination:
From Little Things

Growing your own food from such a tiny seed can be really empowering, but many people find it challenging. Successful germination is about providing the right environment for particular seeds to flourish. And once you get the hang of it, a whole world of new…

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Native Ingredients: WARNDU MAI

By using native Australian ingredients in your kitchen, you can prepare food that is better for our environment, is more sustainable and celebrates truly local food.

Damien Coulthard and Rebecca Sullivan are a South Australian couple who, through their company Warndu and book Warndu Mai, aim…

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Milk Kefir: Counter Culture

This understated star of fermented foods has been around for centuries, providing extraordinary bacterial assistance to the human microbiome.

If you’re into living, probiotic foods and you already have a sourdough starter bubbling away on your kitchen bench or a kombucha ‘mushroom’ gracing a dark shelf,…

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Earthen Floors: Higher Ground

Earthen floors have been used in buildings for thousands of years. As well as an effective way to passively heat and cool your home, they’re aesthetically beautiful, kind to the environment and delightful to walk on.

It’s estimated between ten and 30 percent of the world’s…

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Local Travel: Here To Stay

In the midst of a pandemic and a rapidly changing climate, holidaying might not spring to mind as a positive or necessary activity. But getting away can have profound benefits to your mental health and, viewed with a different perspective, it’s far easier – and…

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Pig & Earth Farm: Put To Pasture

Getting access to pasture-raised pork is far harder than it ought to be, but there are two young Victorians working hard to make a living out of ethical farming.

Will and Emma’s work is really important for humans and animals alike. If you were a pig…

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Observation:
Watch and Act

Working smarter, not harder is a good way to create a resilient, high-yielding garden. And simple observation is the stepping stone for smart design.

To observe and interact is the first of David Holmgren’s 12 permaculture principles and arguably the most significant. It’s nearly impossible to…

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Making Change:
Teen Spirit

A teenager who’s more interested in social justice than social media is a rare and great thing, but having the confidence and backing to turn that interest into real and positive change is something else altogether.

Fifteen-year-old Maia Raymond isn’t your average teenager. As the eldest…

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Head Start:
Seed-Raising Box

Successful seed germination requires three important things: warmth, light and moisture. With some recycled timber, you can create the perfect seed-raising environment.

As we wait for the soil to warm up this time of…

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Editorial

In the face of climate change and all that is currently challenging our world, planting and saving seeds to grow food is one of the most powerful actions we can take.

An act of radical hope, it is taking control of how the food you eat…

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Pip Noticeboard

Nominations are open for the 2021 Pip Permie Awards which recognise the individuals and organisations working tirelessly to create positive change. As Australia’s leading permaculture title, Pip will reward the businesses, people and projects who best demonstrate permaculture’s three key ethics of earth care, people…

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Pip Picks: Things We Like

Burgon & Ball

National Trust Pocket Knife

Burgon & Ball began manufacturing agricultural shears in the UK in 1730, so it knows a thing or two about gardening tools. Its National Trust folding pocket knife features a stainless-steel hook-shaped blade to ensure cuts are clean and made…

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International Projects

Mexico’s first permaculture ecovillage, Huehuecoyotl was set up on 15 acres some 40 years ago by a group of artists, musicians, teachers, permaculturalists and green architects. The founders were part of a travelling group of actors called the Illuminated Elephants who were looking to put…

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Brains Trust

Can I save the seeds from a pumpkin I purchased from the supermarket?

It’s not a good idea, because cucurbits – think pumpkins, squash, cucumbers and zucchinis – cross-pollinate really easily. This means if your neighbour is growing a different variety than you, they will cross…

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Dadirri

I want to talk about special quality of my people, one I believe to be the most important, and our most unique gift. In our language, this special quality is called dadirri. It is inner, deep listening and quiet, still awareness.

Ngangikurungkurr means deep water sounds….

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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

Start where you are

Thank you…

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Onion Weed

This prolific weed has an instantly distinguishable aroma, outing it as a versatile substitute for leeks, onions and even garlic.

Onion weed (Allium triquetrum) is pretty edible which has many uses in the kitchen. All parts of the plant are edible; from the flower right down…

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Frogs

As both predators and prey, frogs are an important link in the food chain. Encouraging them to take up residency in your garden is beneficial and easy to do.

Of nearly 8000 species of frogs worldwide, Australia is home to more than 230. Hugely diverse, they…

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Coffee Grounds

Using spent coffee grounds is one more way for us to turn so-called waste into a useful and valuable resource around the home.

An average cafe collects around 320 kilograms of coffee grounds each month and if it gets put into landfill, where it breaks down…

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In the garden:
August-November

Seasonal garden guides for Australian climates

Moon planting

The moon’s phases and its associated gravitational pull has a significant effect on the behaviour of tidal oceans, so it’s easy to understand how the moon can have a similar effect on the moisture in our soils and plants….

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Tried & True

The idea of something bubbling away on your bench and the potential for it to go wrong can be daunting to those new to fermentation, but these affordable kits from The Fermentary take the guesswork out of both the equipment and the process.

The Kimchi kit…

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Kids’ patch

Our kids’ patch winners for this issue are Harvey and Clancy Howe from Palm Beach in Queensland, you’ve won a packet of permaculture action cards by Brenna Quinlan and Charlie Mgee.

Next issue we’ve…

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Read and Watch

Even if you think you know a lot about soil, by reading Matthew Evans’ tome on the good dirt you are guaranteed to find out more. Starting with a history of how the earth formed and created the soils we grow our food in, Soil…

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