Pip_CoverBanner_Issue_6 (minimised)

Designing An Urban Oasis

Eight years ago we bought a dilapidated 1940s Californian bungalow in Melbourne’s inner northern suburbs. It was in a semi-derelict state, had a heritage overlay and flood level restrictions, and was on a long, narrow block. However, the site was…

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Designing Chickens Into The Vegie Garden

Having chickens in your vegie garden can be a disaster. Most chicken owners would have experienced the heartbreaking disappointment of chickens getting into freshly planted garden beds, full of next season’s seedlings, and destroying the lot in a…

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Living Tiny

We were inspired to build a tiny house out of necessity, to have our own space. We’d left the city in search of a more sustainable lifestyle, and for about a year we lived between a tent, the back of…

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Gardener’s Handscrub

The perfect scrub for gardeners, crafters and anyone whose hands get rough treatment and need a good scrubbing.

MAKES: 1 x 250 g jar APPROXIMATE SHELF LIFE: three months

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Wild Harvest

Five modern-day hunter-gatherers share their passion for eating from the wild

ELKA MOSESHVILI

Eka is an urban forager. She wants to show…

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How To Make A Boomerang Bag

The aim of Boomerang Bags is to minimise the use of plastic by sewing reusable bags from local, recycled materials. Making Boomerang Bags with your community is a great way to participate in a national initiative on a…

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Melliodora: The Art Of Permaculture Living

If you’ve studied, read or participated in any permaculture- related activities in Australia (or far beyond), then you’ll be aware of Melliodora, the outstanding domestic-scale permaculture demonstration site situated in the village of Hepburn, Victoria.

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Appropriate Technology: The Way Forward

Western societies have been enthralled by technology since the beginning of the industrial revolution. From mechanised looms to 3D printers, technology has lifted people out of poverty, increased life expectancy, freed us from menial work, reduced pain and…

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Edible Flowers

Anyone interested in edible gardening tends to grow vegetables, but have you ever considered growing edible flowers?

When you start looking into which flowers are edible, it is surprising to…

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Permaculture Property Development

In 1988 Bill Mollison stood on top of a swale at Crystal Waters Eco Village and declared: ‘Permaculturists want to be property developers’. While the job description for a property developer might conjure up images of housing market…

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The Art Of Frugal Hedonism

Several years ago I coined the term ‘frugal hedonism’, partly railing against the assumption – of more mainstream friends – that a life of gleaning, gardening, hitchhiking and op shopping was part of a grey and dismal martyrdom…

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Julie Firth: Drylands Permaculture Farm

Julie Firth has created a permaculture oasis near Geraldton, Western Australia. Although not a true desert, the area clearly has a dryland climate, with annual rainfall as low as 200 mm during drought years, summer temperatures reaching well…

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Permaculture Around The World

NEVER ENDING FOOD, MALAWI, AFRICA

Never Ending Food is a permaculture demonstration and education organisation working to help address malnutrition holistically, improve children’s access to healthy food and promote food…

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Rocket Stoves

Most of our household energy requirements come in the form of space heating, water heating or cooking, with these making up a large percentage of our monthly bill. Rocket stoves are an example of appropriate technology which can…

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Kids’ Patch

Thank you to all the parents that sent in photos of their kids in the garden and with home grown produce. Each month we publish the best photo in our enewsletter and we choose the best to appear…

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Profile: Phil Gall, Architect

It was a younger Phil Gall, writing for Source in 1971, who set out into Victoria’s East Gippsland to report on a monumental natural farming conference. He came back with a prophetic glimpse into holistic agriculture that informs…

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Pip Picks

AUSTRALIAN MADE AUSSIE HO MI, ASIAN HANDHELD HOE

Unlike western gardening tools, the Aussie Ho Mi is an ergonomic hand-held hoe which uses a more comfortable and natural action and…

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Slow Fashion

The slow movements’ gradual transformation of every facet of our lives has (unhurriedly) extended itself to the rabid international fast-fashion industry. While the idea of ‘fashion’ might seem frivolous to those of us who walk the path of…

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