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Permaculture plant: Perennial Onions

onion

Despite their name, the only thing potato onions have in common with spuds is the way in which they are planted. While potato onions can be grown from seed, they are most commonly grown by sowing a bulb of the previous season’s crop, in the same way that potatoes are grown from a previous season’s tuber.

Also known as multiplier onions, pregnant onions and a variety of other names that allude to their almost magical ability to grow a clutch of baby onions from just one bulb, potato onions are a valuable addition to a permaculture garden or food forest. This is because unlike biennial onions, they do not need to be grown from seed each year.

GROWING

They like free draining soils, so growing in rows on a mound is a good idea. They don’t mind a bit of crowding with their fellow onions, but dislike jostling with competing weeds, so weeding rows well is essential. They are a little less fussy about planting time than many other alliums and can be sown either in autumn or spring, though harvests from the former are more bountiful.

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Pip Brains Trust

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 way to produce humus is adding consistent volumes of compost and mulch each year. These elements provide worms with the food they require. Consistent moisture is just as important, so do your best to ensure your soils don’t dry out. [Justin]

Any tips for managing animals holistically on a backyard scale? [Manu, Lapstone, NSW]

Understanding what the animal likes to do and allowing it to undertake these behaviours in ways that benefit other parts of the garden is the key to holistic management. A classic permaculture example is using chickens scratching behaviour to turn food scraps into compost, while their insect-catching ability ensures there are minimal flies. Likewise, rabbits enjoy eating grass tips and will benefit from being moved regularly to new spots (becoming ‘lawn mowers’ on areas of grass). At a backyard scale, space is often limited, so systems must be designed to keep the animal active and engaged. This might include allowing animals out to forage for short periods of time (thus providing pest control services) and/or feeding a wide range of foods in a variety of ways (for instance, sprinkling grains through straw for chickens to scratch). Also ensure that you meet the needs of the specific animal; for instance, ducks need enough water to submerge their whole head, while rabbits need a secure dark space to relax. [Beck]

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Noticeboard

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 Permaculture Australia, Permafund and your local permaculture group.

To access an interactive map and the listings, visit Permaculture Australia’s website.

www.permacultureaustralia.org.au/permaculture-farms-gardens-open-days/

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Pip Picks: Things We Like

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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 (as opposed to in plantations) and is picked by hand, wet-processed and sun-dried.

The workers are subsistence farmers in Timor-Leste who are paid a fair price for their coffee crops and labour. The money made from the business is also invested back into environmental and educational projects in Timor-Leste. And for every bag of coffee sold, a tree is planted in Timor-Leste. To find out more, make sure you read the WithOneBean article on page 80.

Coffee can be purchased from their online shop and delivers to all of Australia.

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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 windswept and degraded when David first arrived in 1979. Since then, we’ve planted or direct-seeded approximately 15 kilometres of native windbreaks using eucalyptus, acacia, bursaria, callistemon and casuarinas.

Sheep are excluded from about 100 hectares, including riparian zones, to allow natural regeneration. Stock and wildlife alike benefit from shade and shelter in every paddock. Big increases in bird populations (135 species) mean improved natural pest control. But it’s not all good news: the resulting increase in kangaroo numbers threatens our viability.

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Mindfulness In The Garden

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 important part of permaculture, but being conscious of how we observe makes a huge difference in how we relate to our properties. It’s too easy to walk through your garden and notice only the things that you have to do. Sometimes, it can be energising, but often it is overwhelming and exhausting.

Moving from a quarter acre, to seven and a half fertile, sunny acres was a dream come true. Yet, with four established orchards and two huge vegetable patches already in place, we quickly fell into a pattern of stress and panic; forever playing catch-up on chores that we didn’t fully understand. When I looked out at our paddocks and orchards and garden beds, I seemed to see only what was waiting to be done. I saw only flaring weeds, too-long grass, beds that needed tending and trees that needed pruning.

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Coffee With Heart From Timor-Leste

coffee

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 am, working in the cool of the morning, collecting yams and sweet potatoes. His wife Fatima has been up for a few hours getting the cooking fire going and preparing a breakfast of rice and green vegetables for the family of ten.

At a farmers’ market in Melbourne, a coffee trike is in full swing, pumping out delicious specialty coffee from Timor-Leste, but this brew is different to most. The WithOne- Bean coffee trike is serving ethical and fair trade flat whites to its customers. But while those enjoying their coffees may not realise the impact it’s having on subsistence farmers like Paulino, each cup is making a real difference.

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Natural Burials

Botanika

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 values.

Natural burial has no set definition or standard in Australia, so the rules and regulations vary from state to state. But across the board, the principles of a natural burial generally centre around one fundamental aim: to return bodies to the earth as naturally as possible.

Burial Without Harsh Chemicals

In conventional funeral practices, embalming is an option given to families, especially when cadaver reconstruction is required, an open-coffin is requested or when burial has been delayed. Embalming is only legally required if an aboveground vault is being used. This process uses a toxic chemical cocktail including formaldehyde, which is a known carcinogen. Over time, as bodies decompose, these chemicals can leech into surrounding soil, destroying microbes and potentially contaminating water systems.

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Green Connect

green

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. It grows and sells ‘fair food’ which is good for those who eat it, grow it and the planet. Last year Green Connect employed 114 former refugees and young people to do this, growing and distributing 13,754 kilos of fair food and keeping 1,990 tonnes of waste out of landfill. Recently Green Connect reached an all-time high of feeding 104 families fresh permaculturally grown seasonal food through their Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) vegetable box scheme. Waste management and labour-hire businesses are also a part of Green Connect.

Green Connect is located in Port Kembla, south of Wollongong in the Illawarra region, 70 km south of Sydney. The Illawarra grew out of mining and heavy industry through the 20th century, and like so many places in Australia, large-scale manufacturing has been shedding jobs. Green Connect started under SCARF (Strategic Community Assistance to Refugee Families) as a project aimed at building employment skills and experience among former refugees in the area.

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Permaculture animal: Cattle

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 they eat a lot of feed. Cattle bring many benefits, but be sure they’re right for you and your system before you commit.

BREEDS

There are dairy breeds (such as Jersey, Aussie Reds and Friesians) and beef breeds (such as Angus and the tropical Brahmas). The offspring from dairy breeds produce relatively little meat, and beef breeds are not suited to milking as they produce less milk and generally lack the right temperament. If you want a dairy cow but also some meat, mate your cow to a beef bull each year. Besides cross breeding, there are also some dual purpose breeds (such as Dexter).

Smaller breeds, or miniatures of standard breeds, are particularly well-suited to smaller-scale permaculture systems as they have lower feed and space requirements.

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