Raising keets is similar to raising chicks – a lined brooder box with a heat source, food and water. Place small rocks in the water dish to prevent drowning and ensure their bedding isn’t made up of small pieces – avoid sawdust, for example – or the keets will mistake it for food.
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 very well to cold, northern winters and from them sugar beet and the round red beet were developed. Collections of the wild relatives of beetroot are being made in Sicily and Calabria for large-scale gene banks.
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.
The most important design principle when retrofitting or building a new home is to ‘build tight’. This means eliminating air gaps in walls (due to poorly installed insulation), drafts around doors and leaky windows caused by single-paned glass or aluminium window frames. Things like chimneys above open fireplaces, air vents in older houses and even recessed downlights all release heat from your home leaving it less comfortable in cold weather, so identifying these areas are your top priority when looking to reduce the need for auxiliary heating
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 characters putting permaculture into action. To be in the running, parents can email a photo to editorial@pipmagazine.com.au along with your child’s name, age and suburb, or post the picture on Instagram using the hashtag #pipmag
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 patch – be it your garden, beehive or pantry of homemade fare – making fire cider, an oxymel or a cough syrup can be a really rewarding process.
In 2014, Jo Nemeth lived a regular life; she rented a house, owned a car and had a great job. She lived with her adoring partner and her teenage daughter and worked as a community development worker in her local neighbourhood centre, but something was tormenting her conscience that she felt an overwhelming need to address.
The Indigenous people of the Oglala Lakota are revitalising their culture with permaculture, Indigenous wisdom and looking for solutions for the next seven generations. Based at Pine Ridge in South Dakota, a Reservation created in 1889 – originally part of the Great Sioux Reservation – there’s a need for change.
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 people don’t have access to fresh fruit and vegetables. While the body needs vitamin C for healthy function of the tendons, ligaments, skin and small blood vessels, it’s probably best known as a boost to the immune system.
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.
