Pip Magazine

Pip Magazine provides simple, positive, practical solutions to living a more sustainable life. With articles on growing your own food, natural building,wholefoods, keeping bees, backyard chooks, fermenting, design, natural parenting and much more. Pip has profiles on people, projects, gardens, farms, houses and businesses. There are ‘how to’ guides, recipes, reviews, a directory and a kid’s section.

CONTRIBUTORS

EDITORIAL

PERMACULTURE AROUND THE WORLD

PIP PICKS: THINGS WE LIKE

NOTICEBOARD • To place your event here, email editorial@pipmagazine.com.au

PIP BRAINS TRUST • This issue we’re answering questions on ferments. Got a burning question on traditional lacto-ferments or kefir? You haven’t missed out. Send it in and we will answer your question in our blog. Questions answered by Pip’s Emily Stokes.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

BROAD BEAN • Broad beans (Vicia faba) are prized as much for their fleshy beans as they are for their potential use as a nitrogen-fixing cover crop. This ancient food of early Mediterranean civilisations is still widely cultivated across the world today. Sometimes known as ‘fava beans’ (fava from the Latin word for bean), they’re a popular staple across the Middle East and Africa, and are commonly eaten as a snack across virtually every continent.

NATIVE BEE • Mention bees and people invariably think of the European honey bee, Apis mellifera. However, this species is only one of 20 000 species of bees worldwide. Australia is home to about 2000 species of native bees and most of them are very important plant pollinators.

OXALIS • Oxalis is of the Oxalidaceae family which has over 850 different species worldwide, with about 30 species in Australia, seven of these native. A number of species are grown as ornamental plants. Oxalis is from the Greek oksos meaning sour, referring to the taste of the leaves and stems.

BASIL

IN THE GARDEN: MARCH - JUNE • Seasonal garden guides for all climates.

MAKING A MUSHROOM GARDEN • Learning how to grow mushrooms from scratch is a little bit like learning a magic trick. And yet once you have the basic skills and principles sorted out, it’s really very doable.

PASTEURISING THE WOODCHIP SUBSTRATE

GROW YOUR OWN CARROTS • The humble carrot may be easy and cheap to buy, but the absolute pleasure of picking a few fresh carrots to crunch on straight from your garden and the taste sensation you will receive are well worth the investment of your time.

AN UNUSUAL RETROFIT • You won’t find many homes in the inner city that have intentionally shrunk to make way for a larger garden, but that’s what happened behind a bright red door in Northcote, Melbourne.

FOOD TRADITIONS: SHARING A LOVE OF FOOD • Food traditions are vital in binding us together as families and as communities. From our very first mouthful, food deeply connects us to other humans. It connects us to our parents and grandparents, connects us to our friends, and can connect us to our children in how we share our food knowledge, habits and values with them.

WHAT’S YOUR FOOD TRADITION?

RECIPES FOR THE APPLE HARVEST • It’s apple season again! Apples eaten in season and fresh are definitely the best for flavour, crunch and vitality. If you have a healthy apple tree at home, you may well be wondering what to do with them all. Never fear, there are lots of ways to use up your apple harvest and preserve the excess.

THE BUZZ ON E-BIKES • Our cities are becoming more spread out and also more congested. A revolution is needed to help people reach their destinations quickly, sustainably, enjoyably and affordably.

COURSE PROVIDERS

DESIGNING THE GOOD LIFE • We bought our old house and quarter acre block in urban Hobart in late 2012. The only reason we could afford to buy it...