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February – Permaculture Food Gardening in Subtropical Australia

01/02/202319/02/2023EwaNo Comments

February – Permaculture Food Gardening in Subtropical Australia by Ewa Bekiesch, Permaculture designer, educator, self-sufficient and sustainable living consultant, and healthy food advocate. February is one of the hottest months in our subtropical parts of Australia. Hot and humid! We are thankful for every single drop of rain and appreciate the food we are harvesting at this time of the year, and there is plenty to harvest! We are not running out of jobs in the garden, however, we are limiting the work to the early morning and very late afternoon hours. Additional to the summer gardening jobs described in my post here, February is the month when I prune… Read More

Permaculture Gardening – Keyhole Garden

08/01/202308/01/2023EwaNo Comments

Permaculture Gardening – Keyhole Garden recommended by Ewa Bekiesch – certified Permaculture designer and educator, sustainable living consultant – Permaculture Haven An amazing all-in-one solution. Great for any size of the garden. Perfect for small-size backyards and gardening with kids as it can be built at a different height depending on your needs. The keyhole garden is a combination of a compost bin and a raised garden bed where both complement each other perfectly. The compost bin is functioning like any other compost bin and should be treated like that. However, no need to remove the compost Think about keeping the right balance of TWO parts of brown material: ONE… Read More

January – Permaculture Food Gardening in Subtropical Australia

02/01/202304/01/2023EwaNo Comments

January – Permaculture Food Gardening in Subtropical Australia by Ewa Bekiesch, Permaculture sustainable living designer, consultant, and healthy food advocate. The summer is here. This is the time when we try to slow down mostly because of the high temperatures during the day. However, there are still some jobs you can do if you love your green space and if you want to harvest all year round! I have prepared a list for you below and I am aware that this might be just a fraction of what is possible in January in subtropics. I have purposely limited it to the edibles I have in my food forest and got… Read More

Homemade Vinegar Recipe

31/05/202203/06/2022Ewa

Vinegar is well-researched digestive support. The acetic acid (culture) in vinegar supports the function of probiotics & prebiotics in your gut. It is ideal as a blood sugar balancer and can help with digestion as it contains important digestive enzymes, and homemade is always best! This homemade vinegar recipe is a basic recipe and you can use it for all sorts of fruit. You can add it to salad dressings, or add a teaspoon or two to the homemade soup before eating, and mix a teaspoon with water and honey as a morning health booster.You can make your own vinegar from the fruit you grow at home like Pineapple for… Read More

Summer – Permaculture Sustainable Food Gardening in Subtropical Australia

02/01/202208/05/2022Ewa

Summer – Permaculture Sustainable Food Gardening in Subtropical Australia by Ewa Bekiesch, Permaculture and sustainable living designer and consultant. January, February and March are the hottest months in Australia. Well, this is the summer time so what else should we expect? This is also the time where we slow down with seeding and planting, and enjoy our hardy self-seeding and perennial edibles in our food forest. The garden beds need to be watered every day unless we get some rain, which may come or not, while we still harvest our annual spring vegetables. The gardening hours are limited in this time of the year. The most work is done in… Read More

Mulberry Jam Recipe – Super Easy! No Pectin Needed

02/10/202108/05/2022Ewa

Most of my recipes are quick and easy and this Mulberry jam is one of them. The most important is the result! I usually freeze the mulberries and use them for cakes, smoothies or to make a quick ice-cream by mixing the frozen mulberries with banana and/or yoghurt but when there is more space in the freezer, a jam is a great alternative to preserve Mulberries. I couldn’t find any simple recipe for the jam so made up my own and it turned out better than expected. Enjoy! Mulberry Jam Recipe – Super Easy! No Pectin Needed 6 cups Mulberries – rinsed 5 cups sugar 1/2 cup lemon or lime… Read More

We have a Food Waste Situation – Sustainable Living Choices

17/07/202108/05/2022Ewa

We Have a Food Waste Situation – Sustainable Living Choices By Ewa Bekiesch – Permaculture Designer and Sustainable Living Consultant “Though the problems of the world are increasingly complex, the solutions remain embarrassingly simple.”― Bill Mollison Food Waste Globally ‘Food waste is a huge global problem. According to the United Nations Environment Program and their Food Waste Index Report 2021 ( unep.org) issued at the beginning of March 2021, the world wastes about 17% of all food produced. That is about one billion tons of food a year, which is over 2 trillion (2,000,000,000,000) pounds or about 931 billion (931,000,000,000) kilograms. More than half of food waste happens at home,… Read More

Traditional and Family Focused – Sustainable Christmas

20/12/202008/05/2022Ewa

This is the article I wrote for our local magazine The Beacon 🙂 Christmas is all about traditions and enjoying the time with loved ones. Thinking about traditions brings stories and memories back. Celebrating like our ancestors will not only keep the traditions alive but also save you money and it helps the environment. Here are some tips on how to celebrate a sustainable Christmas. These are all ideas from the time where people didn’t have other options than to celebrate sustainably mostly because of the limited resources. Let’s get back in time and help save our planet. Christmas tree – Consider a living tree. Turn your houseplant into a Christmas tree… Read More

Sweet Chilli Sauce Recipe – Simple and Quick

25/10/201608/05/2022Ewa

Why would you do your own sweet chili sauce? because you have plenty of chilies in your garden or… you have read the ingredients on the sweet chili sauce bottle you bought at the supermarket and because natural homegrown and homemade food is always best! Okay, I got lots of chilies in my garden but I also checked the ingredients on the bottle from the store bought one and I don’t like any of the additives like flavours, colours and preservatives….! Sweet Chilli Sauce Recipe – Simple and Quick 300-400g chillies 6-8 cloves garlic some ginger and or turmeric 2 cups of white vinegar 2 cups of raw sugar dash… Read More