In the news

Pip: How and What To Feed Chickens

There’s nothing quite like tending to your own flock of chickens. Find out how and what to feed chickens to ensure they’re in top health. 

Pip: How To Make Herb Infused Honey

As well as being delicious, herb infused honey and honey ferments boast a multitude of health benefits.

Pip: How To Make a Native Christmas Wreath

We show you how to make an Australian native Christmas wreath using native foliage and flowers from our beautiful land.

Pip: Naturally Leavened Panettone Recipe

Want to up your sourdough game this festive season? Try out this traditional naturally leavened panettone recipe for the occasion.

Pip: How To Make Simple Homemade Pastry

Why bother with store-bought pastry when it’s so easy to make your own! This homemade pastry recipe is perfect for savory pies and quiches.

Pip: How To Build A Wetland (And Why You Should)

Wetlands are powerhouses of biodiversity, supporting endless lifeforms. We show you how (and why you should) build a wetland.

Pip: The Benefits of Joining a Landcare Group

There are a myriad of benefits to joining a landcare group. Find out more… 

Pip: How To Make Goat Cheese

We show you how to make goat cheese at home using only fresh and simple ingredients.

Pip: How To Dehydrate Fruit

With summer comes a bounty of fruit. Want a relatively easy and effective way to make the most of the season’s generous gifts? Dehydrate fruit!

The Gift of Panettone, ABC Gardening Australia

Millie visits cooking and garden educator, Mara Ripani, on her home farm in Blampied, Village Dreaming. Mara is keen to share one of the most special traditions from her Italian heritage—the baking and sharing of Panettone, which is Italian for ‘big bread.’ This is a great recipe to preserve the spring glut of eggs into a delicious baked good that will keep for months and is perfect to share with loved ones around the holiday time. Thanks to Mara for sharing her recipe for sourdough Panettone!

Pip Podcast # 31: Mara Ripani

Mara is a photographer, cook, grower and Pip Magazine writer who is living the homesteader dream. In this podcast, she chats to Pip Editor Robyn Rosenfeldt about the simple rituals of her daily life. She also shares her journey to the country.

The rise in Australian farm stays & regenerative agritourism, Sydney Morning Herald

“People are particularly interested in how we grow soil,” Ripani says, her term for the process of regenerating the earth through recatalysing microbial activity. “We grow pasture as a sacrificial crop and dig it back into the soil. It’s like creating compost directly in the soil.”

“How am I going to thrive in this changing world?” This forager says edible weeds are part of the answer, ABC Radio

According to Blampied foraging enthusiast and sustainability educator Mara Ripani, there’s a growing interest in edible weeds.According to Blampied foraging enthusiast and sustainability educator Mara Ripani, there’s a growing interest in edible weeds.

A full mind & heart, Lost Magazine

“I spent probably a good two years dreaming; what will I do on the property? Who will I be? And then it became obvious that I would continue what I was doing, but from my home and from all that environmental education, all the skills I’ve learned over the years…I would share them on my property.” 

Is food too expensive at the supermarket? Why not learn to grow your own?, The North West Star

Ms Ripani grew up in an Italian family that migrated to Ballarat when she was nine-years-old. She said her mother had always preserved and fermented food, but she only began herself after leaving home in her 20s. “I spend so much time in the garden and I get a huge harvest. I want to maintain the harvest through the seasons.”

Orto Farm in Blampied is extending its sharing vision, The Courier

Everything Mara Ripani and Ralf Pfleiderer grow on their farm they hope to share in some way – their learnings, harvest bounty and cooking and preserving skills.