Avant Gardeners – Détails, épisodes et analyse

~ This season of Avant Gardeners is proudly supported by Blundstone's new series WorkLife. Launching in November and perfect for gardening. Find your local stockist here. ~

Mark Udovitch and his partner Lisa wisely used Covid lockdowns to establish an urban microfarm just south of the Sydney CBD, in the leafy suburb of Bardwell Valley.  This steep and productive block is flourishing with veggies, fruit trees and indigenous plants. Mark and Lisa also share the property with European honeybees, a chicken coop, and their two young children.

Mark is also a prolific preserver, fermenter and sourdough maker, is a member of the Sydney Edible Garden Trail Team, hosts a regular Permaculture at the Pub event, and is a Radiation Therapist in his spare time. He's passionate about getting more dirt under the fingernails of more people, and shares what he knows online.

Mark lives, works and tends to his garden on Gadigal country, in NSW

Maddie has - in a very roundabout way - made a Porto Tonico with Magnolia syrup. It's like gin and tonic, but port and tonic, (with or without magnolia syrup). Garnish it with an orange slice, cinnamon quill and rosemary.

We're debriefing all things Citrus.
Emily is on a full agpanthus rant, and turns out Maddie thought the singular of Agapanthus was...Agapantha. Lol. She didn't realise this wasn't the case until after we'd finished recording.

Emily is on the green manure train, Maddie is hoping to grow Cucamelons. 

One of Emily's sisters bought her the book Horti-Curious by Ann Treneman and she's LOVING it. 

Maddie is obsessed with her Oak & Rose Razor Hoe.

We learned heaps from attending one of the Grow Great Fruit pruning webinar. 

Things Mark mentions: Limestone Permaculture, Root Lab Mushrooms, Permaculture in the Pub

Thanks for being here!

~ This season of Avant Gardeners is proudly supported by Blundstone's new series WorkLife. Launching in November and perfect for gardening. Find your local stockist here. ~

Merlin Sheldrake is a mycologist, biologist, writer, and speaker with a background in plant sciences, microbiology, ecology, and the history and philosophy of science. He received a Ph.D. in tropical ecology from Cambridge University for his work on underground fungal networks in tropical forests in Panama.

His book, Entangled Life, dives deep into the magical, mysterious and stranger-than-fiction world of fungi, explaining how they can show us lessons in resilience, cooperation and transformation. Entangled Life has sold more than a million copies worldwide, and what followed is a documentary called Fungi: Web of Life, narrated by Bjork. 

If you're lucky enough, you can catch Merlin across Australia and New Zealand as part of The Secret Life of Fungi. Tickets for this evening of storytelling and science are on sale now.

Before we get to Merlin's chat, we're drinking our mate's Sticky Chai with a dash of Frangelico. Yum yum!

Emily is giving her indoor plants some annual love. She's ticked off three trees on her random list (snowball viburnum, smoke bush and tai haku cherry!).

Emily is continually searching for tube stock, and is loving Phil Dudman's tips on controlling stink bugs with a vaccuum cleaner. Her daughter Phoebe is the reigning queen of carrots. 

Emily is recommending Urban Nanna (aka Anna Matilda's) book Everyday Permaculture, illustrated by Brenna Quinlan. 

Maddie is up in arms about nurseries selling non-native Pig Face (hear why this is such a disasterous thing in this episode with Mindy Woods), she's creating a spanikopita garden, and has some bull chat - having just agisted a new animal in Quarter Pounder - a big, beefy Belted Galloway who has been tasked with one job.

And she's gushing about Entangled Life (hardcopy or narrated audio version. Both are spectacular.)

Thanks for being here!

 

Samuel Shelley is a Tasmanian-based photographer specialising in food, commercial, lifestyle & ad photography. What he often leaves off his bio is his partnership in the family-run, Tassie based business Veggie and Flower Garden Seeds that his sister Bec founded in 2020.

Sam is their chief photographer - amongst other things - and knows a thing or two about taking a killer flower pic.

He lives in Nipaluna / Hobart with his wife, his two daughters, and a pretty serious fishing addiction.

Sam is giving us a little tutorial today on how to get the best flower photos you can!

Before we get to that we're drinking a Passionfruit Caipiroska.

Emily is swapping hay for seedlings, she's growing rainbow chard and snow peas from seed. She's loving the Tigerella tomato, and hanging unripe tomatoes upside down. With all her basil, Emily is making Hannah Maloney's Basil Pesto Log.

Maddie is suggesting putting basil seeds in water, she's trying desperately to nurture her Flannel Seeds (after germinating them with smoke). She's loving her autum fruiting Facebook Marketplace raspberries. And she's been making Vodka Pasta 

 

--This episode is proudly sponsored by Veggie and Flower Garden Seeds. This Tassie-based, family run business are the go-to destination for veggie, native, herb and flower seeds, specialising in hard-to-get varieties. We love their search functionality - you can filter by colour of flower, whether you're after a full sun or part shade plant, even by what to plant in your climate by month. Their beautiful flower range is amazing, and just last year they exclusively provided Floret seed to the Australian market. Enjoy 15% off their entire range by using the promo code AG15 when purchasing from veggiegardenseeds.com.au --

Milli Proust is one of those people we'd really love to sit down with IRL and enjoy a Pimms & Lemonade in the backyard of her 400-year-old cottage. 

She is a flower farmer, florist, seed grower and her business she runs with Paris Alma - Alma Proust - was trusted by Floret to bring their seeds to the UK. She lives in Sussex in the UK with her partner Ted, her son Rex and two wanna be farm dogs. With Milli we cover how to treat hellebores for maximum vase time, why roses are amazing (and how to prune them), compost palace, Charles Dowding and so much more. 

Before we get to that we're drinking a Yarlington Mill Willie Smith's Apple Cider - yum bloody yum. We're talking about bougainvillea, self-watering pots (thank you Connie Cao), Fruit Leather, jam making's wrinkle-test, and Foccaccia (Maddie is using the recipe by Alexandra Cooks) and Emily is checking out Gardenstead.

Thanks for listening. 

--This episode is proudly sponsored by Veggie and Flower Garden Seeds. This Tassie-based, family run business are the go-to destination for veggie, native, herb and flower seeds, specialising in hard to get varieties. We love their search functionality - you can filter by colour of flower, whether you're after a full sun or part shade plant, even by what to plant in your climate by month. Their beautiful flower range is amazing, and just last year they exclusively provided Floret seed to the Australian market. Enjoy 15% off their entire range by using the promo code AG15 when purchasing from veggiegardenseeds.com.au --

My gosh did we have fun chatting with Lauren Camilleri. 

Lauren is a creative director and designer who approaches everything from the premise that design can have a positive impact on the world. With a bachelor of interior architecture, she has worked at the likes of Inside Out, Vogue Living and Belle, where she has been the creative director since 2021.

Lauren is one of the co-founders of Leaf Supply, the go-to hub for all things botanical. Along with her business partner Sophia Kaplan, they have published five absolutely gorgeous and informative books over the years, collectively selling over quarter of a million copies. Their most recent title Outside In is a beautifully photographed homage to the connection between thoughtful design and the natural world. Lauren lives, works and tends to her indoor jungle on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora nation in Sydney.

We're drinking Ochota Barrels 'Botanica of the Basket' wine and it's a delightful little brew with a beautiful story. We're chatting indoor plant care, Emily being a wine guru, sunflowers for chickens, the lovely Anenome. Maddie also butchers the cucumber sandwich story. Emily has a new dog, and has researched perennial leeks. Maddie's hoping that her crack at Poh Ling Yeow's Mama's bao isn't beginners luck because it was DELISH. 

Thanks for listening. 

--This episode is proudly sponsored by Bush Mits. We each bought a pair of these last year and have barely taken them off. They're UPF 50+ for the ultimate sun protection. They're fingerless AND have reinforced palms so you can do all the tough and fiddly jobs. We've discovered they are a saviour in the garden / on the zero turn / out with the cows / even hanging out the washing. Enjoy 15% off Bush Mits' beautiful range by using the promo code AG15 when purchasing from bushmits.com--

We're having a good old yarn today with Holly Wainwright. Holly is not a professional gardener. She is a writer, editor and podcaster who recently made a sea change, moving outside of a city for the first time in her life which has given her the space (mental, not necessarily geographical) to take on what she describes as her first true hobby... gardening. And boy is she glad she found it!

Holly is the Executive Editor at Mamamia and a familiar voice on Mamamia Out Loud as well as her new podcast MID. Holly's fifth novel, He Would Never, is set for release in April 2025. Holly credits Therapy Lettuce for its positive impact on her mental well-being. Holly lives, writes and gardens south of Sydney on the lands of the Jerrinja and Wandi-Wandandian people, on the Yuin nation with her partner, Brent, and their two teenage children.

 

Before we chat about Therapy Lettuce, Emily and Maddie are drinking a Palomoa (tequila, grapefruit, yum yum). Emily's discovered perennial leeks. She's obsessed with her begonia, and is recommending you check out and/or try to be more like Joe's Connected Garden in South Australia. 

We're both intruiged by our mate Gemma's Pleach (yep - a plum peach interspecies!). 

Maddie and Emily recommend the walking onion, growing potatoes, and the hardenbergia to Holly, while Holly reciprocates and recommends Virginia La Trioli's 'Friday Night Fog' (Two nips vodka, One nip Cointreau, Half a lime - optional ruby red grapefruit juice.) 

 

--This episode is proudly sponsored by Bush Mits. We each bought a pair of these last year and have barely taken them off. They're UPF 50+ for the ultimate sun protection. They're fingerless AND have reinforced palms so you can do all the tough and fiddly jobs. We've discovered they are a saviour in the garden / on the zero turn / out with the cows / even hanging out the washing. Enjoy 15% off Bush Mits' beautiful range by using the promo code AG15 when purchasing from bushmits.com--

You'll often hear us mentioning our friend Emma Bowen in these episodes. Well we finally got her in to record an episode. Emma is the founder and former CEO of the not-for-profit Pocket City Farms in inner city Sydney. Her vision saw a former lawn bowls club transformed into a market garden, events space, education hub and vital part of the broader community bringing clean, organic food to the people.

In 2020, Emma, her partner Zag and their two young kids made the move to Tasmania's Huon Valley, settling on a 50-acre former apple, apricot and cattle farm. Emma has plans to establish a permaculture orchard while maximizing the diversity of the farm.

Emma is passionate about the transformative power of farms and gardens and the immeasurable value they bring to our physical and mental well-being as individuals and communities. Alongside her farm work she is a permaculture garden designer and community project consultant (check out her work here) and operates two gorgeous airbnbs on her property.
We're utilising what's in the garden (and the back of the pantry) and we've made a Cucumber and Basil Mezcalita! We're talking about chicken coops, Emily's new Wandotes, Middleton Fair's Scarecrow Competition, Geums, Twitch Grass, three sisters planting Julia Ostro's almond and plum cake from Good Cooking Everyday (back to back Ostro recommendations! For good reason though) and much more.  

See more at www.avant-gardeners.com

--This episode is proudly sponsored by Bush Mits. We each bought a pair of these last year and have barely taken them off. They're UPF 50+ for the ultimate sun protection. They're fingerless AND have reinforced palms so you can do all the tough and fiddly jobs. We've discovered they are a saviour in the garden / on the zero turn / out with the cows / even hanging out the washing. Enjoy 15% off Bush Mits' beautiful range by using the promo code AG15 when purchasing from bushmits.com--

Welcome back to season 4!

We're kicking this season off chatting to the delightful Connie Cao. We chat container gardening, how to kick start our Asian Veggie patch, Loofas (these things are amazing!!), Edmame and having backyard chickens.

Connie lives in the suburbs of Melbourne where she's transformed her south-sloping backyard into a haven of fruit trees, veggies, ornamentals and a bustling chicken run over the years. She learnt to garden alongside her father. She is the author of Your Asian Veggie Patch which features over 40 things to grow and 50 recipes influenced by her Chinese heritage. 

Before we get to that, we're drinking a Ruggabellus, we're eating the most delicious strawberries from Ashcraig Farm in Nicholls Rivulet, Tasmania. Maddie has grown the best dahlia of her life (thank you, Dahlia dealer). We're taling about Dragon's Egg Cucumbers, Cornersmith Bread & Butter Pickle. Emily has had a birthday and hit the jackpot with a new electric chainsaw, a wheelbarrow and a shrub shearers. Plus, a double mulch pile hook up!

Maddie is recommending a recipe that Emma Bowen made that's a Julia Ostro Tomato and Olive Tart from Around the Table. 

So nice to be back. See more at www.avant-gardeners.com

Welcome to our short and sharp summer series where we revisit some of your very favourite episodes. We've added an additional little intro, reflecting on our chat with Phil Dudman and general updates since then. 

We got so many amazing tips from Phil, and we hope you do too. 

Here's the original episode spiel:
Buckle up ya'll, it's the final episode for Season 2 and we're welcoming one of the nicest blokes in gardening to the microphone, Mr Phil Dudman. With a diverse and colourful career that extends from touring with an 80's rock band, to hosting garden tours in Italy, an epiphany when Phil was 27 sent him down the literal and metaphorical garden path and he hasn't looked back since.

Phil is a trained horticulturalist, gardening talkback host on ABC Local Radio, the horticultural editor at Organic Gardener Magazine, has written books and is a familiar face on TV, Youtube and social media.

Phil runs workshops and courses both online and from his own backyard, and you can explore what's on offer at www.growyourfood.com.au.

Phil lives and gardens on the land of the Widjabul-Wai-bal people of the Bundjalung Nation in the Northern Rivers region of NSW.

We chat to Phil about pests, garden design, attracting birdlife to your backyard and weeding with wine at 10am. 

Before we get into it though, Emily and Maddie are drinking a Jauma grenache. We're talking about online marketplace purchases and tip shop wins. We're using Google Images to sort out our plant ID issues. We're sluggish with the garlic, and Maddie is barely keeping the lights on with her garden. Emily's finally sorted the pesky carport out, and her 7 year old daughter is winning at gardening this month. 

Follow Phil on Instagram here, check out his YouTube here and his website here

Welcome to our short and sharp summer series where we revisit some of your very favourite episodes. We've added an additional little intro, reflecting on our chat with Charles Dowding and general updates since then. things we've been working on since then.
Gosh we loved revisiting this chat with Charles. Whether it's your first time listening, or your second go, we hope you get a lot out of it. 

Listen to Part 2 with Charles Dowding here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7hb74jPuZDqravRpS0oR9N?si=d622b4298b914633

Here's the original episode spiel:

Pinch us! We had the chance to speak with the guru of no dig gardening himself, Mr Charles Dowding. Over an hour and a half we meandered all manner of subjects including the obvious (no dig gardening, composting, weeding) and the maybe less obvious - the politics of gardening, UK alotments, microdosing. 

To keep our episodes short(ish) and sharp(ish) we've split this into 2 parts. 

Charles Dowding has been gardening organically and applying the no-dig method for the past 40 years. He's been instrumental in spreading the word of this style of gardening globally, heralding its effectiveness against weeds, its ability to produce thriving veggies, and its time-saving benefits.

Based in Somerset in the south west corner of England, Charles gardens on his property, Homeacres, a 1 ½  acre block. He recently celebrated 11 years there, and it's magic to see the transformation of this space from a neglected parcel of land into a productive paradise.

Charles's kinesiology career was short-lived due to the frequent remarks about the dirt under his fingernails, but he wouldn't have it any other way. Charles is passionate about education and is increasingly a voice for the future of food and how gardening can play a pivotal role in climate change.

He has written numerous books on gardening, he runs workshops from Homeacres and online, and liberally shares his insights, successes and failures on YouTube and social media. He must be one of the happiest people in gardening. 

Find Charles on Instagram here

But before we get there...we're chatting about  tiger snakes, guinea fowl, garlic, accidental gardens, zucchini season, jam season, community flower shows, 

We're drinking an English Breakfast Mar-tea-ni. We made a tea sugar syrup, added gin, lemon juice, aquafaba (use egg white if you like) and that's pretty much it! Super refreshing. Can recommend. 

We're recommending Futuresteading by Jade Miles. Charles recommends Peter Singers' book Animal Liberation