~ 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

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 Kate and composty things we've been working on since then.

Compostable Kate's was a cracker of an episode. 

While not a sponsor of this episode, Bokashi is offering an ongoing 5% off everything on the www.bokashi.com.au website for all your Bokashi and EnsoPet needs. We're addicts. Simply enter the code AG15 at check out to receive your 5% discount. 

Here's the original episode spiel:

We've been dedicated students of the Compostable Kate's School of Compost since wayyyyy back, so it's an absolute dream to interview her for this week's episode.

Kate Flood (aka Compostable Kate) is a sustainability educator, compost queen and author of The Compost Coach (2023). She is prolific on Instagram, sharing all things Bokashi, worm farms and hot compost. She lives, gardens and composts in the Bega Valley, in southern New South Wales on the Yuin-Monaro Nations.

We chat about what Kate and Beyonce have in common, her amazing jumper collection and, of course, all things compost including sheet composting, what kind of composting she'd do on a desert island, and a whole lot more.  We also talk about how composting is fabulous for the garden, and vital part of climate activism. 

Find her on Instagram here

But before we get there...we're chatting about possums, snails and wheelbarrows.

We're drinking the Compostable Kate Cocktail (a fresh little number we whipped up with sparkling rose, ginger syrup, strawberries and borage).

We're recommending The Overstory by Richard Powers

Kate recommends: the Share Waste app - a way to connect people who wish to recycle their food scraps and other organics with their neighbours who are already composting, worm-farming or keeping farm animals.

We snuck a bonus episode into season 3 - and what a cracker it is. We're chatting to Diego Bonetto, aka The Weedy One. Born in Italy, Diego grew up foraging for dandelion, wild asparagus and mushrooms. It wasn't actually foraging as such, it was just how you lived.

Since moving to Australia, Diego has taken foraging and edible weeds on as his career, educating and showing people how we're surrounded by abundant food and medicine, much of it growing on in our backyards, or the cracks of the pavement. 

Diego lives and forages on the lands of the Eora, Dharug, Wiradjuri and Gandangara people.  Check out his amazing range of workshops - treat yourself or a friend (or both go!)

Before we get to Diego, we're drinking a Dandelion Margarita and talking about nettle, Phoenix Creations, fermented garlic, Birchs Bay Art Farm, Mewstone and making your own Christmas wreaths. 

Recommendations:

• Emily's loving all things Kunzea including this Kunzea Jelly  - use it like quince paste
• Madeleine is planning Christmas dessert from Nadine Ingram's new book Love Crumbs
• and Emily has bought her daughter Easy Peasy: Gardening for Kids by Kristen Bradley of Milkwood Permaculture. 

Follow us on Instagram here.

Follow Diego on Instagram here. 

Thanks for being here. 
Feel free to leave us a review. We would LOVE that. 

--You have a limited time to enjoy 15% off the entire Bokashi One range. Reduce landfill and boost the efforts in your garden in a fuss-free, no-smell way. If you have a dog, why not consider the EnsoPet  to turn your dog's waste into safe, healthy soil. Use the promo code AG15 when purchasing from www.bokashi.com.au between now and 1 Jan, 2025--

~ 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. ~

Tim Pilgrim has become synonymous with his own naturalistic style of garden design, one that's plant-driven and subscribes to the maximalist aesthetic. 

With gardening in his blood, and after working at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, he returned home to work on one of the Digger's Club's most famous gardens, St Erth. 

Tim and his wife Hadley started TP Gardens back in 2013, and since then he's worked on some of the most jaw-dropping gardens in the country including Du Fermier in Trentham, Paul Bangay's Stonefields and at Bress, a biodynamic winery in the Central Victorian goldfields. 

Tim's debut book Wild By Design has recently been released, shooting straight to the best sellers list. And deservedly so. 

Tim draws his inspiration from the beauty of wild landscapes and other creative gardening minds. 

Tim lives, gardens and designs on Dja Dja Wurrung Country, sharing his home with his wife, and three young sons. 

Before we get to Tim's chat, we're drinking Walnut Liqueur made from green walnuts macerated with alcohol - a Slovenian specialty. Emily is going great guns with her seeds - rudbeckia, violas, edamame. Her orchard understory is blooming with cornflowers, walking onions, rosemary, thyme, wormwood, queen anne's lace, cosmos, calendula, and strawberries!

The sorrel is still a pest.

Emily's loving Banskia (it's giving May Gibbs vibes). Maddie recommends growing Correa Alba from cuttings.

Maddie + Emily did a beautiful bushwalk - the Freycinet Circuit, and picked up reading tips from our very great mate Franzi.

Emily's recommending Platypus Spinach from Dimity May at Tiny Farm Tas. 

Maddie wants baby lamb energy, vs tired mutton energy.

Maddie's trying to grow shelling peas, and has made a huge (although not catastrophic) mistake with her flannel flowers.

And we're trying to manifest Juvenile Grandma phase.

Thanks!

 

--This episode is proudly sponsored by Bokashi One. Reduce landfill and boost the efforts in your garden in a fuss-free, no-smell way. Enjoy 15% off the entire Bokashi One range by using the promo code AG15 when purchasing from www.bokashi.com.au between now and 1 Jan, 2025--

Natasha Morgan is a landscape architect-turned-gardener, forager and creator of inspiring spaces. Having successfully done a treechange in 2014 from Melbourne, Natasha transformed the phenomenal property Oak & Monkey Puzzle. A couple of years ago Natasha and her family downsized to Little Cottage on a Hill in Daylesford, Victoria and continues to create magic, including a gorgeous and productive verge garden. Natasha hosts workshops from her property if you're lucky enough to be in the area. 

We talk about tree changes, preserving, autism and chickens, designing a garden, building community and wicking beds. Natasha lives, works and gardens on Dja Dja Wurrung country. 

Emily's gone full cocktail, whipping up a delish mojito (rum, raw sugar, mint and lime). Yum, Yum!

We're talking about pinching out tomatoes, baby chickens, lavender, Kunzea, olive trees.

Emily is recommending a Kunzea hand cream, and Maddie is recommending Visionary by Claire Takacs

Check out Natasha's story and workshops here, and follow her on Instagram here.

Follow us on Instagram here.

Thanks for being here. 
Feel free to leave us a review. We would LOVE that. 

--This episode is proudly sponsored by Bokashi One. Reduce landfill and boost the efforts in your garden in a fuss-free, no-smell way. Enjoy 15% off the entire Bokashi One range by using the promo code AG15 when purchasing from www.bokashi.com.au between now and 1 Jan, 2025--

When Petrina Burrill was in grade six, she wrote, 'When I grow up I want to be a florist,' such was her conviction and obsession with blooms. Since then, Petrina Blooms - as she's known on Instagram. has had a diverse career, but has landed back in the garden where she belongs. She's now known for her secret garden-esque backyard in Melbourne and her epic annual ranunculus, aka ranunk, schedule. 

For over a decade, Petrina has lovingly transformed her family's backyard into a year-round spectacle of beauty, from where she hosts workshops and events and picks bunches of flowers for lucky recipients. 

Petrina lives, works and gardens in Ivanhoe Victoria, on Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country.

The days are longer and we're drinking a Willie Smith's Organic Cider. It's yummy and not too sweet. Perfection!

We're talking about rooster dramas, kiwi fruit, espaliering stuff, wormwood for chickens, what the heck is a corm, Bokashi, and dreaming of a Hannah Maloney-esque pumpkin arch. We've also been mismanaging our potatoes. face palms.

Check out Petrina's magical garden escapades here

Follow us on Instagram here.

Thanks for being here. 
Feel free to leave us a review. We would LOVE that. 

--This episode is proudly sponsored by Bokashi One. Reduce landfill and boost the efforts in your garden in a fuss-free, no-smell way. Enjoy 15% off the entire Bokashi One range by using the promo code AG15 when purchasing from www.bokashi.com.au between now and 1 Jan, 2025--

 Matthew Evans was a chef and food critic who left Sydney in search of flavour and to become closer to food production. He landed in Tasmania's Huon Valley and he, his partner Sadie Chrestman and son Hedley call the 70-acre Fat Pig Farm home. Matthew is the author of books including The Real Food Companion, The Dirty Chef, Not Just Jam, Soil and his latest book Milk, published in 2024. 

Matthew is gearing up to host the inaugural GROUNDED Australia conference at Fat Pig Farm on December 4 + 5, 2024. This two-day immersive event is part food festival, part writers' festival and part farming conference, which will interrogate how to do farming better. Over 40 amazing speakers will descend upon the Huon Valley for workshops, discussions, networking, amazing food and drinks and even a mobile sauna! 

Matthew lives, gardens and farms on the land of the Merlukerdee people.

To celebrate, we're drinking the dregs of a limited-release Fat Pig Farm Rhubarb Gin. Over ice. It's delicious.

We're chatting tomatoes, our seedling dealer, our grevillea era (loving the Bronze Rambler). We're upcycling milk cartons, tomato trellises are up, and there's a story about the dangers of mowing. 

Check out Grounded Australia here and here.
Follow Matthew and Sadie's adventures at Fat Pig Farm on Insta here.

Follow us on Instagram here.

Thanks for being here. 

We came across Huw Richards perhaps the odd-way around, first picking up his amazing book 'Veg In One Bed' before discovering his huge online presence. Huw has been gardening since the age of 3 on his parents' smallholding in mid-west Wales. He started a YouTube channel aged 12, which has since received over 100 million views. Huw's gardening is driven by curiosity, experimentation and impact planting. It's obvious how much joy he derives from striving for flavour and beauty in the garden.  He's a brilliant communicator and oh boy did we love this chat with him. 

Check out his Substack, find him on Insta or Youtube.
Huw's latest book is called The Self Sufficiency Garden. 

In this episode we're drinking Waubs Harbour Distillery whisky (yep, we've gone top shelf). We're talking about Australia's Big Things, Clematis 'Freckles', the cows have set Em's native trees back a couple of years and we're recommending 'Growing Vegetables South Of Australia' by Steve SolomonAll the things. Thanks for joining us.

Follow us on Instagram here.

 

We've had Hannah on our list for a looooong time, so it's a bloody thrill to have interviewed her.

Hannah Maloney is the inspiring force behind Goodlife Permaculture, an organisation all about sharing concepts of education, community and design to help people create good lives and landscapes. 

Hannah is a host on Gardening Australia on ABC, a best-selling author with two books in the bag and another on the way, and by all accounts, an infectious ball of energy and good vibes. Hannah lives, works and gardens in Nipaluna/Hobart with her partner Anton, her daughter Frida and a menagerie of animals including chickens, goats and ducks. 

In this episode we're cracking a pistachio Cicchio Spritz by the legends at Zonzo Estate, We're recommending Nettles and Petals, we're talking fertilizer, asparagus, cows, rhubarb.

All the things. Thanks for joining us.

Follow us on Instagram here.

 

 

Justin O'Brien was one of those in the online gardening world that welcomed and embraced us. So it's an absolute treat to get the man himself behind the microphone to chat all things gardening.

Perhaps better known as his Instagram alias of Urban Farmer, Justin O'Brien has been gardening in some form since he was a kid, and was an active member of the Camden Community Garden for nearly a decade, seeing it through the floods of 2022., Justin and his wife Chantelle purchased their current home nearly 3 years ago, and Justin documents the garden transformation, sharing plenty of useful tips and lots of laughs, as he creates a home for his veggies, his chickens and his family.

Justin is also a fiercely competitive gardener and may or may not still be touchy about last year's failed competitive pumpkin growing. 

But before we get to that we're drinking a classic - Campari and soda. 

We're utilising Jac Semmler's succulent growing tips, we're loving Hannah Maloney's The Good Life, Maddie hard recommends Maggie McKellar's Graft. We're talking Organic Gardener Magazine, chimmichuri, putting up jute netting, and making the most of the spring rain thanks to a well-timed installation of a new gutter and tank system. Hurray!

Find us on Instagram @avantgardeners.podcast.

And pretty please share our podcast with a friend of yours and / or rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts.

Thanks for being here :-)

S3 E2 -- here we go! This week we've had the pleasure of chatting to pun-tasting garden coach Chloe Thomson, aka Bean There Dug That.

Chloe is a horticulturalist who is inspiring and teaching gardeners just like you. She recently  founded Sprout School, an online course to help provide you with knowledge and conference, no matter how or where you're gardening. Chloe and her family live, garden and outdoor bath in Hurstbridge, on the land of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people of the Kulin nation, on the outskirts of Melbourne. We talk to Chloe about shade gardening, interpreting plant labels, and growing fruit trees in pots. She's a delight.

But before we get to that we're drinking a 2023 Brash Higgins Free Ball. It's bloody delish.  

We're pronouncing hellebores with far more artistic flair than necessary. 

We're complaining about possums and what the heck is up with indoor pots these days! Despite lush growth on my indoor plants, we're struggling with finding good indoor pots. 

Emily has had brand new calves, Maddie has brand new baby lambs.

Maddie is very optimistic about the upcoming gardening season, Emily has done all her seasonal rose prep a la The Garden at Moorfield's Rose Guide. 

Maddie's watching (and crying in) Clarkson's Farm

Find us on Instagram @avantgardeners.podcast.

And pretty please share our podcast with a friend of yours and / or rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts.

Thanks for being here :-)

Oh hey there! We've missed you.

We're back for Season 3 with one of our faves, Erin Lovell Verinder.

Erin Lovell Verinder's entire career is about reconnecting the people with the plants.

She is a woman on a mission to bring people along on her journey to become in tune with the natural world and inspire others to heal through the beauty of plant medicine. 

Erin is a nutritionist, a herbalist, a teacher, and a writer, having published Plants for the People in 2020, followed by The Plant Clinic the following year. Her popular TED Talk on Herbalism, the quiet rebellion, is a must watch. 

Erin and her husband Noah currently live, work and garden on the land of the Bundjalung people, in the Byron Hinterland in NSW. They recently relocated there from their stunning and lovingly restored home in a church in the aptly named hamlet of Blessington, in Northern Tasmania. Their Tassie property, The Cedar Church, is available for your own divine getaway.

In the episode Emily and Maddie are catching up on 2 months of no-gardening-chat and there's been a lot going on. 

We're drinking bootleg gin from Maddie's neighbour Bill with Friendship Syrup from our amazing friend Rachel Valentine. We're talking about Paulette Whitney's Broccoli & Other Love Stories, we're making chilli oil, we're growing and cooking Brussel Sprouts. And we're drooling over the perennials, and the colour collections, at Veggie & Flower Garden Seeds. We're going to need a big heap of Milkwood's Perfect Seed Raising Mix to grow everything this spring. Watch out when you mix lavenders :-)

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

Rodney Dunn's excitement when talking about gardening is like a kid in a candy store. Fuelled by a 'quest for flavour' and inspired by The River Cottage UK, Rodney and his wife Severine moved to Tasmania in 2007, opening The Agrarian Kitchen, a cooking school and garden that has grown to become an institution itself. In 2017 they added a restaurant to their offering and have recently opened up their phenomenal one-acre walled garden adjacent to the Restaurant and brand-new cooking school, making it the trifecta of all things agrarian dreams.

We chat to Rodney about what he learned from the 'old garden', the new no-dig method they've used, we go deep into mycorrhizal fungi, tips to take on-board when starting a new garden, and what his last meal would be.

Before we get into that, we're drinking a Negroni (equal parts gin, campari and vermouth, shaken and served over a big fat icecube with an orange garnish) and it's delicious.

We're chatting dibblers, garlic, golden beetroot, Lactic Acid Bacteria and so much more.

Emily's recommendation is The Practical Australian Gardener by Peter Cundall, Maddie's recommendation is this salad dressing - honey, grated garlic, salt, sherry or white wine vinegar, oil. Put it on everything. 

Explore classes and garden tours or book a lunch at The Agrarian Kitchen here, and follow them on Instagram here. Find Rodney on Instagram 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. ~

Mindy Woods is a chef, restaurateur and author, and the first female Indigenous chef to become hatted by the Australian Good Food Guide. A proud Bundjalung woman, Mindy was pursuing physiotherapy when she barged onto our screens in on Masterchef in 2012.

Since then she's created an impactful career around food and education with Native ingredients being at the centre of everything she does. Mindy was named a Champion of Change at the 2025 World's 50 Best Restaurants Awards, and she's recently reimagined her award-winning restaurant, offering a full experience on country in the Byron hinterland. At Karkalla on Country, guests can take cooking classes or immersive dining experiences. 

In 2025, Mindy released her first book, Karkalla at Home. Mindy forages, gardens and cooks on the lands of the Bundjalung people in northern New South Wales.

Before we get into this beautiful chat, Maddie and Emily are enjoying a Native Pepper Whisky Sour (Native Pepper syrup made with leaves + water + sugar).

Emily is obsessing about Euphorbia, lamenting her plant tag organisation system, and is curious about how Dahlias just multiply.

Maddie bought her very first rose (an earth angel floribunda), and is obsessed with the old world shape.

We're also talking processing tomatoes, Emily's tomato relish, the best honey ever.

And then it's into our chat with Mindy. This is a cracker. Hope you love it!

We've both been obsessed with My Father and Other Animals for some time now, so when author and accidental-farmer Sam Vincent said yes to being interviewed we were quietly nervous. He joined us from his family's farm in the Yass Valley that he shares with his partner Lauren and daughter Orlando. This land has traditionally been inhabited by the Ngunnawal and Wiradjuri people.

After his dad had a farm accident, Sam and his mum thought it would be wise to get Sam out to the property regularly in a bit of a babysitting capacity, which Sam said gave his weeks structure and his life purpose. Over the years it became an apprenitiship of sorts and gave Sam both a solid understanding of how much of a conservationist and regernative farmer his dad was, and a taste of living on the land. 

In this discussion we talk about hiding squash in drawers, the idea of turning the whole farm into a garden of sorts, rotational grazing, tagasaste (tree lucern), figs, farming with his daughter and a whole lot more.

Before we get into it, Maddie and Emily are drinking....coffee. Yep, just plain white coffee. We're midly disappointed in ourselves but it was 9am and we couldn't face a fig cocktail. 

We're also talking indoor plants - inspired by our chat with Sophia Kaplan and getting our hands on Plantopedia, friends with green thumbs, compost (when are we not talking about compost!), hakea, brahmi, tagasaste, getting more white on your leeks and more.

Recommend: Call of the Reed Warbler by Charles Massy. 

Find Sam on Instagram here, and get your hands on My Father and Other Animals here

Plantlovers, let us welcome Sophia Kaplan to the microphone. What a bloody treat to interview Sophia about all things floristry, moving to Paris, Indoor plants, and what she's growing at her place.

Sophia's eponymous studio specialises in botanic set design for stills photography, floral styling for events, editorial and commercial projects. She's worked with an incredible lineup of brands including Louis Vuitton, Maison Balzac, Audi, Sydney Opera House and Mud Australia. 

She is the co-founder of Leaf Supply along with Lauren Camilleri and together they've written books including Leaf Supply, Plantopedia, Indoor Jungle and most recently, Bloom. 

But before we get into that chat, Emily and Maddie chat about poa, and a crowbar-type device and one of our favourite nurseries - Plants of Tasmania. We're cooking hot wet bread salad, aka baked tomatoes with capers, olives and croutons, from the book Community, by Hetty McKinnon.

We're drinking Wildflower's beer - specifically their River Fossil Farm blueberry beer.  This brewery is owned by Emily, her husband Chris, and the amazing Bernadette and Topher. If you're in Sydney, best you go visit their cellar door asap. Run don't walk. 

Find Sophia on Instagram here, Leaf Supply here, and Sophia's website here.  

In this episode, we return for part 2 of our conversation with Charles Dowding, the guru of no dig gardening. 

If you haven't listened to Part 1, feel free to go back and brush up on the basics of no dig, composting and weeding, before diving head first into this episode where we explore planting by the moon, biodynamic, gardening with intention and what he's on (he must be on something, surely, if he's this happy all the time!).

We also discuss why Charles is getting more politically involved in gardening (and allotment management in the UK), before jumping into the Fast 5. 

We chat about ladybugs, olive scale, blushing bride, Le Sac, Rachel's Farm, PIP Magazine, The Food Saver's A to Z

We're drinking a tasty little vermouth called Outlandish Claims by Ravensworth

 

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

 

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

 

 

We've been dedicated students of the Compostable Kate's School of Compost since wayyyyy back, so it's an absolute dream to interview her for this week's episode.

Kate Flood (aka Compostable Kate) is a sustainability educator, compost queen and author of The Compost Coach (2023). She is prolific on Instagram, sharing all things Bokashi, worm farms and hot compost. She lives, gardens and composts in the Bega Valley, in southern New South Wales on the Yuin-Monaro Nations.

We chat about what Kate and Beyonce have in common, her amazing jumper collection and, of course, all things compost including sheet composting, what kind of composting she'd do on a desert island, and a whole lot more.  We also talk about how composting is fabulous for the garden, and vital part of climate activism. 

Find her on Instagram here

But before we get there...we're chatting about possums, snails and wheelbarrows.

We're drinking the Compostable Kate Cocktail (a fresh little number we whipped up with sparkling rose, ginger syrup, strawberries and borage).

We're recommending The Overstory by Richard Powers

Kate recommends: the Share Waste app - a way to connect people who wish to recycle their food scraps and other organics with their neighbours who are already composting, worm-farming or keeping farm animals.

 

We're kicking off Season 2 with the delightful Jac Semmler, author, flower lover, and director of plant practice Super Bloom.

Jac has held coveted positions including Head of Plants and Strategy at The Plant Society, as well as roles at The Diggers Club. Her debut book Super Bloom is a manifesto to all things flowers, and her 2023 release, The Super Bloom Handbook is all about maximum flowers for minimum effort.

Heartland is the name of Jac's home garden, a suburban block turned flower paradise, on the land of the Bunurong people of the Kulin Nation.

Find Jac on Instagram here, and follow her beautiful plant practice and everything she's up to professionally at @SuperBloomAu.

We're drinking a 2023 Hughes and Hughes soiree pet nat from southern Tasmania. And it's delish.

We're reading

The Well Gardened Mind by Sue Stuart Smith

The Complete Book of Vegetables, Herbs & Fruit in Australia by Bob Flowerdew, Matthew Biggs, Jekka McVicar

Do
Catch Jac's session The Agrarian Kitchen coming up on Feb 3. 

To wrap up a season of dreamy guests, we spoke to Kirsten Bradley, co-founder of Milkwood Permaculture. Kirsten and her partner Nick Ritar founded Milkwood, kind of by accident, back in 2007 when they moved to Nick's family farm with the intention to build a tiny home, grow veggies and lead a simple life. And it turns out they weren't the only ones looking for this type of life. 

Soon they were hosting events and workshops as teachers and students descended on their farm. That interest and momentum spawned this way-of-living, education hub which has become Milkwood Permaculture. Milkwood was the name of that first farm in country NSW. While their location has changed once or twice, their ethos has only grown stronger and bolder. Kirsten and Nick now call lutruwita / Tasmania home, and they continue to share their knowledge on everything from permaculture design, to how to grow mushrooms, and building resilient and abundant communities.

Milkwood was a bit of a gateway drug for Maddie's entry into gardening, and Em and her husband have recently embarked on their Organic Vegetable Gardening Course. Where we live there's barely a home that we go to that doesn't have a copy of Kirsten's first book Milkwood: Real Skills for Down-To-Earth Living.

Kirsten's latest book is called The Milkwood Permaculture Living Handbook, Habits for Hope in a Changing World, released in late 2023. The book explores the 12 Principles of Permaculture, and covers everything from 'compost everything', to 'using your privilege for purpose' and 'cook a meal outdoors'.

Find Milkwood on Instagram here. 

We're drinking a rosemary gimlet - following a recipe from Cocktail Botanica by Elouise Anders

We're recommending the Bronchial Buster tea, recipe from Plants for the People by Erin Lovell Verinder

We're drooling over everything at The Agrarian Kitchen - check out their cooking classes here. 

We're flicking through a decades old Fowlers book

We're loving Bokashi and Compostable Kate's tips.

Visit us at @avantgardeners.podcast and www.avant-gardeners.com

Ashley James is a garden designer and horticulturist based in the Yarra Valley, Victoria, on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people.

He started working in the industry when he was  just 14 years old, alongside his dad. He started his own business aged 23 and went against the grain, focusing on soft-landscaping and design, when all the cool kids were doing landscape construction. He went on to study horticulture, and now works on everything from vineyards, to large wedding and function venues, urban spaces, country estates and cottage gardens. Ashley's known for his beautiful, romantic gardens that weave traditional design principles with naturalistic plantings. 

Ashley's aim is to create a dream garden for each client. He is an absolute plant and flower die hard, and is a self-professed Plants Man. He and his work has been featured on The Block, Better Homes and Gardens and Country House Facelift, while a stunning Eltham garden project was written up on the Design Files. If he isn't busy enough, Ashley continues to create his dream garden at his own home that he shares with his wife Bianca and three children, and he's the newest columnist for Home Beautiful, providing amazing gardening advice and inspo.

We're drinking
Latta Rattlesnake

We're talking about

Winespeake in Daylesford on Instagram here.

Dimity's amazing stall at Cygnet Garden Market - Check her out on @TinyFarmTas

Edna Walling

We're also talking lemons, seaweed and how hard gardening is.

We're reading
The Age of Seeds - How Plants Hacked Time and Why our Future Depends On It by Fiona McMillan-Webster

Visit us at @avantgardeners.podcast and www.avant-gardeners.com

 

 

This week we're chatting to the super lovely Brenton Roberts whose garden we've coveted for a long time now. 

Brenton lives in the Adelaide Hills with his wife Libby and young family, breathing new life into the garden and home, built in the 1860s. They moved to the property about 10 years ago, and commenced the thoughtful process of transforming it to a magical, whimsical and productive space.

Brenton was a finalist in 2018's Gardener of the Year Awards, and has been featured on Gardening Australia - a show he grew up with and was inspired by. He had his first Paul Bangay book by the time he was a teenager, and an amazing farewell gift by a former boss looped him back in with Paul later on. 

Notes for this episode:

We're drinking a Vini Fusilli Pinot Nero Romolo 2022 from our delightful friends Lucinda and Piero who live down the road (and we have to ask ourselves whether we only make friends with people who have either great gardens or access to great drinks. Maybe we do?). 

We're reading The Milkwood Permaculture Living Handbook by Kirsten Bradley 

And we're also reading The Smart Veggie Patch by Terry Memory

We're shopping for hydrangea and funeral tips thanks to the Gardening Australia Magazine

Sadie Chrestman didn't get into gardening until she was 40, but she's quickly made up for lost time. Sadie moved from inner-city Sydney to the Huon Valley in Tasmania, settling on a property called Puggle Farm, where she got stuck into everything from animal husbandry, admiring wood piles, and deep soil knowledge.

Stepping it up a notch, Sadie, and her partner Matthew Evans, purchased a 70 acre property they named Fat Pig Farm, opening a market garden and setting up a restaurant. When one of their much loved Market Gardener moved on, Sadie put her hand up for the role, taking on 1km of garden beds for a weekly restaurant sitting - sometimes feeding up to 200 people per week, with produce almost entirely coming from the farm.

Fat Pig Farm have created a bush foods garden with Aunty Kris Schaffer, are doing gin collabs with Nat Fryar from Abel Gin,  and are spreading the good word about the importance of soil. 

Notes for this episode:

We're drinking a Rhubarb + Ginger Margarita inspired by Fermented Chilli and Yuzu Salt from Rough Rice

We're reading The Compost Coach by Kate Flood, aka Compostable Kate

We're watching Live to 100 - Secrets of the Blue Zone on Netflix

We mention:
Gardeners Bay Farm

Are we missing anything? Just drop us a line on Instagram @avantgardeners.podcast

Thank you!

~ 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. ~

Brenna Quinlan is an illustrator and educator with a keen focus on permaculture and sustainability. 

Her special skill is putting her energy, creativity and passion into making the world a better place. She's not afraid to take hard, uncomfortable or challenging subjects, but she always has humour at the core.

Through her art she has collaborated with the likes of Costa, Milkwood Permaculture, David Holmgren and the CSIRO. 

Brenna lives, creates art and permacultures in a strawbale house that she built from reclaimed materials on Bibbulmun Menang boodja, in an intentional community in Denmark, Western Australia.

Before we get into this highly delightful, educational and entertaining chat with Brenna, Emily and Maddie are drinking a Joshua Cooper 2024 Pinot Noir, Maddie is talking about chickens and accidentally discovered the most delicious eggs she's ever tasted. She's making lots of homemade marshmallows with those bad boys.

We go deep into potatoes: Pink Eyes and King Edwards, and Maddie's planted out a bunch of cuttings from Emily's succulent garden - including Blue Chalk Sticks and something else whose name we don't know.

Maddie is recommending Wintering by Katherine May, and is embarrassed by her lack of chlorophyll knowledge. We also explore the abscission zone (of leaf and brain variety). 

Emily's spending wholesome days with the kids at Birches Bay Art Farm, where she recently purchased some Native Pepper Berry. She's also experimenting with thornless blackberry.

Brenna is a wealth of information and recommends the following:

• Rewilding the Urban Soul by Claire Dunn

• Everyday Permaculture by Anna Matilda, aka Urban Nanna

• Koren Helbig's 'The Power of Quarterly Rest'

• Retrosuburbia, by David Holmgren

Follow Brenna here, and consider supporting her on Patreon here.

 

In this Episode we interview your friend and mine, Dimity May. Dimity's gateway drug to gardening was through market gardening, but she turned her attention to seedling growing just as the pandemic (remember that guy?) was just taking off, setting up Reid Tiny Farm in Canberra as a CSA model, for seedlings.

In 2023, Dimity, her husband and two kids, made the move to Tasmania's Huon Valley, and since chatting with Dimity (she was our very first interviewee!), she's changed her business name to Tiny Farm Tas, and has been incredibly busy setting up her operations in a new state, a new climate, and with a new model.

It's no mean feat, and we are in awe.

Notes for this Episode.

We're drinking Ravensworth vino

Guest:  Dimity May, Tiny Farm Tas (previously Reid Tiny Farm)

Some of the things we chat about:

Milkwood Permaculture: Organic Vegetable Gardening (Next course begins 20 November, 2023)

The Food Savers A-Z, The Essential Cornersmith Kitchen Companion by Alex Elliott-Howery & Jamie Edwards

Tiny Farm Canberra 

ActiveVista 

Buena Vista Farm 

All Sun Farm 

JM Fortier  The Market Gardener's Masterclass 

Keeley, Fat Pig Produce - local veggie boxes in Southern Tasmania

BioDynamics Tasmania 

Joyce Wilkie, All Sun Farm 

The Sustainable Food Trust, Patrick Holden 

The Regenerative Journey, Charlie Arnott 

Ep 03 - Welcome back Avant Gardeners! 

We bring you Part 2 of our chat with friend and rose-die-hard, Pip Steele-Wareham from @The_Garden_At_Moorfield.

In this chat we explore her 150m (no, that is not a typo) naturalistic garden, and then go deep on roses - why she loves them, how to tend to them, selecting the right rose for you and beneficial plants to keep them healthy.  

If you didn't catch Part 1 of this chat, jump in now. 

This week ....

We're drinking a most delish Sailor Seeks Horse Pinot.

We're reading The Gardeners Bed-Book by Richardson Wright as well as My Father and Other Animals by Sam Vincent

Find us on Instagram at @avantgardeners.podcast

Ep 02 - Avant Gardeners

In this episode we give you Part 1 of our chat with our friend, and inspirational gardener, Pip Steele-Wareham who is doing magical things at her property Moorfield @The_Garden_At_Moorfield in Victoria. 

A lot of this week's chat is about her and her husbands Hugo's previous property Little Oak and the challenges and successes they had there. We speak about Pip's approach to gardening (find what you love, and grow that), her obsessions with soil, and if -nay, when - rhododendrons will come back into fashion. 

It's a juicy little Episode, and we'll be back in a fortnight with Part 2. 

What we're drinking

• Chatto Pinot Noir, 2021. Bloody delish

References worth looking up

• Milkwood Permaculture
• The Garden at Moorfield

As always, find us on Instagram @avantgardeners.podcast, and please rate, review and subscribe wherever you're listening to this podcast.

 

Hi, and welcome to Avant Gardeners. 

In this episode we give you an intro into the lives of Emily and Maddie, two friends who live, play and garden on Melukerdee country in Tasmania's Huon Valley, with varying success.

Both have unexpectedly landed on properties, with vast gardens, and very little know how.

In future episodes we'll be inteviewing others, but in this episode it's all about us. 

What we're drinking

• Merry Spiced Cherry Amaretto Sour (based on  this, recipe but with home made cherry sugar syrup inspired by Verona Stands, and aquafaba)

References worth looking up

• Serious Backyard Vegetables, a past course by Milkwood Permaculture
• Matthew Evan's carrot top pesto recipe, available in The Commons
• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

 

 

 

Katie Finlay is a third-generation orchardist who grew up on the family farm she now calls home. She received a Bachelor of Science from Monash Uni majoring in botany and genetics - which came in very handy when she returned to the farm 15 years later

Katie and her partner Hugh are on a mission to help backyard growers and orchardists alike to create the abundant fruit trees of your dreams. 

Katie and Hugh run Grow Great Fruit, an education hub that combines their decades of fruit growing experience into practical lessons through webinars, online courses, annual subscriptions and in-person sessions. They also have a nursery with more than 200 varietes of fruit including apples, stone fruit, heritage varieties and multi-grafted trees.

Katie lives and farms on Djaara country at the foot of Mount Alexander in central Victoria

To kick the episode off we're drinking a cup of chamomile tea and honey, with a dash of Poor Tom's Gin. Maddie's tree dahlia didn't quite go off like she'd have hoped, but her ranunculus from seed are going great. 
She's still planting things too close together.
Emily is in her espalier era, with 7 trees about to go into the ground. We ask - What can't you espalier?
We acknowledge we've been pronouncing bougainvillea like Aussie bogans - boganvillia. Whoops.
Emily has secured herself a Charles Jolly Lilac.

Maddie is recommending The Plant Hunter's Atlas

In our chat with the amazing Katie, we cover all this and more:

• bud swell
• pruning
• pests and pest control
• grafting
• storing fruit
• preserving fruit
• cooperative farming models
• succession planning
• Grow Great Fruit

Thanks for listening. We'd love it if you could rate, review and share Avant Gardeners with your friends.

Follow us on Instagram or check out our website.  

Scott Whitaker is a visual artist and former art gallery owner who now runs Hinterland Bees with his wife Allyson Reynolds. They got their first hive back in 1996, and now manage more than 250 of them across orchards and rainforests in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland.

Scott produces pure, natural raw honey and has become synonymous with swarm removal. His social videos are mesmerising to watch, opting for no protective gear when handling thousands of them. 

Scott lives, gardens and bee keeps on Jinibara and Kabi Kabi country in the Sunshine Coast hinterland in Queensland. 

If you love or loathe bees, or eat anything pollinated by bees, this is a great listen!

Before we get there, we're drinking a Hartzview Honey Mead. Emily is talking about all the positive impacts on her gardening journey including Terry Memory, Milkwood Permaculture, Emma Bowen @ Rising Farm and Hannah Maloney. She's also about to plant all her peonies. 

Maddie is trying to grow Hollyhock, she's reneged on her idea of building her own chicken coop, and she's on the snail warpath. She's also recommending Danielle Alvarez's Cheesy Cauliflower Soup. Yum!

Scott recommends the book Honey Bee Democracy by Thomas D. Seeley. 

NOTE: We interviewed Scott about 8 weeks ago, and since then varroa has been detected in several of his hives. 

Thanks for listening. We'd love it if you could rate, review and share Avant Gardeners with your friends.

Follow us on Instagram or check out our website.  

Nikki Husted, aka Purely Chickens on Instagram, has been on our Dream Interview List for a very long time. 

Nikki is a former public school teacher turned chicken guru, who educates and entertains a community of like-minded chicken fanatics about all things poultry and homesteading. 

In 2023 she released her book Chicken Keeping Pure and Simple, bringing together more than two decades of chicken know-how into a really practical resource.

Nikki lives in Ohio with her husband, two young kids, and a menagerie including dogs, cats, goats, geese and - of course - dozens of chickens! Whether you have chickens or not, you're going to love Nikki's chat!

Before we get there, we're drinking a Lindt Ball Hot Chocolate (which you can make adult by adding a shot of whisky or similar). Emily is sharing her compost palace update, her Arborteum experience and she's getting around to spraying her fruit trees. Maddie is obsessed with her $4 zero turn mower and she's upskilling on avocado pollination types.

Recommendations: Emily is loving her mulch fork, while Maddie is obsessed with top quality hazelnuts. Specifically Crooked Tree (hard to source if you're not very local) or Hazelbrae Hazelnuts if you're looking to purchase some online. Yummm bloody yum.

Thanks for listening. We'd love it if you could rate, review and share Avant Gardeners with your friends.

Follow us on Instagram or check out our website.  

 

Welcome to the first episode of our little mini winter series. We'll be talking about the birds and the bees, the mind and fruit trees. Thanks for being here.

First up, we're having a fan girl moment chatting to Sue Stuart-Smith. Sue is a psychiatrist, psychotherapist and author of The Well Gardened Mind – a Sunday Times Bestseller. Sue originally saw gardening as 'outdoor housework', but it was the veggie garden that drew her in. 

She originally studied English Literature at the University of Cambridge before qualifying as a doctor and working in the NHS, where she went on to become the lead clinician for psychotherapy in Hertfordshire. 

Sue and her husband, celebrated garden designer Tom Stuart-Smith, have together spent almost four decades cultivating the Barn Garden – a place that inspired much of her writing. Her book explores the relationship between gardening and mental health.

Sue lives, works and gardens in Hertfordshire in the UK from where she shares widely her deep appreciation for the natural world. 

Before we get to this beautiful chat with Sue we're drinking a Sailor Seeks Horse Chardonnay.

Emily is dishing up why she's not a fan of carnations.

Maddie boldly states she's going to build her own chicken coop.

We've discovered (unpalatable) native blueberries. We've found all of the apple info at Pomiferous. And Emily's decided what to plant in her future espalier bed - including a Plum Scrumptious - an interspecies plant that is plum and peach. Yumbo!

 

 

--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 --

Alex Elliott-Howery is a writer, pickler and all-round foodie guru who is the founder of Cornersmith and all their spin offs with her partner James Grant. Alex is a food-waste queen, trying to change our habits so we can stop throwing out all the good foodie bits one spring onion at a time, and she's just released her latest book The Pocket Pickler that includes 80 recipes to enjoy, broken down by season. You can also find her sharing all her knowledge in courses including this Pickling Intensive

Alex lives, gardens and pickles in Sydney, on the Gadigal land of the Eora Nation. 

Before we get there we're drinking a Sigurd Rose, Emily's helped to host (and attend) a Small Farms Workshop, she's loving golden delicious (but not the possums). Maddie is getting inspo from Honey Atkinson, and humble-bragging about how much produce from the garden is on the dinner table. 

Thanks for listening!

 

~ 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. ~

Rachel Ward's career began on screen, with standout roles in classics like The Thorn Birds before she turned her skills to directing acclaimed works including Beautiful Kate. In her sixties, Rachel's energy and focus shifted to regenerative agriculture, swapping film sets for fence lines and embarking on an ambitious overhaul of the beef farm her and her husband Bryan Brown had owned for thirty-odd years. Her brilliant documentary Rachel's Farm captures this shift as Rachel moves into her soil-health evangelist era, charting her mission to restore land and the food system. Today, she continues that momentum through Farmthru, her paddock-to-plate project designed to disrupt how regenerative farm produce is made available to consumers. 

Rachel lives, works and tends to her cattle on the land of the Gumbaynggirr people in the Nambucca Valley, New South Wales.

Before we get to Rachel's chat, Maddie and Emily are drinking Greek Frappe (metrio me gala) even though it's 9 degrees outside. Recipe from Philoxenia: A Seat At My Table by Kon Karapanagiotidis.

Emily is dreaming of abundance in the garden.

Maddie is going to try to make her own tomato powder by Lauren at Oaklea Veggie Patch.

They both visited good mate Pip Steele Wareham at The Garden at Moorfield and it was just like old times in that Pip was followed around by Maddie and Emily asking lots of annoying questions.

We visited CERES Brunswick and want to start our own version in Cygnet.

We're growing strawberries in pots and trying to get lots more creeping thyme in the garden (thank you, Connie Cao)

Maddie is thinning her fruit trees (thank you, Katie Finlay)

Rachel recommends:
We Are The Ark by Mary Reynolds,
The Creative Act by Rick Reuben,
The Call of the Reed Warbler by Charles Massy,
Deep Listening to Nature by Andrew Skeock
Healthy Land, Happily Families and Profitable Businesses by David W Pratt
The Soil Will Save Us by Kristen Ohlson,
Holistic Management by Allan Savory

Check our Rachel's new online-ordering, kerb pick up regenerative farm produce available at Farmthru.

~ 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. ~

Emma Horswill was a madkeen gardener with a fine arts degree and a 9-acre block. With plans for a veggie garden and orchard, Emma turned her hand to flower farming in 2019, and since then has gone from strength to strength. 

This family run farm, called Earthenry, now grows well over 100 different varieties of seasonal and field-grown blooms, and has cultivated a dedicated community of volunteers and devotees who flock to the farm for events including garden and gossip, twilight flower picking, pick your own mornings, workshops, and seedling sales. 

Emma also breeds her own dahlias, makes made-to-order bouquets and sells organically-grown seeds. Emma, her husband Greg and their two teenage children live, work and garden in the beautiful township of Snug, on the lands of the Nuenonne people in Tasmania. 

Before we get to that, Maddie & Emily and drinking a Fin Wines' Dandelions and Bumblebees

Emily is talking about pea straw, her broody chickens and some tips she's learned from Nicky Husted, aka Purely Chickens.

We both went to the Cygnet Garden Market and bought a literal boot load of plants including Mint! Hurray. Chocolate mint, peppermint and basil mint. 

Emily is loving The Garden Curator's column in Graziher magazine about observing where the early and late light moves in the garden, and that's where to plant those frothy, tall grasses to catch the light. 

Maddie is loving the cows, Hetty McKinnon's dukkah from the Community cookbook, and having garden chats with Emily. 

This is our last episode of 2026. Thank you for being here. It means the world. 

Jodi Wilson is a bestselling author of four books, a health journalist and postpartum doula. Several years ago, she and her family packed their lives into a caravan, and set off in search of adventure, and a more simple life. After two years on the road they put down roots in Tasmania. It is here where she's embraced gardening, and written her most recent book, A Brain That Breathes, out today. 

Jodi lives, writes and gardens with her partner and their four children on the land of the punnilerpanner people in north western Tasmania

Before we get to this thought-provoking chat, Emily and Madeleine are drinking Archie Rose Straight Dry gin with some home made purple elderflower cordial.

Emily is regretting purchasing a Ginko tree, and the agapanthus keep rearing their ugly head. 
She is loving her Cerastium tomentosum - snow in summer - and Maddie's cutting is also doing quite well.

Maddie is obsessed with Sage, and wants to propagate more. She's also tried her hand at sage sticks. She's got a picnic blanket in the post and is excited for more outdoor eating-and-drinking sessions. Calendula is back, and in some beautiful colours, and she is recommending  Why Women Grow, by Alice Vincent.

Jodi has a HUGE list of books she recommends for summer, and or anytime. We've already read a couple of them and they are excellent. Can highly recommend her recommendations!

-The Mushroom Tapes by Chloe Hooper, Helen Garner, and Sarah Krasnostein
-Heart the Lover by Lily King
-Sandwich and Wreck by Catherine Newman
-The Octopus and I and A Catalogue of Love by Erin Hortle
-The Hiding Place by Kate Mildenhall
-The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers
-Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley

We're also banging on and singing the praises of libraries, AGAIN!

Jo Thompson is one of the UK's most celebrated garden designers, known for creating deeply romantic, naturalistic gardens that feel timeless, layered and full of atmosphere.  Her projects span the UK and abroad - from wildflower meadows in the English countryside to rooftop terraces in New York and coastal gardens in Italy and Brazil. 

She's a multiple award-winner at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, with several Gold medals to her name, and her designs  - ranging from private landscapes to meaningful public projects - are widely admired. 

Beyond her design practice, she's a respected teacher, author and voice in the gardening world, sharing her knowledge through books, lectures and her much-loved newsletter, The Gardening Mind. Jo's work reminds us that gardens can be both art and refuge – spaces that connect us to beauty, memory and the natural world.

Before we get to Jo's chat, Maddie and Emily are talking about:

• Agapanthas (sorry!)
• Snakes
• Wildflower Meadows
• Emma Bowen of Rising Farm
• Sea salt and olive oil on vanilla icecream

Then we get into glorious Jo's chat and we cover a lot. Highlights include:

• Glasshouse Project
• Women in horitculture / at the Chelsea Flower Show
• Designing a garden
• Trypophobia
  
• Damsen Cocktail

Jo lists a bunch of her favourite roses:

Wild Rover
Meg - climber
The Lark Ascending
Felicite-Perpetue
Adélaide d'Orléans
Ghislaine de feligonde
Blush Noisette
Bengal Crimsen
Mutablis 
Gertrude JekyllMILsures
Olivia Rose Austin
Ispahan

We're baaaaaack! And with a slightly new format. We're trying out one week where we release our chat (longer version), and the following week we'll release our guest interview. It means we can get episodes out weekly. We'll trial it and see.

We've missed the podcast so it's awesome to be back. 

Emily has knocked it out of the park with a delicious mulberry bramble (gin, mulberry cordial from our friends' tree, blackberries, lime).

Having taken more than two months off, we have so much to chat about. 

 

Including, but not limited to:

Seed saving - calendula and platypus spinach,

Drying hydrangeas thanks to Anya The Garden Fairy

We're talking about Moths - they need a rebrand.

The Almanac, Cool Climate Sowing Guide

Alnwick Garden and Millie Fleur's Poison Garden (by Christy Mandin).

Aaaand lilacs, daphne, feverfew, calendula, compost bays. 

Catch up next week when we interview (omg!) Jo Thompson! 

It's a Maddie & Emily chat this week.

Maddie is loving (despite calling the colour urine-esque) the White Gate Co White Blend and if you're in Tassie go book and wine shopping at Five Leaves Left. 

Emily was creating new neural pathways and happened upon a great side-street garden stall. Win!

We're lamenting the end of cherry season, but enjoying choc-covered cherries from a local stall.

We're rolling (metaphorically, not literally) in peastraw and alpaca poo.

Lettuce is ON!

Emily has has success with a poppy (yes, just the one), and it's reminding her of her grandfather. Maddie's hollyhocks have popped and it's reminding her of her grandmother.

Emily is recommending Death and the Gardener, and Maddie is recommending Recipe Tin Eats' scone recipe but a shout out to Lady Flo's Pumpkin Scones too.