Episodes
-
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.
-
Missing episodes?
-
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 SmithThe 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 AndersWe'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 RattlesnakeWe'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 BradleyAnd 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 KateWe're watching Live to 100 - Secrets of the Blue Zone on Netflix
We mention:
Gardeners Bay FarmAre we missing anything? Just drop us a line on Instagram @avantgardeners.podcast
Thank you!
-
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 CanberraActiveVista
Buena Vista FarmAll 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 delishReferences worth looking up
Milkwood Permaculture The Garden at MoorfieldAs 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)
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
References worth looking up
