Avant Gardeners Madeleine Gasparinatos & Emily Allen

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.

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.