Reskillience Catie Payne

Many of you have requested interviews with folks who are making beautiful nests in less-than-perfect contexts, like the city. Who haven't flown off to Planet Permaculture but are sticking with modern civilisation. You've asked to explore the personal terrain of chronic pain, limited energy and neurodivergence; highlighting radical self compassion as the necessary first step in the radical reimagining of everything.

And so I reached out to Koren Helbig, a restful role model for our times.

If you don't know Koren, she's a digital marketing strategist and journalist based in Tarntanya/Adelaide. She shares stories of gardening and climate positive futures for publications like the ABC and the guardian, and top quality fluffy poultry content over on instagram.

I've been watching Koren's work from afar for ages, half envious and wholly admiring of her ability to weave permaculture principles throughout her entire life, from how she grows food, connects with neighbours, pays the mortgage and runs her business to — as I discovered in this conversation — deliberately building rest and reflection and fallowing into her schedule. Best of all, Koren is a real and warm human who exudes a quiet brilliance. I loved spending time with her, and know you will too.

Koren's home on the web [https://korenhelbig.com/]

Koren on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/koren.helbig/]

The Art of Frugal Hedonism [https://au.permacultureprinciples.com/product/the-art-frugal-hedonism/] ~ Annie Raser-Rowland & Adam Grubb

She Makes Magic podcast [https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/she-makes-magic-the-podcast-series-koren-f84JbtWhLPR/]

The Food Forest [https://www.foodforest.com.au/]

Holistic Decision Making with Dan Palmer [https://goodlifepermaculture.com.au/holistic-management-decision-making-with-dan-palmer/]

Kirstin Neff ~ Self Compassion [https://self-compassion.org/]

Beyond Climate Grief [https://jonicanewby.com.au/beyond-climate-grief/] ~ Jonica Newby

***Support Reskillience on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/Reskillience]***

Did you know that women represent less than one third of artists in the music industry? And just 12.6% of songwriters? I'm quoting my guests here, Lauren and Oberon Carter of Spiral Garden and, lately, Suffragette Records in Hobart, Lutruwita.

Suffragette Records stocks music made by women only, not for the sake of exclusion but to rebalance the scales. Because who and what we listen to patterns our thinking, beliefs, communities and civilization. When women aren't part of our cultural soundscape, we miss out on stories and messages and melodic teachings from a whole portion of the population.

I was delighted to unpack Lauren + Oberon's new-ish adventures in vinyl, how the've embedded permaculture ethics into their business, the day to day experience of running a record shop as a family of five, and the heartfelt chats they're having with old dudes about music, climate change, the matriarchy and everything in between.

1. Lauren + Oberon's home on the web ~ Spiral Garden [https://spiralgarden.com.au/]
2. Lauren + Oberon's record store ~ Suffragette Records [https://suffragetterecords.com.au/]
3. Spiral Garden's Substack [https://spiralgarden.substack.com/]
4. Suffragette Records on the gram [https://www.instagram.com/suffragetterecords/]
Julia Jacklin ~ Don't Let The Kids Win [https://wahwahrecords.com.au/products/julia-jacklin-dont-let-the-kids-win]
5. Joni Mitchell ~ Court + Spark [https://suffragetterecords.com.au/search?q=joni+mitchell+court&options%5Bprefix%5D=last]
6. Vandana Shiva [https://vandanashivamovie.com/]
7. ***Support Reskillience on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/Reskillience]***

Scarcity mindsets + scrofulous zombies are no match for nature's weedy abundance! So says Diego Bonetto [https://www.diegobonetto.com/], wild food advocate and forager with a heart of greenish-gold. 

Diego calls Wiradjuri Country, NSW, home and leads foraging workshops, seasonal edible adventures, community art projects, wild storytelling events, makes more weedy media appearances than I can list here and is the author of the excellent Eat Weeds: A Field Guide to Foraging [https://www.diegobonetto.com/eatweeds-buy-book]. 

I'm utterly enamoured of Diego's teachings and this conversation, filled with the language of plants, the wisdom of place, forest communions, not-quite-closed loops, ecological hypocrisy and pretty good reasons to never ever ever mow your lawn.

Find links to Diego's wonderful work listed below.

Diego's home on the web [https://www.diegobonetto.com/]

Diego's book ~ Eat Weeds [https://www.diegobonetto.com/blog/eat-weeds-a-field-guide-to-foraging]

Diego on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/theweedyone/?hl=en]

Diego on the Futuresteading podcast [https://open.spotify.com/episode/4ESO61JGHBEnvLnZ5a0phj?si=R-0FEPlAR9OFpdlt7a3y_A]

Marnee Fox [https://www.marneefox.com/]

***Support Reskillience on Patreon! [https://www.patreon.com/Reskillience]***

Couldn't find your way out of a cardigan? Get into natural navigation with Tristan Gooley, award winning and bestselling author, expedition leader, and nicknamed "The Sherlock Holmes of Nature" by the BBC.

What I love about Tristan is that he is first and foremost a practitioner of fun, about how great it feels to notice nature's signs and clues, about the fizzy thrill of uncorking our ancestral problem solving skills. 

If you, like me, long to read the landscape and find your way through nature, Tristan's books and courses will be your faithful guides.

I particularly loved his podcast The Pursuit of Outdoor Clues, which, in just six episodes, soothed my jangled nerves and taught me so much about nature's whispers. 

I'll leave you to explore Tristan's back catalogue if you haven't already – and maybe we'll run into each other in his online Natural Navigation course?

Tristan's home on the web [https://www.naturalnavigator.com/tristan-gooley/]

Tristan's books [https://www.naturalnavigator.com/books-and-library]

Tristan's Natural Navigator courses [https://www.naturalnavigator.com/natural-navigation-courses]

Tristan's podcast ~ The Pursuit of Outdoor Clues [https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-pursuit-of-outdoor-clues/id1510749650]

Get on Tristan's mailing list! [https://www.naturalnavigator.com/news/]

Thinking Fast & Slow ~ Daniel Kahnemann [https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/11468377]

Kathy Holowko [https://kathyholowko.com.au/] ~ Artist + supporter

🎙️Support Reskillience on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/Reskillience]!

Elisa Rathje lives on a small farm, on a small island, telling microscopic stories of resilience. 

She's an artist, writer, filmmaker, podcaster, unschooler, grower, permaculturalist,  goatherd and goose mistress whose work has fed me, and so many others, for years.

From Appleturnover Farm on Salt Spring Island (in the Strait of Georgia between mainland British Columbia, Vancouver Island and Canada), Elisa documents slow, simple approaches to skilling up and rooting down, normalising the pursuit of tiny joys.

This conversation roams between life as art, the illusion of security, community sufficiency, how to call on your inner grandma, decolonising the mind and becoming a propagator of small, ancient patterns of regeneration.

I hope you find much to savour in this sweet, soulful audio morsel. Check out + support Elisa's work!

Appleturnover online! [https://appleturnover.tv/farm/]

Elisa Rathje/Appleturnover on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/appleturnover/?hl=en]

Appleturnover on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/appleturnover]

Permaculture Principles [https://permacultureprinciples.com/]

Elisa on The Accidental Gods podcast [https://accidentalgods.life/the-art-of-living-well-a-creative-life-on-the-land-with-elisa-rathje/]

Joseph Beauys [https://www.artnews.com/feature/joseph-beuys-who-is-he-why-is-he-important-1234580650/]

The Inner Mentor [https://www.taramohr.com/book/inner-mentor-signup/]

Tara Mohr ~ Playing Big [https://www.taramohr.com/]

Ken Page on the Simplify Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/ken-page-meet-your-inner-mentor/id1255922966?i=1000539991435]

Su Dennett ~ Do With Su [https://hub.holmgren.com.au/lp/do-with-su/season-one/online-permaculture-series/]

Joanna Macy [https://www.joannamacy.net/main]

David Holmgren [https://holmgren.com.au/]

Jade Miles is a very special mate of mine. I turned up on her doorstep as a WWOOFer in 2018 and we got on like asparagus and eggs, which is what we had for dinner that night if I recall correctly. 

You probs know Jade as the host of the Futuresteading podcast, keeper of Black Barn Farm and writer of the most personal and compelling instagram captions in all the land. 

I love that Jade is consciously bridging the personal/professional schism, exploring ways to bring her whole, complex self to her roles as CEO, farmer, speaker, writer, facilitator, mother, friend and bush rat. 

In this conversation, Jade gets more personal than ever — which is saying something because we love a juicy yarn. From her approach to podcasting, the creation of household rituals, how seasonal imperatives shape her schedule and why she is the way she is, this is one intimate Reskillience experience. 

Jade has a new book on the cook called Huddle, coming next year, and if you don't already have the Futuresteading handbook in your hot little hands I can highly recommend it.

Black Barn Farm on Insta [https://www.instagram.com/black_barn_farm/?hl=en]

Black Barn Farm's home on the web [https://www.blackbarnfarm.com.au/]

The Futuresteading Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/futuresteading/id1507885629]

The Futuresteading book! [https://www.futuresteading.com.au/book/]

Beau Miles ~ Get Over Yourself [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfriT4LirxA]

Anthony James ~ The RegenNarration [https://www.regennarration.com/]

Tyson Yunkaporta on Futuresteading [https://podcast.futuresteading.com.au/896866/9664524]

Casper ter Kuile [https://www.instagram.com/caspertk_/?hl=en]
Cecilia Macaulay [https://www.ceciliamacaulay.com.au/]

Claire Dunn ~ Rewilding the Urban Soul [https://www.naturesapprentice.com.au/]

Richard Powers ~ The Overstory [https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-overstory-9781784877910]

Indira Naidoo ~ The Space Between the Stars [https://www.murdochbooks.com/browse/book/Indira-Naidoo-Space-Between-the-Stars-9781922351616]

HUDDLE is out Autumn 2025