Avant Gardeners

Madeleine Gasparinatos & Emily Allen
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With lots of enthusiasm and very little know how, Emily and Maddie love chatting about gardening, often with a glass of wine or cocktail in hand. In each fortnightly episode, we speak to people who inspire us in the garden, in order to unearth some much needed knowledge.

  1. 02/12/2025

    Emma Horswill // Earthenry Flower Farm, Dahlias, Cover Crops, Pulse Watering, Ranunculus

    ~ 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.

    1 h 6 min

  2. 25/11/2025

    Rachel Ward // Regenerative Farming, Small Farms, Nature and Creativity, 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. ~ 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.

    56 min

  3. 18/11/2025

    Mark Udovitch // Inner City Permaculture, bees, chickens, mushrooms, Permaculture in the Pub

    ~ 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!

    1 h 2 min

  4. 11/11/2025

    Merlin Sheldrake // Fungi, Mushrooms, Fermenting, Entangled Life

    ~ 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!

    45 min

  5. 04/11/2025

    Tim Pilgrim // Naturalistic Design, The Winter Decay, Apartment plantings,

    ~ 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!

    1 h 1 min

  6. 28/10/2025

    Mindy Woods // Native Ingredients, Karkalla at Home, First Nations Calendar, Foraging, Whisky Sour

    ~ 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!

    1 h 4 min

  7. 21/10/2025

    Brenna Quinlan // Permaculture Guru, Strawbale Home, Art Activism, Rest

    ~ 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.

    1 h 15 min

  8. 19/08/2025

    Katie Finlay // Grow Great Fruit, Pruning, Grafting, Pest Control, Chamomile & Gin

    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.

    1 h 19 min
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À propos

With lots of enthusiasm and very little know how, Emily and Maddie love chatting about gardening, often with a glass of wine or cocktail in hand. In each fortnightly episode, we speak to people who inspire us in the garden, in order to unearth some much needed knowledge.

Informations

  • Création
    Madeleine Gasparinatos & Emily Allen
  • Années d’activité
    2023 - 2025
  • Épisodes
    46
  • Classification
    Tous publics
  • Copyright
    © 2023
  • Site web de l’émission
    Avant Gardeners

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