Avant Gardeners

Madeleine Gasparinatos & Emily Allen

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. Jul 14

    Poh Ling Yeow // The Inconvenience of Gardening, Bees, Peaches and Possums

    -- Save 15% off everything when shopping. Use the code AGPOD15 here. This episode is proudly sponsored by Veggie and Flower Garden Seeds. With more than 900 varieties of veggie seeds, and unique and hard-to-find flower seeds, this is our go-to place to shop for garden goodies. Female founded, Bec sources freshest seed to help with your germination success. We love their amazing customer service, their helpful advice on getting the most out of your seed, and the range of stunning flowers and veggies they have available. -- Poh Ling Yeow is an artist, author, cook, and TV host - one of the hosts of Masterchef Australia. She's also a relatively recent convert to gardening—but gee whiz, has she grabbed it with two hands! ​She doesn't call herself a chef, but she burst onto our screens in 2009 in the very first season of MasterChef. Since then, she's been a regular on TV, including her own series, Poh and Co., which followed the creation of her amazing garden. ​Poh explains that her "greed for life experience" has always made her creatively adventurous and willing to invite change. We think those are words to live by. ​Poh lives, cooks, creates, gardens, and tends to her bees - alongside her beloved dog Tim on Gah-na land in Adelaide, South Australia. Before that we're chatting Miso - Maddie's obsessed with these miso chocolate biscuits, and this way of cooking cabbage that you're going to love (panko, miso and add some chilli - oh my!).  Maddie is loving strawberries growing in pots, and reccomends this Bee Native florists hand balm Poh talks about Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerrer, Maddie talks about Phosphorescene by Julia Baird Poh also references The River Cafe cookbook, and Tickle Tank in Adelaide

  2. Jun 30

    Anna Matilda / Urban Nanna - Carescapes, Permaculture, Foraging, Autism, Renting, Friction Maxxing

    --This episode is proudly sponsored by Willie Smith's Non-alcoholic Cider. Made from Organic Apples grown not far from us, we're big fan of this delightful non-alcoholic cider. It's more refined that apple juice, there's no added sugar, and it's something fancier than your standard sparkling water. It has that craft cider taste, and it's a great option if you aren't drinking, want just one less alcoholic drink, or feel like something a little different.  Enjoy 10% off their Non-Alcoholic ciders when using the code AG10 here -- Anna Matilda, aka The Urban Nanna specialises in teaching people about traditional skills, crafts and methods of living in a modern-day context.  Anna's purpose is about reviving traditional ways of cooking, preserving, and crafting, always focusing heavily on permaculture principles to guide a sustainable lifestyle that's full of gardening and zero-waste practices. Anna is a former primary school teacher with a horticultural background who has created The Urban Nanna to showcase and teach knowledge, methods and skills to people much like grandmas have done for generations.  Anna lives, forages, preserves and works on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Bunurong Boon Wurrung peoples in Victoria, Australia. We're eating Tony Chocoloney. Maddie and Emily discuss Friction Maxxing, Visible Mending, With Anna we delve into Carescapes and specifically Spoons theory.  Anna's book is Everyday Permaculture We discuss Ceres, Milkwood Permaculture, The Veggie Scientist, Autism and Neurodivergence, Catie from Reskilliance Podcast, Foraging and much more. Enjoy!

  3. Jun 23

    Speaking of Gladiolus

    --This episode is proudly sponsored by Willie Smith's Non-alcoholic Cider. Made from Organic Apples grown not far from us, we're big fan of this delightful non-alcoholic cider. It's more refined that apple juice, there's no added sugar, and it's something fancier than your standard sparkling water. It has that craft cider taste, and it's a great option if you aren't drinking, want just one less alcoholic drink, or feel like something a little different.  Enjoy 10% off their Non-Alcoholic ciders when using the code AG10 at https://www.williesmiths.com.au/product/willie-smiths-non-alc -- We're back! Welcome to a new season of Avant Gardeners. This is an Emily & Maddie episode where we start off with saffron and end on a recommendation that will have your veggies lasting much much longer in the fridge. Maddie has grown a successful saffron crop, and now understands why it's so expensive, she's popped in a bunch of Gladiolus, there are kiwi fruits growing (we incorrectly said that kiwi don't ripen off the vine. This is untrue - they will ripen on your bench). Coriander are going off in the garden paths. Maddie is ambivilent about quinces. Emily is giving back to the local seed saving group, and has a great hack with pillow cases. She's recommending King of the Wilderness a story about the amazing Denny King, as a tree that was previously thought to be extinct has recently been discovered. King's Lomatia. Emily is recommending The Swag.  A big thank you to Willie Smith's Non Alcoholic Cider for being this episode's sponsor.

  4. Apr 21

    Rubie Gallagher // Gardening with a Disability, Starting a Micro Flower Farm, Dahlia Cuttings, Running Away From Home

    This week's guest is the delightful, talented Rubie Gallagher. Rubie is an illustrator and micro flower farmer, who met Emily when she and her husband Max took a Calm Birth class ahead of their first child. After an accident in 2019, Rubie she spent time in rehabilitation at the Royal Talbot Rehab Centre in Melbourne which our recent guest Steven Wells created. The two crossed paths there during Rubie's rehab.  Since her accident, Rubie and her husband, along with some very helpful friends, have worked together to create Rubie's Flower Farm, a micro farm growing flowers for florists, DIY buckets and edible flowers out of Mount Rumney just outside of Hobart. Rubie talks about memories from the rehab garden, what led her to create her farm, how gardening with a kid is bloody hard, and how she deals with the cold weather (hint: she draws). We talk about improving soil, taking cuttings, sneaking cuttings and not sweating the small stuff.  Before we get to this great chat with Rubie, we're talking about geraniums, using kids to get away with things, roses in abundance, Elephant Garlic, Helen Goh's Pear & Caramel Self Saucing Pudding in the Good Weekend.  Rubie recommends the following books during her chat: Phosphoresence, by Julia Baird If Women Rose Rooted, by Sharon Blackie "Grass is going to grass, and weeds are going to weed." - Rubie Gallagher

About

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.

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