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.
-- 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. -- Honey Atkinson first picked up a camera at age 15 and has worked as a full-time photographer for more than 20 years. We first came across Honey through her work photographing Compostable Kate's book, The Compost Coach, and have been big fans ever since. Recently, her focus has been on working with quietly ambitious women in business. Honey regards her work as a practice in mindfulness, saying, "Searching for what is beautiful about life is a real gift." Until she was six years old, Honey lived on a commercial fishing boat in Far North Queensland. These days, Honey lives, forages, makes sourdough and grows veggies on a 10-acre property on Djiringanj Country in New South Wales' Bega Valley with her partner, children, and mum. We talk about Cathedral Thinking, Perfectionism, Reflecting on ourselves, colour pallettes, taking photos of your garden to look back on and see how far you've progressed, finding little snippets of time to garden. Honey talks about living on a boat for the first 6 years of her life, choosing to move south, integenerational living including things like domestic and economic division, the joys and chaos of having three generations under the one roof, and what gifts it brings to everyone. Her and her mum have a shared Pinterest board. There's SO much in this chat. Best to just listen :-)
-- 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. -- Geez, having Poh on last week is a tough act to follow, but we're giving it a crack. Emily has knocked the top off a Brothers Maclean 2024 Mencía, and we love this apt description of it: "Heavier than a pinot, but not too ballsy." Emily's talking about her long Tomato season, we discuss split tomatoes, cucumbers, Tiny Farm Tas' CSA Flower seedling box, and annoyingly somoene threw out Em's poppy seeds. Maddie's misidentifying things, has trouble noting down where things are sown. Emily's discovered a Medlar tree on her property - she'll report back on her verdict of the fruit. Maddie reckons No Mow May is great, and heard something funny (not for the dogs) on vet talk back radio. Maddie will use Milkwood' olive brining method for her 89grams of olives. Mountain peppers are being harvested, and we're excited to watch Clarkson's Farm Season 5 (old news now)
-- 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
--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 -- We've knocked the top off a Willie Smith's Non Alc cider for this glorious episode. Not only do we enjoy their cider, but we love going to their Apple Shed too for some live music inside, let the kids run wild outside, a bowl of delicious potatoes or their yummy apple pie. We're chatting tree dahlias (again), scary snapdragon seed pods, encouraging Ravens in the chicken yard, the no-egg season , chicken curtains, the ridiculousness of the guinea fowl. We're looking at Scarab Beetles in a new light, Emily is planting out Dwarf Gums but needs to consider power poles (as do you if you purchase a property down here!). Emily is singing the praises of Buy From The Bush
--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!
--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.
Mitch Theissen has the enviable role of Head Gardener at the award winning Agrarian Kitchen in New Norfolk, just outside of Hobart. Having grown up in the Huon Valley, born into a long line of apple farmers, Mitch started his career in the kitchen, first in Hobart, then Sydney, before spending time in Japan. It was here that his thoughts returned to agriculture and produce, and upon returning to Australia he sought out the next phase of his career, landing this dream gig a few years ago and being pivotal in what it looks like, and how it operates, today. Mitch lives, works and gardens with his partner, and young family on the land of the wulawali people in New Norfolk, in lutruwita/Tasmania's Derwent Valley. Before we get to that, Emily and Maddie are (as well as talking over the top of each other -- sorry about that --) talking about radishes. Yep, that's about it. We also talk about Compost Soil Salad spinners (lol, yes) And maybe you need to rush out to buy some Japanese Salad Turnip Seeds. IYIYK Mitch is recommending Eliot Coleman's New Organic Gardener.
We're drinking a Baklava Old Fashioned - Maddie had leftover baklava syrup (sugar, water, cinnamon, honey) and has turned it into an old fashioned with burbon, amaretto and a dash of bitters. Absolutely delish! Emily has scored herself the perfect harvest basket, and her benchtop is housing a hard-working dehydrator as she works through the abundance of nashi pears. Maddie delves into the good and the bad dahlia chat. We discuss tree peonies and mimosa hydrangeas before delving into some questions that you - our amazing listeners - have asked of us. The ones we get into in this episode are: -What are some things you wish you could grow, and what would you never grow -How did you two meet? -What are your favourite cocktails. This was fun, and there are more questions to answer in future eps. Feel like asking us a question? Drop us a DM at @avantgardeners.podcast
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
We are back, and we felt like drinking something tried and tested, so Emily's cracked a Sigurd , Chenin Blanc. Emily shares an unexpected stay in hospital, and she's got a lot of thoughts about the paediatric ward 'sgarden (very topical as we've recently spoken to Nurse and Therapeutic Horticulturalist Steven Wells - listen to that episode here ). Maddie interogates how Emily gets so many things done, so we go deep on lists. Emily's planting garlic and spending time in her outdoor bath. We're processing tomatoes. Maddie shares a story about South Sydney's jacaranda history, and a recent event at Longley Organic Farm that looked oh so wholesome. Emily has got on board Tiny Farm Tas's CSA, and is growing Romanesco. Maddie has raspberry success, a scale scenario, and a twitch sitch. Maddie is recommending the benchtop bin from Bokashi One (use AG15 at checkout for 5% off).
We are the founding members of the Jac Semmler Fan Club. This is the second time we've been lucky enough to interview Jac, celebrating the launch of what will become an absolute gardening book staple, Flower Power . In this episode we answer a bunch of your questions, including -How and should I pivot to horticulture -How do I get my poppies to germinate -What are some surprising performers in the garden We talk about changing climate, bogan pronounciation of plant names, the amazing work Jac's doing at Super Bloom, and so much more. Before we get to that: Maddie and Em are drinking a dirty cacao (cacao powder, maple syrup, cinnamon, sea salt, shot of coffee), we're talking agastache, liquorice plant, planting in pots (inspired by Connie Cao), Flannel Flower, Succulents, Mother in Law's Tongue. Thanks for being here.
Emily & Maddie are back with so much chat this week. We go a little off topic, but that's pretty standard...right? We cover: Philodendron Shrub (not of the plant variety!) Spent flowers are self seeding Ferment for Good - Sharon Flynn Justin O'Brien's self-seeding success Compost bins Proteas not opening Olive grove maintenance Drowning in Plums Different types of clematis - who knew! Emily is on the hunt for the perfect garden basket from op shops near and far. Next week we're so excited to be releasing our chat with the amazing Jac Semmler of Super Bloom!
Emily and Maddie were lucky enough to meet Steven in Victoria late last year, having followed his journey for a long time. Steven began his career as a nurse, before studying horticulture, with no intention of fusing the two. But he delved deeper into therapeutic gardens, gaining a Churchill Fellowship to help support research, and he started the Therapeutic Garden at the Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre nearly 20 years ago, providing immeasurable benefit to patients, their families, friends and staff. Steven recently downsized from a much-celebrated garden in the Melbourne suburbs, Steven now has a lush veranda in the clouds, overlooking Melbourne's CBD. This downsizing has given him time and space to focus on other passions and projects in his life. Steven lives, works and gardens in Naarm / Melbourne, on the traditional lands of the Kulin Nation. Before we get to Steven's chat, Maddie and Emily are dreaming of fields of sunflowers - Emily is reminiscing about her time in Europe with sunflowers and cosmos all around. Maddie is reminiscing of her time on a farm stay in Portugal while staying in a yurt. We ask Steven for his favourite Evergreen plants, which are: Agave Attenuata / Foxtail Agave Variegated aspidistra Bromeliads And his tips for Textural Plants in a Sensory garden include Lambs Ear or Kalanchoe 'Oak Leaf'.
It's a Maddie & Emily chat this week. Maddie is loving (despite calling the colour urine-esque) the White Gate Co White Blend and if you're in Tassie go book and wine shopping at Five Leaves Left. Emily was creating new neural pathways and happened upon a great side-street garden stall. Win! We're lamenting the end of cherry season, but enjoying choc-covered cherries from a local stall. We're rolling (metaphorically, not literally) in peastraw and alpaca poo. Lettuce is ON! Emily has has success with a poppy (yes, just the one), and it's reminding her of her grandfather. Maddie's hollyhocks have popped and it's reminding her of her grandmother. Emily is recommending Death and the Gardener, and Maddie is recommending Recipe Tin Eats' scone recipe but a shout out to Lady Flo's Pumpkin Scones too.
Jo Thompson is one of the UK's most celebrated garden designers, known for creating deeply romantic, naturalistic gardens that feel timeless, layered and full of atmosphere. Her projects span the UK and abroad - from wildflower meadows in the English countryside to rooftop terraces in New York and coastal gardens in Italy and Brazil. She's a multiple award-winner at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, with several Gold medals to her name, and her designs - ranging from private landscapes to meaningful public projects - are widely admired. Beyond her design practice, she's a respected teacher, author and voice in the gardening world, sharing her knowledge through books, lectures and her much-loved newsletter, The Gardening Mind. Jo's work reminds us that gardens can be both art and refuge – spaces that connect us to beauty, memory and the natural world. Before we get to Jo's chat, Maddie and Emily are talking about: Agapanthas (sorry!) Snakes Wildflower Meadows Emma Bowen of Rising Farm Sea salt and olive oil on vanilla icecream Then we get into glorious Jo's chat and we cover a lot. Highlights include: Glasshouse Project Women in horitculture / at the Chelsea Flower Show Designing a garden Trypophobia Damsen Cocktail Jo lists a bunch of her favourite roses: Wild Rover Meg - climber The Lark Ascending Felicite-Perpetue Adélaide d'Orléans Ghislaine de feligonde Blush Noisette Bengal Crimsen Mutablis Gertrude Jekyll MILsures Olivia Rose Austin Ispahan
We're baaaaaack! And with a slightly new format. We're trying out one week where we release our chat (longer version), and the following week we'll release our guest interview. It means we can get episodes out weekly. We'll trial it and see. We've missed the podcast so it's awesome to be back. Emily has knocked it out of the park with a delicious mulberry bramble (gin, mulberry cordial from our friends' tree, blackberries, lime). Having taken more than two months off, we have so much to chat about. Including, but not limited to: Seed saving - calendula and platypus spinach, Drying hydrangeas thanks to Anya The Garden Fairy We're talking about Moths - they need a rebrand. The Almanac, Cool Climate Sowing Guide Alnwick Garden and Millie Fleur's Poison Garden (by Christy Mandin). Aaaand lilacs, daphne, feverfew, calendula, compost bays. Catch up next week when we interview (omg!) Jo Thompson!
Jodi Wilson is a bestselling author of four books, a health journalist and postpartum doula. Several years ago, she and her family packed their lives into a caravan, and set off in search of adventure, and a more simple life. After two years on the road they put down roots in Tasmania. It is here where she's embraced gardening, and written her most recent book, A Brain That Breathes , out today. Jodi lives, writes and gardens with her partner and their four children on the land of the punnilerpanner people in north western Tasmania Before we get to this thought-provoking chat, Emily and Madeleine are drinking Archie Rose Straight Dry gin with some home made purple elderflower cordial. Emily is regretting purchasing a Ginko tree, and the agapanthus keep rearing their ugly head. She is loving her Cerastium tomentosum - snow in summer - and Maddie's cutting is also doing quite well. Maddie is obsessed with Sage, and wants to propagate more. She's also tried her hand at sage sticks. She's got a picnic blanket in the post and is excited for more outdoor eating-and-drinking sessions. Calendula is back, and in some beautiful colours, and she is recommending Why Women Grow , by Alice Vincent. Jodi has a HUGE list of books she recommends for summer, and or anytime. We've already read a couple of them and they are excellent. Can highly recommend her recommendations! -The Mushroom Tapes by Chloe Hooper, Helen Garner, and Sarah Krasnostein -Heart the Lover by Lily King -Sandwich and Wreck by Catherine Newman - The Octopus and I and A Catalogue of Love by Erin Hortle - The Hiding Place by Kate Mildenhall - The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers - Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley We're also banging on and singing the praises of libraries, AGAIN!
~ 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.
~ 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.
~ 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!
Producer's note
Steal the structure. Not the show.
Keep the useful structure, then change the audience, point of view, and voice until the idea is unmistakably yours.
