Erin Lovell Verinder // Plant lover, herbalist, gardening to thrive, never underestimate the power of a herbal tea
Release Date: 08/20/2024
Mark Udovitch // Inner City Permaculture, bees, chickens, mushrooms, Permaculture in the Pub
Avant Gardeners
~ This season of Avant Gardeners is proudly supported by new series WorkLife. Launching in November and perfect for gardening. . ~ 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...
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Merlin Sheldrake // Fungi, Mushrooms, Fermenting, Entangled Life
Avant Gardeners
~ This season of Avant Gardeners is proudly supported by new series WorkLife. Launching in November and perfect for gardening. . ~ 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...
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Tim Pilgrim // Naturalistic Design, The Winter Decay, Apartment plantings,
Avant Gardeners
~ This season of Avant Gardeners is proudly supported by new series WorkLife. Launching in November and perfect for gardening. . ~ 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...
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Mindy Woods // Native Ingredients, Karkalla at Home, First Nations Calendar, Foraging, Whisky Sour
Avant Gardeners
~ This season of Avant Gardeners is proudly supported by new series WorkLife. Launching in November and perfect for gardening. . ~ 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...
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Brenna Quinlan // Permaculture Guru, Strawbale Home, Art Activism, Rest
Avant Gardeners
~ This season of Avant Gardeners is proudly supported by new series WorkLife. Launching in November and perfect for gardening. . ~ 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...
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Katie Finlay // Grow Great Fruit, Pruning, Grafting, Pest Control, Chamomile & Gin
Avant Gardeners
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 , an education hub that combines their decades of fruit growing experience into practical lessons through webinars, online courses, annual subscriptions and in-person...
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Scott Whitaker - Hinterland Bees // Bees, Honey, Varroa, Honey Mead, Hollyhock, Chickens
Avant Gardeners
Scott Whitaker is a visual artist and former art gallery owner who now runs with his wife Allyson Reynolds. They got their first hive back in 1996, and now manage more than 250 of them across orchards and rainforests in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. Scott produces pure, natural raw honey and has become synonymous with swarm removal. His social videos are mesmerising to watch, opting for no protective gear when handling thousands of them. Scott lives, gardens and bee keeps on Jinibara and Kabi Kabi country in the Sunshine Coast hinterland in Queensland. If you love or loathe...
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Nikki Husted - Purely Chickens // Homesteading, Chicken Life (And Death), Gardening with Chickens, Lindt Ball Hot Choc
Avant Gardeners
Nikki Husted, aka on Instagram, has been on our Dream Interview List for a very long time. Nikki is a former public school teacher turned chicken guru, who educates and entertains a community of like-minded chicken fanatics about all things poultry and homesteading. In 2023 she released her book , bringing together more than two decades of chicken know-how into a really practical resource. Nikki lives in Ohio with her husband, two young kids, and a menagerie including dogs, cats, goats, geese and - of course - dozens of chickens! Whether you have chickens or not, you're going to...
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Sue Stuart-Smith // From 'outdoor housework' to The Well Gardened Mind, Gardening for Mind & Body, the Power of Flowers, The Barn Garden
Avant Gardeners
Welcome to the first episode of our little mini winter series. We'll be talking about the birds and the bees, the mind and fruit trees. Thanks for being here. First up, we're having a fan girl moment chatting to . Sue is a psychiatrist, psychotherapist and author of – a Sunday Times Bestseller. Sue originally saw gardening as 'outdoor housework', but it was the veggie garden that drew her in. She originally studied English Literature at the University of Cambridge before qualifying as a doctor and working in the NHS, where she went on to become the lead clinician for...
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Alex Elliott-Howery // Pickling, Courtyard Gardening, Telepathic Bay Leaves, Mushrooms, Preserving, Cornersmith
Avant Gardeners
--This episode is proudly sponsored by Veggie and Flower Garden Seeds. This Tassie-based, family run business are the go-to destination for veggie, native, herb and flower seeds, specialising in hard-to-get varieties. We love their search functionality - you can filter by colour of flower, whether you're after a full sun or part shade plant, even by what to plant in your climate by month. Their beautiful flower range is amazing, and just last year they exclusively provided Floret seed to the Australian market. Enjoy 15% off their entire range by using the promo code AG15 when...
info_outlineOh hey there! We've missed you.
We're back for Season 3 with one of our faves, Erin Lovell Verinder.
Erin Lovell Verinder’s entire career is about reconnecting the people with the plants.
She is a woman on a mission to bring people along on her journey to become in tune with the natural world and inspire others to heal through the beauty of plant medicine.
Erin is a nutritionist, a herbalist, a teacher, and a writer, having published Plants for the People in 2020, followed by The Plant Clinic the following year. Her popular TED Talk on Herbalism, the quiet rebellion, is a must watch.
Erin and her husband Noah currently live, work and garden on the land of the Bundjalung people, in the Byron Hinterland in NSW. They recently relocated there from their stunning and lovingly restored home in a church in the aptly named hamlet of Blessington, in Northern Tasmania. Their Tassie property, The Cedar Church, is available for your own divine getaway.
In the episode Emily and Maddie are catching up on 2 months of no-gardening-chat and there's been a lot going on.
We're drinking bootleg gin from Maddie's neighbour Bill with Friendship Syrup from our amazing friend Rachel Valentine. We're talking about Paulette Whitney's Broccoli & Other Love Stories, we're making chilli oil, we're growing and cooking Brussel Sprouts. And we're drooling over the perennials, and the colour collections, at Veggie & Flower Garden Seeds. We're going to need a big heap of Milkwood's Perfect Seed Raising Mix to grow everything this spring. Watch out when you mix lavenders :-)