Saltgrass

Tim Hollo is many things, musician, politician, anarchist and the author of Living Democracy – An ecological manifesto for the end of the world as we know it. He was in conversation at the Taproom in Castlemaine with Jim Buckell and introduced by Alex Kelly with an extended Q&A with the audience.   Links: Living Democracy Book There is no time left not to do everything – an article and now a chapt...

Duang moved to Castlemaine just a few years ago, but is already an integral part of the fabric of our community. She sells delicious Thai cooking at the weekly farmers market and came here, as you will hear, in part because she knew about the Harcourt Farming Cooperative and the community supported agriculture (CSA) method that they employ. Duang was so keen to support the farmers that she offered...

Following on from the last episode about the Castlemaine Currency Project , this episode shares audio from a panel discussion that was part of the original exhibition and social experiment.  Featuring: Warwick Smith, Castlemaine Institute Karl Fitzgerald , Prosper Australia Merryn Tinkler, Mount Alexander Shire - Manager of Economy and Culture Anitra Nelson , University of Melbourne

Local currencies and alternative money systems... what is that all about? Is it really a helpful thing to be thinking about in the middle of the climate crisis? A group of artists in Castlemaine have created an art project and social experiment in the form of a local currency they called The Silver Wattle to explore just these questions. The audio in this episode was recorded at a live event that...

Anna and Matt run the Salvage Yard in Castlemaine. They rescue building materials that would otherwise go to landfill, clean it up and sell it on. It isn't hoarding if you turn it into a business is it? This episode is exploring waste again, but this time we are looking at the building industry and how we can construct and dismantle buildings better. Another example of how 'Reduce, Re-use and Recy...

Tiffany Inglis started an op shop (AKA opportunity shop - known as a thrift store in the USA) and all she wants to do is save the world one pair of very cheap second hand jeans at a time.  Not only is the Good Op shop keeping A LOT of stuff out of landfill, but money raised there is then given to worthy environmental causes. If that is not enough to convince you it is a 'good' op shop - then wait...

Cassia Read and Ada Nano are both ecologists who have been working within a local climate focussed hub called The Castlemaine Institute.  They have been developing a program called “Wilderhoods” that helps neighbours come together, learn about the land they are on and how to turn their nature strips and yards into places that birds, bees and lizards would want to hang out in. This is all while con...

Are you worried about waste? If so, join us on an epic adventure of plastic reduction, waste management and letting your wheelie bin get dusty from neglect! In this episode you can hear all about one inspiring local who has tackled this challenge head on. Gemma has set herself the incredible challenge of putting her landfill wheelie bin out just once per year! Hear all about how she managed to red...

Back in March 2022  Zoe Scoglio  joined Allie live on MAINfm and shared some interviews she had collected for a  Castlemaine Commons Collective  project. Beautiful conversations about community, connectedness and resilience.   Episode 4 includes interviews with: Allison Nye from Country Womens Association ( CWA ) Carolyn Neilson about the Murnong Community

Back in March 2022  Zoe Scoglio  joined Allie live on MAINfm and shared some interviews she had collected for a  Castlemaine Commons Collective  project. Beautiful conversations about community, connectedness and resilience. Episode 3 includes interviews with: Madz from Community Lunch and Growing Abundance and Lorraine from MASDAG

Back in March 2022 Zoe Scoglio joined Allie live on MAINfm and shared some interviews she had collected for a Castlemaine Commons Collective project. Beautiful conversations about community, connectedness and resilience. Episode Two includes interviews Zoe did with two locals; author Robyn Annear and ecologist Karl Just . Song referenced: Sunset Village by Beverly Glenn-Copeland (Sound quality sta...

This is the first of four episodes created in collaboration with The Castlemaine Commons Collective and artist Zoe Scoglio . They were recorded live at MAINfm in March 2022.    Zoe had been collecting local stories of community organising and collective care. Each episode in this series includes short edited excerpts from some of the conversations held by Zoe. We hope this can inspire further conv...

Allie and some other podcasters got together last year at the NonfictioNow Conference and had a long chat about what it is to make media and try to communicate about climate change. In this second part of the discussion we explore why we make our shows and the various problems we grapple with as we try to make the complexities of the climate crisis accessible.    Featuring: Allie - Saltgrass Jess...

Allie and some other podcasters got together last year at the NonfictioNow Conference and had a long chat about what it is to make media and try to communicate about climate change. In this first part of the discussion we interview each other about our shows - what our shows are, how they came about and what we hope to achieve with it.    Featuring: Allie - Saltgrass Jess and Ash - Heaps Better Te...

A short message from Saltgrass host and producer Allie to close season four including some clues about what is coming soon. 

This is part two on Djakitj Larr - Eating Country Healthy.  Please listen to the previous episode first to hear the full story.    In 2019 Bendigo was designated a UNESCO Creative City and Region of Gastronomy . In early 2021 about 100 people gathered at a winery just outside of Harcourt. Djakitj Larr was an afternoon of food, performance and creative conversation that allowed people to connect an...

In 2019 Bendigo was designated a  UNESCO  Creative City and  Region of Gastronomy . In this episode we discuss what that means and also deep dive into an event called  Djakitj Larr  which explores all the reasons  why our region was chosen for this . In early 2021 about 100 people gathered at a winery just outside of Harcourt. Djakitj Larr was an afternoon of food, performance and creative convers...

Today I’ll be taking you along for the ride as my 14 year old Nephew Oliver and I head into Melbourne and take part in the student strike for climate that happened on the 25th of March. It was a global day of action so there were similar events not just around Australia, but around the world. We joined a huge crowd in the city and marched several city blocks, we disrupted traffic and made a lot of...

Today we are going to be chatting with Castlemaine local Bryn Davies and a group he has been a part of called Democracy for Dinner. I thought it was a very pleasant sounding enterprise and an example of how we can, where ever we are, get together in a grassroots kind of way and start to take it upon ourselves to understand all of the above mentioned complexities and opportunities. Because, just li...

The Castlemaine Seed Library has been running for over five years with people 'borrowing' seeds to plant and grow food, and then 'returning' seeds once the plants have run their course.   In this episode Seed Library founder Grace McCaughy and coordinator Eliza-Jane Gilchrist talk about the value of seeds and all that we can learn from them.   We discuss how the seed library began and how it works...

I was lucky enough to have a wonderful conversation about possible climate futures, not through a lens of disaster and doom but gritty possibility, radical hope and extraordinary courage. Alex Kelly and John Wiseman joined me recently to talk about their futuring practices. John has just published a book called Hope and Courage in the Climate Crisis and Alex is a co-creator of The Things We Did Ne...

Hello podcast crew, I haven't forgotten you  even though there has been a bit of radio or podcast silence over the last month. This very short message is just to explain what has been going on and what is coming up soon. Hope all is well in your world! Allie

Steve Healy is Executive General Manager of Climate and Population Adaptation at Coliban Water .  Climate change predictions for our region point to hotter and drier weather patterns and when it rains it is going to be more extreme, big dump kind of events. So water is on a lot of people’s minds when they think about how we might be able to keep living here through climate change. We discuss how w...

Kathryn Coff is a committed community leader and she joins us to discuss race, privilege and power, which are themes that she lives with and grapples with every day of her life. She shares a beautiful way of getting to know people that opens us up so much more than 'and what do you do?'   Links: Kathryn's speech at the Black Live's Matter rally in 2020   Kathryn is the CEO of Nalderun   Introducti...

Today’s episode is a series of interviews collected in Mildura at the local eco village.  We had heard they were having a working bee and thought we might get a sense of the site and what goes on there. Interestingly the site is managed by council, so I wasn’t sure how community driven it was. However, as you will hear, every person there that day was volunteering their time to help out, and also...