Futuresteading

Get to know the wild, wise and wonderful Steph Phillips (aka Green and Growing Things ) who's living the simple life in rural Tassie. Steph shares her four year transition from “Stiletto Steph” to “Simple Steph”, now raising three nature-loving wildlings in a frugal, seasonal and rhythmic fashion that's our kind of inspirational. In this slow paced and honest convo, Steph talks about eve...

Even though Jess Scully is Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney, that doesn't stop her using emojis in official communications or wearing Converse sneakers to important meetings. That's why we love her. She's a bit of a rebel, and makes a helluva lot of sense. Jess is a pollie on a mission to encourage agency of thought and diverse voices that are heard in all their humanness.  She cheers fo...

Some people are born storytellers. And some of those people have magical, lyrical voices that transport you instantly. Such is Alexx Stuart. You might already know her as the wellness maven and recipe Queen behind Low Tox Life , but this convo takes the story further -- back to childhood, right to the heart of who she is, and everything she's learned about life as a changemaker. Alexx shares...

How does a family of five go from 'regular' consumption to producing just one minuscule jar of waste in a year? Find out in this chat with Lauren and Oberon Carter -- founders of Zero Waste Families , authors of A Family Guide to Waste Free Living and the brains behind Spiral Garden . These deliciously non-dogmatic Tasmanians treat us to a personal account of financial, professional and...

Could jam be your gateway to lost skills? It was for Anna, aka The Urban Nanna , who started making jams and preserves as an act of self care, only to end up inspiring thousands of people to reclaim forgotten skills of frugality and everyday resourcefulness. Anna's greatest joy is watching those around her experience aha! moments, and has a guiding belief that change comes from a strong and r...

Take a walk in nature or find the nearest hammock to enjoy this deeply complex and moving conversation with Meg and Patrick Ulman of Artist as Family . This family of four live a largely non-monetary existence on a quarter-acre permaculture plot on Djaara peoples' country/Daylesford. They describe themselves as neopeasants, defined by the gardens and forests they tend, the resources they glea...

It isn't magic that food grows in our backyard?! And Joel Orchard is just the gent to encourage the farmer in all of us. Joel is the founder of Young Farmers Connect and the Australian/New Zealand CSA Network; a fair food advocate, educator and a passionate agricultural networker. He's super calm, absurdly inspiring and imparts hard truths about our world with intense kindness. Wrap your...

For all the fad diets, juice fasts and dogma out there,  few health advocates keep it as real as Anthia Koullouros. Anthia is one of Sydney's original nose-to-tail, soil-to-plate, no-BS Naturopaths who was questioning supplements and sipping bone broth before it was cool. She's an author, speaker, educator and Apothecarius (listen in to see what that brilliant term entails) who weaves sc...

Diego Bonetto, aka. The Weedy One , grew up on a dairy farm in northern Italy where it was still common practice to collect the wild bounty of the land.  After moving to Australia in the 90s, Diego found that his practical foraging knowledge and weedy know-how was actually pretty rare. He lamented our modern approach to "weeds" --  a battle waged with poisons rather than a loving relatio...

Rebecca Scott of STREAT is a socially-responsible and refreshingly quirky role model for our times. A self proclaimed 'hustler’ since childhood, Bec sees the value in everyone and everything. What's more, she knows how to bolt it all together to build an egalitarian vision that contributes to the social betterment of our world. With 11 social enterprises under the STREAT banner, Bec&apos...

Charlie Mgee -- permaculture troubadour and Formidable Vegetable frontman -- composes swingin' tunes on a ukulele that address climate change, food security and regenerative sustainable living. From 'energy-descent electroswing' to 'post-apocalypso', his unforgettable music provides permaculture earworms that entertain and educate. Maybe you're humming one right now?...

Kirsten Larsen + Serenity Hill are proof that two minds are better than one. As the founders of Open Food Network , a game-changing open source technology at the centre of building valued and fair food chains, they think globally, act locally and are actively encouraging a culture where whole-self is present in the workplace.  Hear how these two values-aligned women brought their shared vision for...

With front line activism on his resume and a concerted effort to diverge from his familial farming and retail heritage, Chris Ennis embarked on a path of his own only to find himself at the front of the socially progressive 10 acre urban farming, retail and educational enterprise CERES Fair Food and now CERES Fair Wood in Melbourne's North. As you guessed it, an urban farm and retailer. Seems...

Warning: this episode with Rob Greenfield might make you want to do something crazy - like sell all your material possessions, set off on an adventure with only a backpack and faith in human kindness, or build a tiny home from reclaimed materials with your mates. Rob is an activist and humanitarian dedicated to leading the way to a more sustainable, just and equal world.  He embarks on extreme pro...

If there's a human who represents the quintessential qualities of living like tomorrow matters, it just might be Hannah Maloney.  A former front line picketer, Hannah transitioned to a more sustainable approach to advocacy for climate action and First Nations justice when she founded Good Life Permaculture and is now based in Tassie on Muwinina country where days of voluntary simplicity provi...

Dan Palmer is co-founder of Permablitz , Landed , Holistic Decision Making , Making Permaculture Stronger and Very Edible Gardens . He has a PhD in systems thinking and contagious levels of enthusiasm for supporting the journeys of others. He currently lives with his wife and two daughters in a small home in Castlemaine, Victoria. We hear Dan’s thoughts on consciously shaping a vibrant and beautif...

If changing the world over breakfast sounds like your kind of activism, you’ll love this conversation with Cassie Duncan; a woman who took her passion for a fairer food system and plated it up as an accessible, digestible and inspiring not-for-profit: Sustainable Table.  Cassie co-founded Sustainable Table in 2009 as a way to help more Aussies make ethical choices about what they eat. Through beau...

Before you ask, yes this is Charlie Showers of Black Barn Farm - Jade's other half. Charlie is a fair food advocate, holistic orchardist, landscape scientist and insatiable reader, with an appetite for knowledge that sees him getting up before the birds to devour scientific papers, books and teachings, before putting it into practice at Black Barn Farm. In this conversation, he shares decades...

Need some lockdown solidarity? Here’s 20 minutes of it, with a real and honest chat about our experiences, and insights, from the ongoing Victorian lockdown.  Jade’s juggling kids on the farm in Stage 3 while Catie is chucking tanties at her laptop in Melbourne’s Stage 4. We hope this little small glimpse into our everyday is akin to a virtual hug. Caveat: There's no one experience of lockdow...

Join us for a calming conversation about how to make a difference without the overwhelm. In true surfie style, Robyn Rosenfeldt is laid back - despite riding a wave of daily to-dos and permaculture reporting as the founder of Pip Magazine .  (Not already all over Pip ? It’s a dedicated Aussie permaculture mag with everything from foraging tips to renegade urban gardeners, seed saving, waste-bustin...

Johno heads up Conscious Ground Organics in Byron Bay, an earth school that produces changemaking humans and delicious food in equal measure.  On this working organic farm, Johno and his team have created a world class agri-educational facility, mentoring people through earth care and regeneration, people care and leadership training, and all kinds of skills like driving tractors to thinking holis...

We spend an hour looking through the lens of anthropology, nutrition and vitalism with Cyndi O’Meara , author of ‘Changing Habits, Changing Lives’ (once just a book, now an entire movement). Cyndi's wisdom is born of deep scientific research and understanding, coupled with a refreshing awe for the body's innate healing potential. We journey back to her childhood (where seeds of big pharm...

“Herbs aren’t drugs, and we shouldn’t expect them to perform like drugs. They’re food. They work with the human body in intuitive ways we can’t yet explain.” So, Catie is a trained naturopath! We dig into her “brown bottle” education and go deep into her love of medicinal plants as culinary healers, esoteric friends and nourishing allies for life.  This shortie focuses on the simplest ways you can...

How do you live your beliefs while earning enough to eat? This is the question we put to ORICoop founder and fair farming advocate Carolyn Suggate (amongst other conundrums). It’s a curly one, but Carolyn comes to the party with passion and insight aplenty. She shares why she pursues her principles over financial gain, how she makes it work with her partner and family, tips for raising conscious k...

A woman with generosity in spades, Sophie Hansen has turned her background in publishing into a force for good.  For the last decade, she’s been plating up important messages about slow living, local produce and reverence for farmers (disguised as lip smacking seasonal recipes) on her exceedingly popular blog: Local Is Lovely .  Sophie takes us backstage to life on a deer farm, her city-to-rural t...