Show Notes
~ 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. ~
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 and permacultures in a strawbale house that she built from reclaimed materials on Bibbulmun Menang boodja, in an intentional community in Denmark, Western Australia. Before we get into this highly delightful, educational and entertaining chat with Brenna, Emily and Maddie are drinking a Joshua Cooper 2024 Pinot Noir, Maddie is talking about chickens and accidentally discovered the most delicious eggs she's ever tasted. She's making lots of homemade marshmallows with those bad boys. We go deep into potatoes: Pink Eyes and King Edwards, and Maddie's planted out a bunch of cuttings from Emily's succulent garden - including Blue Chalk Sticks and something else whose name we don't know.
Maddie is recommending Wintering by Katherine May, and is embarrassed by her lack of chlorophyll knowledge. We also explore the abscission zone (of leaf and brain variety). Emily's spending wholesome days with the kids at Birches Bay Art Farm, where she recently purchased some Native Pepper Berry. She's also experimenting with thornless blackberry.
Brenna is a wealth of information and recommends the following: Rewilding the Urban Soul by Claire Dunn
Everyday Permaculture by Anna Matilda, aka Urban Nanna
Koren Helbig's 'The Power of Quarterly Rest'
Retrosuburbia, by David Holmgren
Follow Brenna here, and consider supporting her on Patreon here.
More from Avant Gardeners
Woah, we are back after a 2 month hiatus! We've missed you guys.
-- 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. --
-- 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. -- Bess Scott grew up on a flower farm on the NSW Central Coast, surrounded by native blooms cultivated by her father - Craig Scott - and grandfather. Flowers weren't really the career plan, but having gained amazing floristry experience in Sydney and London, Bess developed her own appreciation for both European and Australian flowers. In 2018, Bess and her partner Jack, founded BESS in Paddington, a floristry celebrating Australian native wildflowers and honouring her family's legacy, convincing customers one at a time how amazing native Australian flowers are.
-- 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. --
-- 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. --