Cass Dowding on starting a podcast, the plants that held grief and what grew after

In this episode of The Sentimental Gardener, Cass chats with Jay Young, co-founder of Flinders Farmgate, a small-scale regenerative farm on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula. Alongside her husband Nick, Jay grows garlic, sunflowers, dahlias and seasonal flowers, while finding ways to share their special patch of land with the local community. We talk about how a friend's suggestion to grow garlic set their farming journey in motion, how losing an entire garlic crop led them to diversify into flowers, and how a sunflower picking event grew into something much bigger than they expected. Jay also shares what she's learnt about regenerative farming, building healthy soil, working with nature rather than constantly intervening, and the realities of balancing a growing farm business with family life. And, of course, we talk about her sentimental plants: the climbing beans that take Jay back to her grandparent's garden, the winter-scented flowers that remind her of an early job at a flower shop, and the sunflowers that continue to bring her joy. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Introduction: Meet Jay Young of Flinders Farmgate 01:56 Childhood memories of a farm in South Africa 07:25 From city life to a life in Flinders 15:51 How growing garlic started it all 19:03 Losing a crop and finding a new direction 21:16 Sunflowers, dahlias and the farm shop 28:43 Farming, family and finding balance 33:03 What regenerative farming looks like in practice 42:08 Three sentimental plants: beans, winter flowers and sunflowers 51:06 Quick-fire questions from the farm 58:11 Cass's reflection: Listening to what draws us in Want to hear more? Jay and I also recorded a bonus conversation for The Sentimental Gardener Substack paid subscribers, where we spend another 20 minutes talking about the business side of running a flower and garlic farm. Find the bonus episode and subscribe via The Sentimental Gardener on Substack or Apple Podcasts Follow Flinders Farmgate at their website, Instagram or Facebook Follow Cass at The Sentimental Gardener Instagram or add your name to the list at Substack to get my emails in your inbox. CREDITS: Music written and played by Hayden Schuler of Vereya Gardening Produced, edited and mixed by Cass Dowding

Deb Collett was a previous guest way back in Season One, and since then we've become great friends. So it was particularly lovely to sit down and catch up with her on this episode of Sentimental Friends - the subscriber only series where we cover news, updates and more from people in gardening world.

Australian landscape architect and garden designer Timothy Mitchell joins Cass Dowding on The Sentimental Gardener podcast to talk about his early memories of plants, transforming tennis courts into a meadow of flowers and designing gardens en plein air. They also dive into finding beauty in Australian native plants, building a dry climate garden that actually works, letting a garden evolve naturally over seasons, and why the most alive gardens are always being edited, observed and mulled over.

Are you an Australian native plant fanatic? Well you're going to love this episode! Cass Dowding chats with Ben Clark, co-owner of Kuranga Native Nursery, about growing up surrounded by the bush in Warrandyte, followed by an early obsession with plants, to building a family business around Australian native plants. Ben shares how he first came to Kuranga as an apprentice, what happens behind the scenes in the nursery he now owns, and why the nursery has become such a loved destination for native plant buffs. They also talk about Kuranga's expansion to a second site at Warrandyte, running the business with his wife Alexa, raising kids around the nursery, and the joy of dispersing native plants into gardens across the state, and maybe Australia! Show notes: Follow Kuranga Native Nursery on Instagram and Facebook Follow The Sentimental Gardener on Instagram and Facebook Get Sentimental Gardener emails Get bonus episodes on Sentimental Friends

Hannah Moloney was born for this! 'This' is creating what she calls "a good life for everybody": people, animals, ecosystems and communities alike. From climate-justice cabaret to gardening, activism, writing and community projects, Hannah's work is all about connection, resilience and finding better ways to live together. She's also a presenter on ABC TV's Gardening Australia and the bestselling author of the newly released Why We Garden — Even When We Don't Have To. In this episode, Cass and Hannah talk about early memories, sentimental plant stories, permaculture, activism and what Hannah discovered after interviewing thousands of gardeners about why we still feel drawn to plonk things in the ground and help them grow. Host: Cass Dowding Guest: Hannah Moloney Episode show notes at The Sentimental Gardener Original Music: Hayden Schueler from Vereya Gardening Audio Mixing: Tom Dowding Editing and Producer: Cass Dowding