Alice Zaslavsky on her new book 'Weeknights with Alice', veg-first recipes and marigolds
The Sentimental GardenerShow Notes
What makes a cookbook so irresistible that a gardening guru finds himself buzzing towards it like a bee to a flower? When Costa Georgiadis (ABC TV Gardening Australia) rang Alice Zaslavsky to tell her he'd spotted her book in a bookshop, his description was hard to beat. But the story behind Alice's love of food goes much further back, to her childhood in Tbilisi, Georgia, where the garden and kitchen were part of the same story. Alice joins Cass to talk about the plants that carry memories of home, the Georgian tradition of using marigolds in food, and why we should look again at what's growing in our gardens — including the parts we might usually throw away. An award-winning cookbook author, food educator and television host, Alice is passionate about helping people discover the joy of food, from teaching children about seasonal eating to making everyday cooking more creative. We talk about her work creating Phenomenom, her book In Praise of Veg, and her latest cookbook, Weeknights with Alice. It's a conversation about culture, food, family and the unexpected stories held in the plants we grow, and how a little curiosity can change the way we see both our gardens and our dinner plates. CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction to The Sentimental Gardener 02:56 Alice Zaslavsky: Food and culture 06:00 Childhood memories of the garden 08:59 Food growing traditions in Georgia 12:04 Migration and food culture 14:56 Eating more of our plants 18:00 Food literacy in schools 20:58 Creating Phenomenom 23:51 Changing children's food choices 27:00 Writing about vegetables 27:30 From children's books to cookbooks 28:54 Designing a better cookbook 30:36 The global reach of In Praise of Veg 31:34 Teaching seasonal eating 33:50 Flavour and seasonality 35:00 Introducing Weeknights with Alice 39:16 Cooking by mood 42:46 Sentimental plants and their stories 45:36 Quick-fire questions Want to hear more? Find the bonus episodes and subscribe via The Sentimental Gardener on Substack or Apple Podcasts Follow Alice Zaslavsky at her website, Instagram , 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
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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
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