Futuresteading

Maybe you’ve done this before: typed into Google, “Where can I buy glass bottle milk?” or “What local butchers will accept my battered tupperware?”. If you have, it’s likely you’ve stumbled upon The Rogue Ginger.

Erin Rhoads is a proud red head whose simple question, “Why is the world filled with plastic?”, changed the course of her life.

Since 2013, this down-to-earth mum from Melbourne has been blogging about how to reduce plastic and waste, and live a more eco-friendly existence. On her website you’ll find years worth of zero-waste resources, amazingly curated lists on where to shop waste-free and wildly practical information about making the change - with a notable absence of dogma.

Our conversation with Erin goes beyond waste reduction to encompass the psychology of change, on-boarding friends and family with your belief system (or not), localism vs. globalism and what true wealth looks like.

It’s a laid back, tea-with-a-friend style chat that’ll leave you with a warm sense of solidarity - and renewed enthusiasm for making positive change.

SHOW NOTES

• Erin highlights the importance of sharing our stories of joy and contradictions while we embark on change - so it doesn't feel impossible for others to follow.
• Finding ways to create uplifting and engaging challenges for individuals (rather than dutiful misery).
• As consumers, our voices are loud. Erin gives us ideas for sharing our thoughts about how companies can do better (in ways that are actually effective).
• Practical ideas for actioning your beliefs.
• The merits of Localism vs. Globalism.
• Why it’s worth developing a sense of obligation within our communities to bring about lasting change.
• How giving people tools (particularly kids) is a great way to engender hope and positive action: food growing, seed saving, fire lighting and cooking are as important as maths.
• Connecting with your local council is a great starting point for blossoming changemakers.
• Why it’s time for communities to lead rather than waiting for governments to fill the gap.
• Have Australians ever faced real challenges collectively? This might impact our understanding (and appreciation) of community initiatives.
• The power of third parties like films, music, books and docos when trying to influence change in friends.
• How life as a new mother opened up a can of worms on her plastic-free mission.
• Ideas for overcoming the cyclical phases of new initiatives that sees initial traction followed by a dip in interest and engagement.
• ‘Gamification’ as a possible way to incentivise community engagement.
• The value of initiatives that are easy to set up and participate in - but have far-reaching outcomes such as nature strip gardens and free food pantries.

LINKS

• ABC’s War on Waste
• Plastic Free July
• The Clean Bin Project [documentary]
• An Inconvenient Truth [documentary]
• Bag It [documentary]
• “How to save the world” - Katie Patrick

Kirsten Bradley has dedicated the last 13 years (in cahoots with partner Nick Ritar and a host of thinkers and doers) to helping people learn permaculture skills for living like it matters.

We’re referring to Milkwood, of course. And today we get a backstage pass to the brain of its co-creator; a joyous conversation indeed.

Kirsten has a knack for distilling big ideas into bite size words of wisdom, bringing decades of lived experience to our cuppa-tea-with-a-mate interview that will leave you feeling affirmed and hopeful.

She shares her trajectory from inner-city artist to iconic permaculture educator, author and champion of back-to-basics living. Her thoughts on long-term renting, community sufficiency, ways of stewarding land (that don’t necessarily involve buying a massive property), how to bypass hypocrisy and why to get comfy with shades of grey.

Post-episode, you’ll probably want to knock on your neighbour’s door and offer them surplus garden greens - because, according to Kirsten, community connection is the bedrock of a better life (and planet). Listen, absorb, enjoy.
SHOW NOTES

• Living in Tassie - autonomy and community sufficiency.
• Insights from their trials of different ways of living (including family farming, community living, homesteading, share houses).
• Where and how their shift from inner city artists to sharers of skills came about
• Alternative ways to steward land (other than ownership)
• Actions to consider now foro a better future: 1. Growing food, anywhere/anyhow. 2. Community involvement - get enmeshed, get involved. 3. Figure out your greatest skills and what you can contribute to and learn from your community.
• Reframing life towards what matters
• Why helping people reclaim lost skills is the most incredible life path she could have chosen.
• Bypassing the guilt of hypocrisy and embracing good habits.
• The value of seeking out ‘wild spaces’.
• Why getting to know your ecosystem is fundamental to living a good life (your watershed, the First Nations title for the land you reside on, your climate, your seasons)
• The evolution of thought and practical outcomes which has come from living in different environments and communities.
• Accepting shades of grey over black and white.
• Stepping past the one family/one house concept.
• The tension between tenancy, tenure, community values, land use/management and ownership.
• How disasters crystallise community bedrock.
• Why they'd rather steward less land, not more.

LINKS YOU'LL LOVE

• Rebecca Solnit - “Hope In The Dark”
• Melliodora Publishing
• Milkwood - Real Skills for Down-To-Earth Living

If you've never met a Perma Pixie, prepare to be delighted.

Taj, aka. The Perma Pixie, is bringing a little old school witchcraft and spades of permaculture wisdom to Melbourne - and now, to you.

This chick beats to a drum of ‘reciprocity’, a philosophy that acknowledges that we’re part of a cycle that should give as much as it takes.
She’s been delivering permaculture education courses for over a decade (not bad for a young sprout!) and has recently started clinical work as a qualified herbalist. Social patterns and interactions are her greatest love, equal to her fascination with plants and their healing capacity.

This conversation is a must for anyone interested in natural medicine, staying grounded in the fray, the freedoms - and struggles - of running a small business, how to balance impassioned action with self care, and how to be regenerative within a culture programmed to run us dry.

Her deeply felt connection to the seasons, and life steeped in reciprocity and relationship, will either resonate deeply or sow seeds in the garden of your mind.

Enjoy!
SHOW NOTES

• How her early ADHD diagnosis encouraged her to seek calm in the natural world.
• Taking a circular approach to living in reciprocity with nature.
• The power of seasonal acknowledgement; combining the ‘doing’ with the ‘sensing’.
• Having the courage to trust your instincts to follow the path of the heart.
• Finding balance in the juxtaposition of being an anti-capitalist while running a small business.
• Reframing financial stability.
• How being an extrovert has enabled her to build a network of nourishers.
• Ways to create nurturing community hubs and nodes, which in turn create valid community connection.
• Why it's worth summoning the gumption to talk to total strangers and be open to spontaneous interactions.
• The fundamental need to have a relationship with our own bodies to take ownership and responsibility of our most important asset - and avoid being a ‘baseline’ human.
• Actively avoiding a sedentary body and mind.
• Her permaculture and herbal medicine journey - and how it led her to the plants which nourish her.
• Why a world filled with sharing is better than a life lived alone.
• How she calms the voice urging her to "do more".
• Finding balance as a one-woman show when her greatest desire is to be outside - not behind a screen.
• Why to do a "needs analysis": What are your needs and what can you offer?
• Why relationships are what fundamentally give her hope.

LINKS YOU'LL LOVE

• Website: The Perma Pixie/Insta: @thepermapixie
• Visit: CERES Community Environment Park
• Movie: The Craft

What are your moments of joy? What makes you feel at home? Where's the "best" place to live with respect for the future?
Join Jade and Catie for a Futuresteading Shortie: a bite-sized convo where we share our everyday moments of joy, why to put roots down, what makes us guffaw and where the "best" place to live really is.
This wee episode is the perfect accompaniment to pulling weeds, shelling walnuts, wandering up the street or sunning your legs on the verandah.
Thanks so much for joining us.

Do we need a little more faith in agriculture?
This week we chat to Sallie Jones, cofounder of farmer-owned Gippsland Jersey, about how her faith helps her do good stuff in the world - without a crippling fear of failure.
And we reckon there's something in that, considering her immense achievements.
You'll learn so much from this champion for dairy farmers, cheerleader for responsible land management, extraordinary businesswoman and mother of three; not least of which, how to live a little more hopefully.
Sallie shares her gut-wrenching story of family loss, why we need to talk about mental health on farms (and everywhere for that matter), and offers wise advice for a simpler, more spiritual life; essential listening for anyone who feels a little isolated in striving for a better future (regardless of your belief system).

Note: This was recorded at the beginning of April 2020.
SHOW NOTES

• Why not starting school until Grade Six offered her an unconventional - and rather free - way of thinking.
• Why and how to side-step helicopter parenting.
• The value of relying on a wide network of people with varying skills.
• How story telling and her Dad's reputation have been core to Gippsland Jersey's success.
• The importance of keeping it real!
• Her experience of the raw milk movement.
• How families experience grief in unique ways.
• Her fundamental trust in her faith.
• Why leaps of faith require immense courage.
• Why the gut never lies (and can be relied upon as the right needle for all situations).
• Why she's a fan of paths-of-less-resistance rather than being relentless.
• Why community is central to her reason for being.
• How she stays empathetic without burning out.
• The importance of perspective to balanced life.
• Why kindness and giving is good for everyone.
• Her sense of place as white settlers.

LINKS YOU'LL LOVE

• Gippsland Jersey website
• Gippsland Jersey Insta