If you're yet to hear Mitch perform 'You're the voice", I beg you to head to the link at the bottom and listen.
 Carrying the message of unification, love and kindness. Culture is not foreign to Mitch who imbeds a celebration of it into every facet of life as tools to build identity and a strong sense of place. For him living and breathing culture is the start middle and end of it.
An articulate, straight talker he sheds light on why everyone deserves a chance to not only survive but to thrive.  His super-power-story-telling ability notches up a few ranks when on stage and over the last few years he has found a platform for passing on knowledge through song and dance. 

Nerves and awe aside, Jade manages to dig a little into the psyche of this incredible individual, who without question shows us why the first nations people of this country were not hunters and gatherers but the most purposeful people to have ever walked.

Show Notes

• Ma-wollagoolabah - self, family, community
• Falling in love with his identity and eagerly celebrating this in a respectful and authentic way
• The value of being raised by a strong single mother
• Publicly honoring women to the point of reverence
• Being relentless in our desire to keep talking to convey a message of transparency
• Circle people - we are connected to everything and everything is connected to us
• Can song and dance as mediums take their place as a much needed storytelling tools
• Emojis are an ancient format 
• Humans disconnection from spirit, soul and heart
• Being the most connected and the most disconnected simultaneously
• Holidays = connection to the natural world. Do we love holidays or do we love the opportunity to unconsciously  connect to our evolutionary place
• Building an understanding of the spirit in the land
• Opening yourself up to ‘feel’ 
• Honoring our ancestors, offering a rightful seat at the decision table and acknowledging the knowledge held by indigenous people
• "We're not hunters and gatherers, we’re the most purposeful people to have ever walked
• There are so many conversations to be had - we need to keep talking
• His mob cared for the land to co-exist not to be captured or controlled 
• Walking together and healing so we can get to where we need to get to
• The first people of a land MUST be heard first 
• If your hearts in the right place you can only do the best you can with what you've got to ‘level’ up’
• Stradling the reality of living an urban life with intent and purpose while knowing how powerful a childhood on country can be
• Self perception vs how others perceive you
• Instilling identity, belonging and connection through ritual
• Living and breathing culture as part of every day life
• Avoiding the traps of fame by staying focussed on his purpose
• Staying grounded by knowing that he is just a vessel with a message who is part of something so much bigger than him
• Starting with self love - heal, educate
• Conditioning that has bred fear of difference
• Coming together with an intent to heal, love and listen. 
• Having real conversations which are birthed out of truth

Mitch Tambo Instagram
Mitch Tambo - You're the Voice


Keen to buy the Futuresteading book? Its now available at all good bookstores or you can order online here.

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This heart led Mumma of three has been luring us with images of a dreamy, bloom filled life on her Daylesford apple orchard & words of equal romance via her craft blog for over a decade. She laughs easily, has found balance in being real & makes the simplest of thoughts feel like genuine aha moments.  Kate Ulman is wrenchingly honest about the reality of farm life with young children, turning inwards when self care is needed & whether her babies will return to life on the land. Although not at her kitchen table, the intimacy of this conversation feels very personal & will leave your cup full & your heart nourished.

Episode notes

• Seeing your home the way others do
• Realising she is driven by making, creating & beauty
• Taking an ugly foundation & making it ‘beautiful’ slowly & sure
• The essence of a creative soul raising more creative beings
• Evolving with our children who are becoming the people they are going to be
• Creating a ‘place’ for our children
• The impact of an early childhood experience on a kibbutz
• Learning to farm at 30 & retrospectively being amazed they could do it
• Growing things organically was our religion but we actually didn’t know how
• Life before social media - 10 years of ‘ugliness’ because we could afford the beautiful 
• Sharing the raw truth of life on the land with a small family
• Expectation vs reality
• Seasonal appreciation
• “Every season is another chance to get last years mistakes better”
• The annual pre Winter crises & assessment of reality
• Pre farming life as a crafter & blogger
• Acknowledging there's a time & place for everything
• Filing your soul with the small &simple things but being realistic about doing whats possible
• Being kind about expectations
• “Being a martyr & running yourself ragged is NOT the solution but being aware & keeping it joyful means you can do it forever”
• Saying “I don't know” comfortably
• When we take our actions so seriously that it puts other people including  the next generation off ever wanting to participate in something worth doing
•  Letting go of the little things like baking bread for the sake of the bigger picture
• Actively engaging with community wherever a snippet can be garnered
• Putting her energies into writing a book
• Taking back her families story so it wasn’t available to the world online
• Rediscovering herself post early childhood mother-dom
• Being the complete opposite of organised
• Creating a plan for ‘older life’ so the love of the farming life continues
• Why bigger is not better. The active vision to make things simpler
• Why her mum is her greatest inspiration for her approach to motherhood
• How she became the encourager of creativity
• Daily exclamation marks of ritual elude her because she follows inspiration instead
• Why her good intentions for ritual get forgotten
• Why deep diving quickly into real conversations is important to her
• Her definition of success as living her truth & being filled with honesty, creativity, availability to the things she cares about 
• Having the confidence to live from your heart
• Gifting your future self by thinking ahead

References

Fox’s Lane

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Strap in for a fast paced chat with this natural born story teller.  From the heady heights of top restaurants, starring in his own reality tv program and radio shows to his definition of “enough” - which  begins with rude health and healthy kids before settling with sovereignty of time and community belonging. 

As practical and grounded as he is charismatic with a touch of aussie larrikin, ‘Westy’ is whip cracking fast making it easy to listen and laugh at his tales - like serving uncooked rice as his first attempt at cooking.

This high energy human wraps up the season for us with insights and stories that are endearing and inspiring in equal measure.

Episode notes

Choosing your island foods

Are you an eater or a foodie ?- Westie grew up as an eater until he was 17 before becoming a foodie

Embalmed cats above the fresh food aisles at the local supermarket 

Moving from his first out-of-home cooked meal: Raw rice, frozen peas, ham and soy sauce to cheffing in lofty places

His first wwoofing experience that sowed the seeds for his ‘NOW’ life:

Witnessing the loftiest ideal for human life as life on the land growing food, connecting to community, physical work

His winding but whip fast hospitality adventure

Using the age good food guide as a way to get a job and crash landing into Vu De Monde to cut his teeth

Turning his back on fine dining cuisine to return to the roots of growing food.

A yearning desire to really understand the rhythms of food

How fatherhood changed him, from self to selfless. Why he never wanted to be a ‘phone in’ dad

Reframing his expectations of fatherhood for him, his kids and his wife.

Creating patterns to set up our kids for the rest of their lives and using food as the central guide for this 

The virtues of tapping into the primal human nature.

Transitioning from kitchen to farm grew his understanding of long standing ecological needs.

River Cottage - the inside scoop on the steep learning curves and truth behind producing a reality TV program. The juggle of actually living a 365 day farm life but needing to fit in the production of a stage production alongside.

The hard work of farming! Far from white clothed lunches under a tree

The repetition needed for growing

Now living a life that's the amalgamation of his previous lives 

Creating a life of belonging in a village across generations

The perfect combo of small-house big block.

Building ritual around food markers, what the gardens providing, when the crayfish and oysters are harvesting, 

Making an effort to observe the natural spectacles and building ritual around it

His ENOUGH

References:

Aftertaste ABC Series
River Cottage Australia SBS on demand series
The Edible Garden Cookbook and Growing Guide - Paul West 2013

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Sharing her evolution from academic keyboard warrior to her current reality of being an agroecological pork and beef farmer who's pretty darned handy with the butchers knife and equally as sharp of mind in her contributions to the UN small scale farming policy initiatives.

Tammi Jonas is indeed a force of the natural world, never backwards in coming forwards but mellowing with every decade and sharing her successes and failures for the sake of thousands who are following in her footsteps towards a life of farming democracy.

Episode Summary

• We dive right into how she fits it all in
• Leadership - her style of leading from the front with doggedness and squared soldiers
• Research and UN food systems mobilisation 
• Credibility that comes out of the dirt
• Her commitment to food sovereignty across aaaalllllll the tiers of the movement
• The brain breaking need to relate local practices to global policy
• Linking good global initiatives to local practices
• Applying food sovereignty thinking to general consumption issues
• Taking power back  one skill at a time
• We can’t buy ourselves out of this mess - we literally need to joyfully work competently through the upskilling and sharing of 
• The illusion of choice when you see thousands of items for sale in a supermarket is not a place to genuinely begin
• Why she considers herself an “agroecological” farmer (political, social, Agroecological theory of change is considered a science, social movement and practical - dedicated to circular bio economies rather than a purchasing of inputs. Agroecology rejects capitalism but values labour over yield.
• ‘Benefaction’ - enabling the farm to do their tasks joyfully
• The rich reality of running internship programs - who are welcomed with the knowledge that they are becoming food sovereignty warriors
• AFSA - first-peoples-first initiative
• Solidarity - garnering unexplained wholeness but remembering we are all here for each other
• Why there's value in building a new system rather than creating one from the ashes of the old one.
• Why the rise and fall of farms and community orgs is part and parcel of the movement and should be encouraged
• Being comfortable to share the successes AND the failures as a gift for the greater good
• Building a de-growth mentality to avoid the ruthless capitalist system
• Creating small scale farming businesses that are FUN rather than slaves to growth
• Keeping her eye on the end game dilutes her need to be binary and rage filled
• Why the States are not actually similar to the Australian culture  - they are wedded to a growth mentality that we don't  have so we have an opportunity to learn from their mistakes.
• Why it’s ok to scale back from the initial vision
• Framing ‘enough’ as being disentangled from the capitalist system - seeing the sky, feeding her community and others and being ok to go slow when needed.

References

Jonai Farms
Righteous Porkchop: Finding a Life and Good Food Beyond Factory Farms
Farming democracy
Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance

Thanks to our podcast partners:
Wwoof Australia
Nutrisoil

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Futuresteading - Live Like tomorrow matters

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Brooke McAlary has built a life and brand around slow. She's the author of three books, the co-host of The Slow Home podcast and the voice of a movement that says, "Dear Joneses, I'm opting out of the rat race."

But hey, that doesn't mean she's exempt from overwhelm. This convo opens with Brooke and Jade swapping stories of exhaustion.  File that under honesty. 

So join us on the couch as we define our zone zero, get our inner turmoil sorted before facing the outer chaos, and discuss a potential inner care deficit.

We talk packaged up versions of “balance” “slow” and “simple” and why “tilting” may be more useful; leaning into the most pressing issue of the moment.

Why multi tasking is a farce but barefoot bushwalking creates a heady sense of lightness, wonder and awe that  just might hold the answers.

Say no to fast and yes to slow living with Brooke McAlary.

SHOW NOTES

• Why her books and pod are basically talking to herself to maintain a slower pace
• Being diagnosed with severe postnatal depression 
• Googling in search of solutions
• Letting go of the relentless ‘keep up’ approach to life
• Stabilising mental health and finding a deeper sense of contentment
• Living life with no buffer
• Operating at 70% capacity to ensure there’s room for unplanned
• Defining and protecting  zone zero
• Getting the inner turmoil sorted before facing the outer chaos
• Avoiding an inner care deficit
• The intrinsic link between inward care and capacity to give 
• Why the words 'balance', 'simple' and 'slow' are all fraught
• The endless wrestle of living counter culturally 
• Learning to “tilt” rather than “balance”
• The fraudulence of multi tasking
• Experiencing a loss of connection, celebration and grieving as a result of covid
• Facing into the need for ‘unlearning’ to build a brave new non-consumerist world
• Building your tribe without preaching 
•  Equating simple with ‘ease’ not ‘easy’
•  Why simplicity lives in the process of finding ease
• Noticing = gratitude
• Family rituals that offer hope
• Barefoot bushwalking on a bliss wave
• A designated slow room 
• Reconciling the footprint of travel by embracing her local area
• Vision Quests 
• Why small actions of care, purpose and values are creating powerful ripples 
• Rebuilding rites of passage for our youth to test and expand resilience and tap into the wisdom from older generations
• Writing a letter to your younger self
• Jump starting our memory making function 

LINKS YOU'LL LOVE

• ZenHabits
• Slow - Brooke McAlary
• Destination Simple - Brooke McAlary
• Care - Brooke McAlary
• Rites of passage institute
• Alone - SBS series
• Vision Quest Challenges

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Damon Gameau  - A call to arms for storytellers! 

 It's time to shine the spotlight on our story tellers; the creatives,  film makers, artists, poets, chefs, writers and musicians. "If our storytellers cannot find a way then the way cannot be found".  Join Jade & Damon in this conversation about defying the attention economy, ways to avoid being numbed but the inertia of the system (which is not actually our friend - despite it being dressed up that way) and why rites of passage could be the answer to rebuilding our culture .
Finally, we  ask the big question  - how do you define ENOUGH. 
If you've loved Damon's films 2040 & That Sugar Film you're in for one exceptionally powerful convo with this captivating  & clever creative.

Episode Summary

People are seeking leadership that doesn’t use language without humanisation
So much of the story we are told now is dictated by extraction, competition, rivalry,
The shift from humans with animus beliefs to industrialised beliefs
Defining our collective stories through the feedback from our creative & soul stirring storytellers
Defying the attention economy by stepping away from the barraging information torrent to allow for conscious decisions
Finding your place in action 
Choosing to understand rather than polarising
Slowing our judgement despite the push for pace - let a slowly defined opinion be yours Acknowledging we agree on a desire for community, healthy children, access to food….and we are not actually divided
Taking responsibility of our own individual actions and teach our children to listen & to understand
Why its NOT human nature to be greedy & selfish, because we've  evolved through a deeply cooperative, symbiotic spirit.
Rewrite our culture away from competitive nature & highlight our dependency on each other Finding your path of individualism within the collective 
Deradicalising the truth of what we need to do
Considering context when storytelling to shift the needle 
Building a less fragile system
Why it’s not a nationalist sentiment if you want sovereignty of independence
Shifting from being a consumer to being a citizen
Building wings that will allow us to fly high and thrive with our culture providing the wind
Manifesting creativity and ingenuity by working with our kids
Shaping, creating and changing culture through coexistence, lateral thinking and practical skills - starting with the education of our children
The dance between peril and possibility 
Turning emerging science into magical stories to captivate kids imaginations 
 Prison inmates in the States spend more time outdoors than our children
The ongoing process of unlearning as flawed humans 
Deciding what’s enough. Do you keep working beyond your enough to go slower or do you keep going to give to others.  
Rites of passage as a pathway to regeneration
Ayahuasca ceremonies, breath work
Taking a glimpse into the “other” to fill the gap left by a crises of meaning

References
“Surviving the future, culture, carnival and capital”  - David Flemming
Rites of Passage Institute
Recapture the Rapture - rethinking god, sex and death in a world that's lost its mind - Jamie Wheal
2040 Film - Directed by Damon
That Sugar Film - Directed by Damon

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Annie Raser-Rowland is the co-author of two of our most treasured books; The Weed Forager’s Handbook and The Art of Frugal Hedonism: A Guide to Spending Less While Enjoying Everything More. Annie is an artist, horticulturalist and adventurer who has a knack for thwacking you with the truth -- in the best possible way.

If you don't know this marvellous lass, that's probably because she keeps a pretty low profile online, preferring to spend her days in a state of sensuous connection with the world, pursuing everything money can't buy. And she has some excellent tips for helping you do the same.

Annie and Catie cover a lot of ground in this convo, from hitchhiking adventures and weed foraging to chronic conditions, choosing life over career and controversial acts in the face of climate change.  We know we say this every time... but this one's a goodie!

SHOW NOTES

• Single parent family taught her to be independent, responsible, frugal.
• Epic hitchhiking journeys around Australia.
• Discovering different ways of having fun that don’t cost money.
• When hitchhiking becomes a form of talk therapy.
• Attention as a practise.
• What to do when Monkey Mind takes over and you stop seeing the beauty in the everyday.
• Humans as story-addicted creatures.
• Solistalgia — when you’re nostalgic for where you are.
• The rate of change in modern society and how that disrupts a sense of place, belonging.
• How to plant yourself in new places. 
• The sensory pleasure of the weather.
• Weather makes landscape and landscape makes culture.
• The origins of her love of weeds.
• Plant-filtering laser eyeballs that seek out food.
• There’s food you can eat that has zero environmental impact,  beyond homegrown veggies.
• Writing a novel in celebration of non-utilitarian, fruity, hyper-abundant language.
• How a cancelled hike led to a quirky storyline.
• How to orchestrate a life in which time and adventures are plentiful.
• The beauty of turning down requests (even when they’re super impressive).
• The conscious choice not to have children.
• Giving work the flick in favour of life.
• How a chronic health condition has affirmed her choices and priorities.
• "I’d rather not eat out, not buy new clothes, and spend lots of my time at the beach (which is what I’m currently doing)."
• Dealing with guilt about working less.
• Why keep trying to accrue more money more once you have enough?
• Protestant work ethic upbringing needs to be questioned right now.
• The ‘work’ of being a low-consumer is valid too.
• “I believe in the pattern of a society that these frugal habits are part of… and I want to perpetuate that.”
• Controversial tips for changing the world.
• Amazement as a tool for appreciating ordinary objects; being less wasteful.
• It’s a novel time. The rules are now different. Having children being the norm can no longer be part of the status quo. 
• Drive less! Use your car if you would hire a car to do that thing, otherwise, find a different way.
• Good times with human beings is not something to be lazy about. 
• Cultivating the skill of conversation. 

LINKS YOU'LL LOVE

The Weed Forager's Handbook ~ Annie Raser-Rowland & Adam Grubb
The Art of Frugal Hedonism ~ Annie Raser-Rowland & Adam Grubb

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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 & forests they tend, the resources they glean & grow, the community they're part of and the technologies they both use & refuse.

They practice permapoesis, which simply means permanent making or regenerative living -an antidote to disposable culture - & show us what's possible when creativity, reverence & reciprocity is placed at the heart of human existence.

SHOW NOTES

• A frugal background + time on a kibbutz
• Early skills in propagation and a deep desire to grow things
• An attraction to counter culture & eternal questioning of injustices
• Finding peace by the Mittagong creek
• Working as a couple to overcome grief over the dominant culture
• Growing a new story out of the old story -- about community, not just one idea
• The holistic awakening of permaculture
• Moving from clock time to ecological time 
• Daily connection to the natural world; chanting, observing, meditating
• Creating an art practice that is not separate from everyday life
• Avoiding monotonous and tedious work through neopeasantry
• Why Covid has helped us register our collective exhaustion
• Giving up cars and moving at an ecological pace
• Being cash poor yet time rich in frugal abundance
• Time offline allows a songful, interconnected, wildness that is about observation and interaction
• The importance of rites of passage -- how do we bring them back?
• Recognising the value of the child-to-adult process and parent/child separation
• Grief circles -- “for crying out loud”.  Sharing, howling, laughing, storytelling and bearing witness to each other.
• Giving back to the forest via humanure, menstrual blood, tears
• How fire has held our stories since the beginning of time
• Daily gratitude ritual of naming the inputs needed for each meal
• Growing layers and building gifts to share with our community by accepting ourselves
• Getting the dance right between consciousness and overwhelm
• Why being aware of ideology is important
• Why activism and politics need complexity
• A brief history of patriarchal dominance, removing feminine power in the popular culture

LINKS YOU'LL LOVE

• Artist as Family -- YouTube, Instagram + blog
• How Goats are Regenerating a Forest and Protecting This Town from Bushfire -- Happen Films
• A Branch From the Lightning Tree - Martin Shaw 
• The Wild Edge of Sorrow - Francis Weller
• The Invention of Capitalism - Michael Perelman

Podcast partners ROCK!

Nutrisoil  Wwoof Australia

Buy the Book - Futuresteading - Live Like tomorrow matters

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Bugger off dogmatic rules - who wrote those anyway. Push off unfaltering sustainable existence - you're leave us feeling guilty. Shhhh up incessant Instagram perfection - its not real!  Tune in to this fire cracker of fresh air to recalibrate your judgment beacon and give yourself a break while you learn to a make a difference in a way that works for you. Could that be quiet food related activism or perhaps sharing practical skills in your community, or waking up to the plastic explosion in our lives and actively curbing your contribution. Perhaps its pickling...everything in sight! What ever your path, Alex is unwaveringly supportive of anyone having a go at even the smallest of things & her final word of advice ' slow down, don't peak too soon...its a long path & its not getting any easier'

Growing up in a share house that loved to cook in her formative years
Creating community around the share plate
Being ok with fish fingers and frozen peas
Letting judgement go to make a difference while being accepting
Education to build hope & practical skills during this climate emergency
The exhausting weight of being sustainable 24/7
Wanting to help people fall in love with their kitchens again without ideology
Beginning a business with her husband despite limited experience
Discovering pickling when her kids were tiny & she was losing her mind
Pickling as an onramp to a simpler sustainable life
Lying awake thinking about wasting cumquats
Putting community abundance to good use in a pickling jar
Crossing language barriers to learn food preservation methods from her neighbourhood
Taking twists & turns in business
Why now is the time to stand up & shout really loudly
No person can avoid having to make regenerative choices
Getting bolder with age
Trading with locals who swap backyard produce for coffee
Navigating a food business through covid
Avoiding being black and white
Making spaces where its simple for people to make a contribution
Choosing her favourite pickle
You don’t have to make mega batches of food to make a contribution
Eating and using what you’ve got to reduce food waste
Choose one thing, while you build your habits and reframe your practices
Do we all need to be a little uncomfortable in order to make us all think and create other solutions,
Wake up and stop being passive, owning your decisions or solutions
Using scraps from the bin to create magic
If it can be used - use it
Saving money by using every single part of every single thing
Lucky dip cupboard - food without labels
The process of writing a cook book
Replacing the guilt with creativity in the kitchen
The disservice of instagram perpetuating perfection
Pearl of wisdom - going slower in our change journey to ensure longevity

References

Cornersmith - Use it all
Cornersmith - Food Savers Guide A-Z

Podcast partners ROCK!
Hidden Sea - Wine that saves the sea
Nutrisoil
Wwoof Australia

Buy the Book - Futuresteading - Live Like tomorrow matters

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From your balcony to the nature strip, citizen science to observing recolionising birds - however you interact with the outside world, there are  so many reasons and so many opportunities to do so every, single day!

As the co-author of the recently published book "A guide to the creatures in your neighbourhood" Diette encourages us in this conversation to reignite our childhood curiosity of the natural world by working harder to find the extraordinary in the ordinary - not just looking and seeing but asking WHY and taking the leap to contribute in some small way. 

SUMMARY
Getting interested in ‘nearby nature’
Not just telling people about nature but offering ideas for action and activities
Working collaboratively and managing dynamics, 
Being intrigued by the combative nature of nature
The role of creativity in science
It's not so much about the facts but the way this knowledge is shared
Learning to have public conversations about science to allow difficult conversations to unfold
Amusing ourselves at ‘A’ rather than endlessly going from A to B
The value of learning through codesign and collaboration
The value of citizen science as a gateway to connecting with nature
Storytelling as part of our intuitive human condition
Wellbeing benefits of nature and all the reasons to get involved
Accepting the way the younger generation learn
We know so little about so much
Reinstating rituals in urban environments for our young people
Genuinely listening to the kids to understand their perspective and their needs
Kids capacity to be resilient is being impacted by over connection
Giving kids agency of their journey
The adolescence dip in their connection with nature in whatever path interests them
Practicing what he preaches - learning new things every day - relax, watch and observe
Not just looking and seeing but asking WHY
Did you know worker ants and bees are all females
The pros and cons of personification of natural world elements
Creating mindful moments in nature without the need to be an ‘expert’
What the the parts of the everyday that we should be talking more about?
Our dependency on pollinators for our food security

References

Field guide to creatures in your neighbourhood - Diette Hochuli

Podcast partners ROCK!

Hidden Sea - Wine that saves the sea

Nutrisoil

Wwoof Australia

Buy the Book - Futuresteading - Live Like tomorrow matters

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