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Activists Around the World: Connie Cao · Stuff Mom Never Told You

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Smantha and welcome to stuff.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: I never told you, productive I heard you.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: And for this activist around the world, we're gonna do
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: something kind of themed because for some reason, I well
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: I know, not for some reason, but for reasons, I'm
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: on a gardening kick. Uh huh yeah, yeah, yeah, I
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: feel like that's a clue. So we wanted to feature
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Connie cow an urban permaculture gardener, writer, content creator and
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: so much more so. She has a lot of great
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: advice and know how when it comes to gardening, but
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: also about using a garden to feel more at home.
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: And I really love this and of course it is
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: a API Heritage History month, so we want to feature
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  Speaker 2: more Asian activists and those who have influence. It's so
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: much And yeah, gardening, which I'm really excited because I
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: think I found a book that I'm gonna have to
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: pick up BT Doves, although she's located in Millbourne, but
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: it's okay, okay, we're gonna go into this. So just
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: so we are all on the same page. I wanted
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: to describe what a parmaculture is and this is from
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  Speaker 2: a Modern Farmer dot com and apparently this was coined
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  Speaker 2: by Bill Mullison from the Tanzania area. So I was like, okay,
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: it's been coined seventies. Anyway, here's the definitions I give.
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  Speaker 2: It is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive
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  Speaker 2: systems which have the diversity, stability and resilience of natural ecosystems.
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  Speaker 2: It is the harmonious integration of the landscape with people
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  Speaker 2: providing their food, energy, shelter, and other material and non
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  Speaker 2: material needs in a sustainable way. That go on to say,
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  Speaker 2: in other words, parmaculture is a holistic living in harmony
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  Speaker 2: with nature worldview as well as a technical approach for
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: how to do so. So we love that because we
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  Speaker 2: love sustainability, and so does she, which is why she
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: is all about this type of gardening. So Cal is
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: a resident of Melbourne, Australia. Her parents actually moved to
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  Speaker 2: Australia in nineteen eighty eight from China and her love
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: for gardening was fostered at a very young age thanks
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: to her parents and a school project. So this is
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: from SBS dot com Au. They write Cal's gardening journey
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: began with a simple school project growing onion chives, which
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: we just got it. By the way, the experience, planted
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: a seed punintended, and she pestered her parents for a
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: garden until her father finally gave in when she was
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: a teenager. Together, they started growing Asian vegetables. So I
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: think that's amazing, because, yes, I just bought some onion,
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: some kind of chibes. I don't know if it's onion chibes.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: I've never grown chibes. We're starting with these chibes. They
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: are very delicate.
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  Speaker 1: Any that makes me nervous, I know, yes, I.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: Know it makes me nervous too. But I checked on
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: them today. Actually, no, I checked on them yesterday and
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: they were upright and seemingly happy. Okay, look upright is
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: a lot now? It is anyway, right, So, her newfound
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  Speaker 2: love for gardening did become a large family project and
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: family bonding experience. After moving into a home that had
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: previously belonged to another gardener, they began their venture together.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: So apparently this home had like old fruit trees and such,
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: so was already prepped to do gardening, which is wonderful.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: What a dream. She talked about how she would go
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: online to learn more about gardening and the art of
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: growing vegetables and flowers. Around her home and so with
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: her father. So her mother was able to even get
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: vegetable seas from her Shanghai social club where they had
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: sea swaps. So that's where her love for like Asian
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: and Chinese vegetables really came through. In another SBS article,
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: she talks about how gardening was able to help keep
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: her connection with her heritage. So they quote said, my
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: parents are Chinese immigrants, so they wanted to grow a
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  Speaker 2: lot of things that my mom was cooking at home.
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  Speaker 2: I was pretty fascinated with the fact that you could
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  Speaker 2: grow Asian veggies here, simply because I was only used
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: to seeing a lot of people growing things like broccoli
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  Speaker 2: and kale and these more common things you'd see in
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  Speaker 2: the supermarket. And she continued with her own gardening doing
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: that type of tradition. So this is from ABC dot Net.
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  Speaker 2: I believe this was from like twenty twenty two. About
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  Speaker 2: five years ago. My now husband and I bought a
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  Speaker 2: place in Melbourne's Outer East and I've been inspired by
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  Speaker 2: my parents to grow Chinese vegetables here. So I love that.
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  Speaker 2: I love that she was able to start something with
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  Speaker 2: her family that kept her connected to her roots and
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  Speaker 2: kept her family connected with her roots as well, and
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  Speaker 2: able to like bring familiarity to a foreign area which
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: I guess at this point was not foreign, but still
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  Speaker 2: bringing some of what they remember to where they were there.
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  Speaker 2: And though she's been at the gardening game for a while,
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  Speaker 2: she is quick to let people know that gardening is
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  Speaker 2: something you have to work through and sometimes it takes
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  Speaker 2: trial and error, and that to grow amazing vegetables and
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  Speaker 2: other things doesn't take a whole garden, which by the way,
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  Speaker 2: I now know. And she teaches others how to grow
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  Speaker 2: things and even the smallest of spaces. So again the article,
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  Speaker 2: the SBS article which was titled Yes you can grow
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  Speaker 2: your own food too, she gives great advice on how
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  Speaker 2: to just start. One piece of advice was start with pots.
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  Speaker 2: She says this the best way to get started is
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  Speaker 2: probably to start growing in pots because it's low commitment
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  Speaker 2: and pots are really good because you can move them around.
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  Speaker 2: So if you decide the left side is not good
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  Speaker 2: on the balcony, you can try the right side to
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  Speaker 2: see the sunlight is different. Little plants like herbs and
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: leafy greens are really easy to grow in pots. And
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: with that, she goes on to explain how using larger
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: pots help maintain them gets in space, which is what
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: I've been learning Annie since we've got giant pots for
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: my new tomatoes. So again in that articles, she goes
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: on to say to grow what you eat, So grow
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  Speaker 2: what you're going to eat, not something that you would waste.
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  Speaker 2: Expand and grow flowers if you can, and to start whenever.
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  Speaker 2: It doesn't have to be summertime, of course. I think
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  Speaker 2: also the advice would be to know what plants can
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  Speaker 2: grow when or when to garden them, because yes, you
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  Speaker 2: can do cool weather plants and they will grow and thrive,
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: but obviously that won't necessarily be helpful in the summertime.
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: So at least look that up. I'm sure she already
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: has advice for you on that. She also says in
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  Speaker 2: that article to share so quote. It's this community activity
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  Speaker 2: where I get to share my excess harvest with my neighbors.
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  Speaker 2: It's such a nice way to get to know them.
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  Speaker 2: And my neighbors are really cute. They often cook the
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: vegetables and give the food back to me. They're from
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: different cultural backgrounds, They're Indians, so it's nice to get
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: to know about the way they use veggies and learn
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: from each other, which I love sharing. And he gets
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: a lot when she comes around, not a lot, some
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: some when you can get the tomatoes, these basils, How
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: are your basils?
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: Did they die? They couldn't die, but they're not flourishing.
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: They're surviving for sure, but you know, not beyond.
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: Then better than mine was because my originals are dead anyway.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: Moving on and with all of this knowledge, she has
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: put it in her own book titled Your Asian Veggie Patch,
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  Speaker 2: which she describes like this in her website. Your Asian
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  Speaker 2: Veggie Patch is a comprehensive, beginner friendly guide to growing
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: and cooking Asian vegetables, herbs and fruits at home. Parmaculture
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  Speaker 2: gardener Conyie Cow guide you through a curated selection of
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: more than forty cool season and warm season annuals and perennials,
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  Speaker 2: meaning it's easy to find produce that will thrive in
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  Speaker 2: your garden and climate. Then make the most of your
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  Speaker 2: abundant harvest with fifty fresh home style recipes inspired by
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  Speaker 2: Connie's Chinese heritage. Think at ammee and pickled mustard greens,
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  Speaker 2: stir fried Shanghai rice cakes, porkin chive dumplings, Chinese pumpkin
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  Speaker 2: cakes and a winter melandee, which all sound amazing. Yes,
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: I would like some, please. So her book has hit
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  Speaker 2: home for many, including a lot of Asian Australian people
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  Speaker 2: who love this book. So here's a review from Christine
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  Speaker 2: Sunflower dot com. Quote. This beautifully curated book is designed
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  Speaker 2: to motivate as many people as possible to embrace and
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  Speaker 2: celebrate the diversity of edible plants grown and eaten across
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  Speaker 2: Asian household. As Cow declares at the start of the book,
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  Speaker 2: let me be your Asian best friend who can't stop raving.
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  Speaker 2: Expect bountiful encouragement and enthusiastic cheering from me on the sidelines. Indeed,
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  Speaker 2: the author's cheerful and sincere words distinguish this title from
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  Speaker 2: other gardening books out here in the market, as her
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  Speaker 2: writing comes straight from her heart. She writes about growing
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  Speaker 2: up in an Asian immigrant family in Australia who are
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  Speaker 2: thrilled to discover they can grow the taste of home
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  Speaker 2: in their own backyard. I really love that.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I really love that.
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  Speaker 2: As a as an hobbyist in this garden world, we'd
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: love to see representation whatever. And I'm always looking for
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  Speaker 2: good advice, so yes, this book will definitely have to
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: come my way because I need all the advice. And
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: by the way, she's the cutest ever. Her pictures on
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: her Instagram has her and her chicken Luna. By the way,
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: take me a minute to figure out it was a
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: chicken because it's one of those fluffy chickens. Yeah, very
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: fluffy chickens. But yeah, I really am excited that I
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: discovered her works and I will be definitely following her
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: on the social media as well.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: Yes, absolutely another book to add to the list. Well, listeners,
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: you know we always love hearing from you about your
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: gardening tips or what's going on with your garden. If
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: you would like to contact us, you can. You can
• 9:42
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• 9:44
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• 9:47
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• 9:49
  Speaker 1: We're also on YouTube. We have some merchandise at Cotton Bureau,
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: and we have a book you can get wherever you
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: get your books. Thanks as always to our producer Casey,
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: our executive producer Maya, and to you listeners I Never
• 10:00
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