Latest / The Shed Organics Show / #29 - Sourdough & Backyard Growing | Mariah [Country_Plant_Lady]

Transcript

#29 - Sourdough & Backyard Growing | Mariah [Country_Plant_Lady] · The Shed Organics Show

0:00
Hey everyone, what is going on? Welcome back to another episode
0:05
of the Shared Organics show. This podcast episode was fun.
0:10
I chatted to Mariah who is the country plant lady on Instagram
0:16
now. She lives in a small town called
0:18
Hay in NSW, which is, as she will tells you, kind of in the
0:22
middle of nowhere. So it was amazing to chat to her
0:26
and to chat all things about her backyard garden, how she got
0:30
into backyard gardening, all of the wonderful vegetables and
0:33
processes that she grows at home, but also her love for
0:37
sourdough and for baking. Now, we chatted previously to
0:40
Lauren about baking these wonderful sourdough loaves and
0:46
this one was no different. We chatted all things sourdough
0:49
starters and the delicious things that can be made with a
0:52
sourdough starter and that process of creating something
0:55
and passing it around and sharing it and how wonderful
0:58
that is. So please check out Mariah's
1:01
links at the end of the episode. We're going to dive in
1:04
straightaway to the conversation.
1:06
I really enjoyed it and I'm sure you're going to learn a lot too.
1:09
So without further ado, here is Mariah, the Country Plant Lady.
1:30
What motivates you to do what you do?
1:34
I so I started gardening due to my mental health.
1:38
So I had depression, anxiety, which a lot of people do and a
1:42
lot of people do struggle to find, you know, their hobby or
1:46
something that's going to make them happy before I move to the
1:49
country. Well, I was originally from the
1:52
country. I moved to Sydney, then met my
1:55
partner and I moved back to the country.
1:58
And I think that change of going from the city where it's just
2:02
busy, chaotic and everything and then moving to the country, it
2:06
does mess with your brain like a lot.
2:09
And obviously, you know, working back into Country Life, you
2:14
know, and moving and everything, and I kind of just had to find
2:17
my little niche in the world. And it started off with a couple
2:22
of indoor plants, which I don't have any more because I don't
2:26
have that. I can't.
2:28
I can't look after indoor plants anymore.
2:30
I totally relate to that. That's that's definitely me.
2:33
Yeah, I had a fiddle leaf that was going great, lost its
2:36
leaves. And then I was like, no, I need
2:38
to venture out into something that I might be able to keep
2:41
alive for a lot longer. And then, yeah, putting my hands
2:45
into the soil, getting them dirty.
2:47
I started with a little patch in the backyard when I moved in
2:50
with my partner, and then we built some raised garden beds
2:53
and it kind of flourished from there.
2:56
I started posting on Instagram because, you know, I did see a
2:59
lot of other people posting on gardening, you know, Instagrams.
3:03
And I thought most of my friends from the city would not care
3:06
about what broccoli or what cauliflower I'm growing in the
3:11
backyard. So I started my own little
3:14
gardening page and it's kind of over the last four years taken
3:19
off in my eyes because it has opened up a lot of opportunities
3:23
for me. And, you know, getting back to
3:26
the mental health, there are some people that, you know,
3:29
sometimes message and go, thank you so much for saying that
3:31
because gardening has really helped me as well.
3:36
And don't get me wrong, I still have my bad days.
3:38
I have my good days, but I'm so thankful that, you know, I have
3:43
that little patch at the back that can help me when I am
3:46
having those really terrible days that, you know, the world's
3:50
crazy and you just want to blank everything out and it's just you
3:54
and the veggie patch, really. Yeah, I love that.
3:58
That's very important to say because as you mentioned, there
4:02
are a lot of people that are struggling with these types of
4:04
things. In one humble man's opinion, I
4:09
reckon it's something to do without disconnect from the
4:12
natural way of life, seeing things grow.
4:14
Putting our hands in soil, as you say, and it seems to be
4:18
proven with scientific research that like putting your hands in
4:21
soil is really good for you and getting into that kind of
4:24
lifestyle. And, and I think like the issue
4:28
is like we're always on our phones, we're always sitting
4:31
there scrolling, scrolling, scrolling.
4:33
And it's not good for our brains.
4:35
It's not exercising our brains. I mean, I can't say I don't sit
4:39
on the couch at night time and scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll,
4:41
scroll. But if I didn't have a backyard
4:43
with a garden, I'd probably be Yeah, crazy or crazier in some
4:49
people's eyes. So tell me a little bit about
4:52
country like or Country Life. How, how country is it for you?
4:56
You know, are you talking you could throw a stone from one
5:01
side to the other? Or how whereabouts are you?
5:04
I mean, in the Western River Arena in the little small town
5:07
of Hay. So we're about 656 hours to
5:11
Melbourne and about 8 hours to Sydney.
5:13
So kind of yeah, I'd like to say everyone knows everyone, but it
5:20
is a small community, you know, you walk past people.
5:22
You can't go to IGA without seeing, you know, 5 or 6
5:25
different people that you know. But where I grew up, I grew up
5:29
on a farm with just my mom and dad and my brother, and we had,
5:32
you know, family surrounded by us and other farms.
5:35
So I'm very used to this Country Life.
5:39
But the city tried to take me and I met my partner and I,
5:44
yeah, moved back and slotted back into Country Life.
5:48
That's really cool. How do you find growing in that
5:51
environment? What's the environment like and
5:54
what sort of struggles do you have in your part of the world?
5:58
So I'll start off this summer. Summer is my favorite time to
6:02
grow, but I we have really bad fruit fly here and yeah, so it's
6:10
a lot of protection needed for our tomatoes in capsicums and
6:15
stuff like that. Watering wise, I use dripper
6:20
line which saves a lot of water and not spraying everywhere.
6:24
You have any reason? Do you have wicking beds as
6:26
well? I saw.
6:27
No, I don't have wicking. They're just raised gun beds.
6:30
They seem very high. OK, no, they're cool.
6:33
They're corrugated iron sides I saw.
6:35
They look really good. You've got lots of space.
6:37
Yeah, so I'm very thankful for Dripper line because as I said,
6:42
it really helps with, you know, not spraying out the water
6:45
doesn't 'cause, you know, mold and powdery mildew on your
6:49
veggies because the water. And yeah, I do love summer, but
6:54
I also do love winter because Winter Gardens kind of look
6:57
after themselves, really. You're not out there in your
7:00
pajamas at 7:00 at night after a 40° day watering the garden or
7:05
something. And if you miss watering a week
7:09
in winter, it's not going to shrivel up and die, Yeah, like a
7:14
tomato plant would, or chillies or capsicums and things like
7:17
that. So the real struggle I have is
7:20
fruit fly and, yeah, netting. And if I don't net early enough,
7:25
I can kind of just kiss my tomatoes goodbye, really.
7:30
Which is yeah. That's hard.
7:32
It's. And is that a constant battle
7:34
all the time for you every summer?
7:36
Yes, yeah, The first season I was here, I was probably in
7:40
denial that we had a fruit fly. I'm like, no, we don't, we don't
7:44
have them. But I don't know if it's just
7:47
gotten worse or I've noticed it a bit more.
7:50
You know, I'm more into that thing now of pests and diseases
7:54
and things, whereas when I first began, I just thought I could
7:57
put a tomato plant in the ground and it would grow.
8:01
But yeah, fruit fly is horrible and I wish we didn't have them
8:07
because summer would be one of the best seasons ever.
8:12
But yeah, they are terrible, terrible pests.
8:15
That's great. That's awesome.
8:18
In terms of like what you're growing then obviously now we're
8:23
kind of midwinter, right? So what's growing at the moment
8:29
and how do you plan what you grow?
8:30
Is it mostly based around what you eat or what you like to
8:34
preserve and share around that kind?
8:36
Of thing, I plant a lot of like broccoli and cauliflower in
8:40
winter because I absolutely love broccoli.
8:45
Can't say so much for my partner.
8:47
I picked a lot the other day and he's like, well, I suppose we'll
8:49
be having broccoli every night. This way I can go Well yes, but
8:54
I kind of just grow with the seasons.
8:57
When I first started, I probably was a little bit overwhelmed and
9:00
I wanted to grow 1 variety like, you know, 6 several different
9:06
varieties of broccoli and different varieties of
9:08
cauliflower. And I think that does get
9:09
overwhelming because there are so many choices for us to grow
9:13
from seed as backyard gardeners. But now I'm kind of simple.
9:19
I have, you know, the odd orange cauliflower, normal broccoli
9:23
sprouting broccoli. And, you know, my chickens are
9:27
always in the back of my mind, so I always have something in
9:30
there that I can RIP off for them and give them as a little
9:32
treat. But yeah, just following the
9:35
seasons, really. And the patch is usually full of
9:39
capsicums and tomatoes come summer because they're my
9:43
favorite to grow in the warmest seasons.
9:46
Yeah, because then, you know, it's it's one thing to be able
9:49
to grow stuff in the season. So that's great.
9:52
That's exactly what we should be trying to do.
9:54
But then you want to try and grow enough so that when it's
9:57
out of season, you've got this stored somewhere to be able to
10:00
use, Yeah, potentially. Do you do a lot of kind of
10:05
preserving or or keeping things long term or you just literally
10:09
eating what's available and then topping it out maybe with your
10:12
grocery shop or something like that?
10:15
I'd like to say I tried to grow as much for us to eat, but it's
10:19
not possible with thatchers. Not a small patch, but you know,
10:24
a limited patch for you to be able to grow such big veggies
10:27
like broccoli and things like that.
10:29
Of course, preserving wise, blanching, freezing the broccoli
10:33
and cauliflower so you can enjoy.
10:37
But when I do preserve tomatoes, I don't preserve my own because
10:40
I don't grow enough. Yeah, to make it worth my while.
10:44
They don't last. They they're eaten straight away
10:46
in the in the system. Yeah, yeah.
10:48
They don't get inside before they can get into any type of
10:53
jar. So for anything pasta source
10:55
wise, I'm at the Melbourne markets grabbing, you know, big
10:59
thing of tomatoes whenever I visit Melbourne and preserving
11:02
those. Yeah, very nice, Very nice.
11:04
I guess it's kind of, you know, you grow what you enjoy.
11:07
You know what works and what time of year.
11:10
And then every single part of it is chipping away at your grocery
11:14
bill, regardless of how much it is.
11:15
And there's the fun of being able to grow it yourself, you
11:17
know, the nutritional value of it.
11:21
Yeah, went into the whole process of the soil and things
11:23
like that. Let's talk about a little bit
11:26
about your process of growing something.
11:29
And something I'm really big on and talk about at events and
11:32
things is soil health and building soil health over time.
11:36
Because obviously if we have healthy soil, the plants are
11:39
going to be healthy. And then in turn, that goes into
11:43
us as well. So what's your process in terms
11:46
of composting, you know, you're cycle in the garden.
11:51
Are you planting everything from seed?
11:53
Are you, you know, throwing just diverse plants in or are you
11:57
monocropping or all of your different techniques?
12:00
I'd love to hear kind of a little bit about your process
12:02
and what comes to mind with that.
12:03
Yeah, no, Perfect. So composting I can't get my
12:07
head around. I've got a compost Tumblr, but I
12:11
think sometimes because I have the chickens and I've got a worm
12:14
farm, I feel like I'm very limited as to what I can put
12:17
into my compost. But planting wise, I try and
12:24
grow from seed, but not all of us have luck with growing from
12:27
seed. I wanted to grow everything this
12:29
winter from seed, but I think our heat just was too long of a
12:34
period and the seedlings were a bit stunted.
12:37
So I purchased some online and I think when I first started
12:41
gardening that was a big thing. It felt like Instagram was
12:44
telling you you need to grow from seed, you need to be
12:47
growing your own. And I think that's very
12:49
overwhelming for beginner gardeners because you feel like
12:52
you need to do what other people are doing and don't be afraid to
12:58
buy them from, you know, the big green shed or any other nursery
13:02
around you because it's you shouldn't be embarrassed.
13:06
I mean, I had to buy seedlings this winter and they're probably
13:10
some of the best veggies that I've had like had in the patch.
13:14
I do try and grow most of my tomatoes from seed because I
13:17
like the different varieties you can get.
13:21
But yes, going back to composting, it's something I
13:24
can't get my head around. I've got a worm farm and that's
13:29
kind of where I go with that. But with my soil, I think
13:35
speaking from being a country girl and not having, you know,
13:39
landscaping around or, you know, a soil place that you can go get
13:43
fresh stuff all the time, it is very hard sometimes to add what
13:48
you need into the soil. So when I first started with my
13:53
raised bed beds, now we travelled, I think it's like an
13:57
hour and 21 way to get a bulker bag, which is a ton of mushroom
14:02
compost. And then we just added in some
14:05
loam, let it rest. And then that was, yeah, really
14:09
good soil. But then I just kind of added on
14:12
from there. So like sheep manure, cow
14:14
manure, use pellet fertilizer. So then I add in also who flung
14:21
dung. So during winter I get a lot of
14:25
snails and slugs, which I find is really hard when you have
14:29
brassicas because brassicas and kale and bok choy are their
14:33
favorite thing. So I've gone for who flung dung
14:37
now, especially for winter. So I'm finding that because it
14:40
holds so much moisture, like sugar cane or anything like
14:44
that, it's literally a haven for anything that's slimy that wants
14:50
to eat. So I've moved on to flung Dong
14:56
and then I make sure that I just fertilize every two weeks.
15:00
I use Charlie carp fertilizer. They're actually local to us, so
15:03
they use the carp out of the rivers and make it into a
15:07
fertilizer. I've watched the process and
15:09
it's actually amazing how they do it.
15:13
But yeah, I think for country people it is sometimes hard.
15:17
You know, we're limited. Not everyone has access to a Ute
15:20
in a trailer to go and get something.
15:22
So I think adding in what you can, pH testing is a big thing
15:27
as well, and just adding what you can get your hands on into
15:32
the garden to make it the best. But yeah, that's my probably
15:36
tips for the beds. I love it.
15:38
I love it. And I guess raised beds often
15:42
much better because we're kind of generating all of this
15:44
topsoil above the ground, especially if the ground is
15:49
difficult to grow in. Do you do you find that where
15:53
you are there's a problem with the soil in general?
15:57
Like can you grow anything directly in the ground or is it
16:00
much better once you've raised it up with that topsoil?
16:03
So when I first moved here I had no idea.
16:07
Like, I knew what clay soil was, but I never knew how to fix it.
16:11
So I was trying to plant cauliflowers and broccolis in,
16:15
you know, hard clumps of clay, and you would wet it and it
16:18
would get water log because it wouldn't soak in.
16:21
So I've kind of pushed that to the side.
16:24
And, you know, please, Curt, make a Yeah, at least some
16:27
garden beds. And funny story, we went away
16:31
one year for Easter, and the side of the veggie patch
16:34
actually popped off. But it was amazing to see
16:37
because you could see the layers and weren't, like, where the
16:40
worms had been. So, you know, you could kind of
16:43
see the activity underneath all of those layers.
16:48
But yeah, I just think our soil is terrible.
16:53
It's very yeah, clay. It's just very, very hard.
16:57
And, you know, even planting normal plants, I've only, not
17:00
recently, maybe in the last three or four months, actually
17:02
got to the soil where it should be.
17:05
But yeah, Clay is our enemy here in town.
17:10
Well, I can relate to that too. We've got a lot of clay around
17:12
where we are too, and it makes just life difficult.
17:16
You got to do a lot of work to kind of bring the soil to where
17:18
it needs to be. But raised beds is an Absolutely
17:21
Fabulous option. Yeah.
17:24
What about your routine gardening?
17:26
How do you fit it in? Because you, you grow so much
17:29
really for, for somebody that I guess, you know, everyday person
17:35
that tries to fit it around their normal job or something
17:37
like this, It's, it's difficult. It's, it's hard to tend to these
17:41
veggies and everything all the time.
17:43
So how do you, how do you fit that in?
17:45
How? How regimented out are you with
17:48
it? I suppose you're saving time
17:49
with the drip irrigation and things, but how do you do it?
17:54
I'm probably very blessed that I work from home.
17:57
And so, you know, before work, I'm out in the garden if it's,
18:02
you know, letting the trucks out, just having a wander
18:04
through. And then, you know, when I do
18:07
take my breaks, I'm straight out the back.
18:09
Do, you know, to do little things?
18:10
And I guess it's very easy. There's no commute to and from
18:14
work. I literally walk from the back
18:16
door into the office, log on and I'm online.
18:21
So obviously it's different from everybody, but if you don't not
18:27
able to have that type of schedule, I'd say to them just
18:31
grow what you want to eat. I think, you know, a lot of
18:35
people they want to grow, you know, hundreds of different
18:38
things because there's so much that us backyard gardeners can
18:42
grow. But I think just stick what you
18:45
like to eat and regularly eat. So like, for example, broccoli
18:49
sprouting broccoli would be a great option for someone that's,
18:52
you know, only got a small space because it is so forgiving and
18:56
gives you so much, much in return.
18:59
But yeah, I'm very lucky that I get to work from home.
19:03
And, you know, when I do get a 5 or 10 minute break, I'm out the
19:06
back. But yes, not everyone is like
19:09
that. Yeah.
19:12
Yeah, it's, it's amazing to see like just fitting it in wherever
19:16
you can. And you're right, because
19:18
everybody has these grand ideas of like, oh, I can grow this and
19:22
I can grow that and oh, delicious and that.
19:24
And reality is it's so much work to try and maintain all of these
19:29
different things. So it's like, just start by
19:31
growing something really well away at the old grocery bill and
19:35
then you'll get better and see what you can manage with your
19:38
time, right? Yeah, exactly.
19:40
And something else you do with your time is make sourdough, is
19:45
that right? Yes, yes, sourdough is my other
19:48
passion. I actually got a loaf now
19:51
proofing. But yeah, sourdough, I think
19:56
people think it's a long. It's another thing that's not a
19:59
long process. So I kind of wrote it down when
20:01
I was thinking of things that we might talk about.
20:04
Yeah, it really doesn't take that long.
20:06
Overall, the process is long. It's about 24 hours.
20:11
But the time that you're actually doing something with
20:14
your hands is, I would say probably less than an hour, hour
20:18
and a half out of that whole 24 hours because you're really
20:21
mixing. And then you're doing like your
20:23
stretch and folds, which create the gluten.
20:25
And that's probably like half an hour in total and then half an
20:29
hour extra for the additional things.
20:32
I think when I first started, I was absolutely scared because I,
20:37
you know, the Internet made me think, Oh, my God, I have to sit
20:41
with this loaf of bread for 24 hours and watch it, you know,
20:46
rise and make sure the starter doesn't, you know, not double
20:49
and things. And a few people have like, you
20:53
know, reached out. What's your method?
20:55
How do you do this? And it kind of makes your heart,
20:58
you know, warm and bubbly because, you know, people have
21:01
gone outside their comfort zones.
21:02
And then people message you go, oh, my God, I made my own
21:05
startup following your steps. And yeah, you kind of just
21:08
internally, like, cheer for them because you know how hard it is.
21:13
Like, my neighbor actually gifted me some starter and then
21:17
I dropped it. So then I had to make my own
21:21
after maybe a year and a half of having her starter.
21:24
And it kind of took me back thinking I was actually, you
21:28
know, handed this on a platter on how to do a sourdough.
21:31
And now I've kind of taken 10 steps back because I need to
21:35
make my own starter. But yeah, sourdough is another
21:40
thing, I guess, which is great for your brain because you are.
21:45
People say it's not relaxing and I do get why it wouldn't be
21:50
relaxing. But I think over time when you
21:52
learn, it's just another thing that you can do with your hands,
21:55
that you're not scrolling, you know, on your phone and you're,
21:59
you know, thinking and you're needing to check it all the time
22:01
to make sure it doesn't over proof and things like that.
22:04
So I'm also, yeah, very grateful to have that other side of my
22:09
hobby in my life. Yeah, it's really cool.
22:11
And like I have seen some of your loaves.
22:14
They're like properly amazing. And you make I'm like, oh, Yum.
22:19
It's just like a fresh slice of sourdough.
22:21
It's, you know, like eggs or avocados or something.
22:24
Yum. But that's the thing, it doesn't
22:25
stop with one slice. Yeah, true, exactly right.
22:29
How often are you making it? And yeah, how often do you do
22:32
you set aside loaves and what's your routine?
22:35
Try and ate them usually on a weekend because baking probably
22:39
is what takes the longest. But yeah, whenever I feel like,
22:44
you know, feeding the starter and whacking in a loaf into the
22:47
oven or, you know, I have friends messaging, oh, do you?
22:49
Are you making sourdough this weekend?
22:53
And I'm like, sure, it means I don't have to eat all the carbs.
22:56
The carbs get made by me and then hand it off to someone
22:59
else. So.
23:00
Yeah, and it feels nice being able to share that with other
23:02
people I imagine too. Yeah, it is.
23:04
It's very, it's rewarding. It's kind of, yeah, warm and
23:08
bubbly feeling when, you know, it's that 24 hour process and
23:12
then someone at the end goes, that's actually the best bread.
23:15
Yeah. Thank you so much.
23:17
Exactly. And Andy, I guess also Saludo
23:20
has that with sharing the starter like you mentioned, like
23:23
passing it over from your neighbor.
23:25
Yeah. I've heard of these stories and
23:28
I've spoken about Saludo before briefly in previous episode, but
23:33
like I, I think about starters that have been around for so
23:36
long and they're kind of passed on for generations and all these
23:39
type of things. For me, I'm very creative type
23:42
of person. I'd love to, I'd love to create
23:45
things. So I guess having something like
23:47
that where you you've created your own starter and then you
23:51
can share that and see it spread throughout the world or wherever
23:54
it may be, that's a really cool thing.
23:57
Yeah, I am. I've dried it before and sent it
24:00
off. So I did a giveaway not long
24:01
ago, and I sent it off to a lady and, you know, and she had
24:05
messages like, I've been up all night researching how to do this
24:08
and like, you know, and then she sends a photo of her loaf that
24:12
she's made with my starter. Oh, my God, look at this.
24:15
And you think, oh, it's so nice to see.
24:18
And it's very. Yeah, rewarding.
24:20
That's beautiful. And talk to me about how do you
24:23
start a starter? Like what is the process of
24:26
making your own if you had to kind of really whack it down in
24:30
a short version? Literally flour and water easy.
24:34
That's you remember clag glue from school?
24:37
Yeah, yeah, it kind of starts to smell like that.
24:40
So it takes depending right now because it's kind of cold here.
24:46
A startup could take maybe two weeks, 3 weeks to make.
24:50
So the first day you kind of just literally mix flour and
24:53
water together and the next day you get rid of half of that and
24:56
you give more flour and water and eventually it ferments.
25:00
So it's kind of like the bee fermentation way.
25:05
And then you start to see a bubble.
25:07
And then maybe after a week or five days, I did mine when it
25:11
was a bit warmer the season, so it kind of doubled a lot
25:15
quicker. And you know, people message,
25:16
it's not working. I'm like, please don't give up,
25:18
Just keep going. All your room.
25:20
All you're wasting at the end of the day is a little bit of water
25:23
and some flour. Please just keep going.
25:26
And then eventually it'll go so you have a jar and it'll double
25:30
in size, and once it starts doubling, you've got wild
25:34
fermented kind of yeast that you can start making your sourdoughs
25:39
with. Because that's, that is the
25:40
benefit of it as well for our health is the fact that it's
25:43
fermented and it's like seems to be easier to digest.
25:47
Is that right? Yeah, I've, I personally don't
25:51
know this, but I've read that people with like gluten
25:53
intolerances and things like that can sometimes handle, you
25:57
know, sourdough that's homemade because of the fermentation.
26:02
I don't know if that's true, so don't hold me to that.
26:04
Anyone with gluten intolerance. But yeah, I find bloating people
26:10
say they don't get us bloated with sourdough because of the
26:14
fermentation. And I guess, you know, when you
26:17
go to the, you know, the big shops, Coles, Woolies, oh, we've
26:20
got 48 hour baked sourdough. Read the ingredients because I
26:25
can guarantee you it's not, you know, homemade sourdough,
26:31
literally homemade sourdough only has water, flour, salt, and
26:35
that's it. That's all it is.
26:37
And if you go to the big shops and rate it, they'll be
26:40
additives in there, preservatives to make it fresh.
26:44
And that's what a lot of people say.
26:45
Why does the sourdough dry out? You know, after a week or two
26:48
and you're like, well, it's literally just flour, water and
26:51
salt. Yeah.
26:52
And you need to eat it faster. Yeah, you do.
26:56
And the ones that will last forever have been, you know,
26:59
tampered with. As you say, you got to read
27:01
these ingredients and I was talking to, well, Bianca, she's
27:07
the herbal chemist on Instagram. She's now over in Italy and we
27:11
were talking a little bit about gluten.
27:13
She's she works a lot with that type of thing.
27:16
And the difference between eating the breads and the pastas
27:21
and things in Italy and in Europe and the natural homemade
27:25
style and way of doing it versus the mainstream sort of shops and
27:29
and supermarkets and things. So I find that, yeah, there's
27:34
additives in these things that make us feel worse or bloated or
27:37
heavier or whatever it is. And then as soon as you switch
27:40
to homemade things, it's it's just so much better.
27:44
Have you, have you ever eaten overseas?
27:48
Have you ever been overseas to Europe or anything?
27:50
No, no, only Australia. I haven't ventured.
27:53
That's OK, you can import these things as well.
27:55
They get some of these in and I've tried like a few Italian
28:00
import pasta or something. Yeah, versus like something you
28:04
buy here. And I think there's something,
28:06
there's something different that they do to the the wheat or
28:08
whatever it is. But yeah, another example of why
28:12
homegrown is best, right? Yes, yes.
28:15
Everything just tastes so much better if it's homegrown,
28:18
homemade, anything like that. Like that's why I love growing
28:21
tomatoes because a tomato from your own veggie patch is so much
28:27
better than some cardboard tomato that you buy from the
28:31
supermarket. And I understand why it does
28:33
taste like that. They've got to feed the whole of
28:35
Australia with all their tomato plants.
28:38
And obviously that tomato disease is in now as well, which
28:41
is just going to make it so much harder for us, which you can
28:44
grow tomatoes in containers. You don't need big, big
28:49
backyards to grow delicious tomatoes.
28:53
But yeah, homemade, homegrown, it doesn't matter what it is, it
28:57
tastes so much better. Yeah, so much better.
29:00
And it goes like without saying that, you know, when we were
29:04
talking before about how you feel like you want to just grow
29:07
everything and you just feel like, OK, I need to grow this
29:10
and this and this because we eat all of that.
29:12
That's where community comes in. So it's I can grow tomatoes and
29:16
you might be able to grow zucchinis and then this person
29:20
can grow cucumbers and you're sharing and there's a Sundance
29:24
galore. So then maybe we don't need the
29:27
supermarkets, but you do have to feed everybody.
29:30
And this is a big question that's going around a big topic
29:33
that everyone's trying to figure out.
29:34
How do we do it better? How do we do it with more
29:36
regenerative approaches and things like that?
29:40
Just going back a little bit again to your sourdough.
29:44
We're talking about home baked things and how much better that
29:48
is. You also make a lot of other
29:49
things, don't you? I've seen some focaccias that
29:51
look delicious and baking something that you just love to
29:55
do and it's is it always been something that you've done or
29:58
it's a new thing? My mom was a big bite out and
30:03
she still is. Like she loves, you know, she's
30:05
always, oh, I'm making this cake or, you know, oh, I got the
30:08
Coles magazine at the checkout today.
30:10
I'm going to try and make this. So yeah, my mom is a very good
30:14
cook and I think I get it from her.
30:17
She hasn't picked up the whole sourdough thing yet.
30:19
I think it's just a treat for her.
30:21
When she does see me and my brother as well, he's always
30:25
like, oh, are you making English muffins?
30:28
And if I don't make something, I'm in trouble.
30:30
Well, where's the sourdough? You said you didn't want
30:32
anything, but yeah, mum is a very good cook.
30:37
My nan was as well. Unfortunately she's passed away
30:39
now, but she was a very good cook as well.
30:44
But yeah, I think I get my baking from my mum.
30:47
As I said, yeah, cakes, slices, everything, even you.
30:52
Know looks delicious. But yeah, sourdough you can.
30:56
Literally, if you've got a sourdough starter, you can make
30:59
anything sourdough crackers, English muffins, focaccias, wow,
31:05
literally anything that you have yeast you can use a sourdough
31:09
starter in. It's just a longer kind of
31:12
process for that sour taste to come into things.
31:17
OK. And have you experimented with
31:19
the difference in this 18 hour, 24 hour, 48 hour style of?
31:26
No, just. What's the difference?
31:29
So the longer that you leave it in the fridge to sleep
31:32
overnight, so the cold proofing, the longer it'll have like the
31:37
sour taste because you're leaving it in the fridge for
31:42
longer and it's like slowly fermenting still in the fridge.
31:46
But my process that I do is pretty much from beginning to
31:50
end is about 2425 hours. Wow, OK, cool.
31:55
From. The time that you feed it to the
31:57
time that you pull it out of the oven.
31:59
Wow, that's not too bad at all. And like, are you making just
32:02
just one or two loaves? Are you making heaps of loaves
32:05
every weekend? Usually 3 or 4 is probably by
32:09
Max. That's otherwise I get it.
32:13
Otherwise I start to get a little bit overwhelmed and
32:15
think, Oh my God, what am I doing?
32:17
And there's just flour everywhere.
32:20
And you know, I'm like, get out of the kitchen.
32:23
Yeah, look. I just want to look it up.
32:25
I'm like get out. Yeah, yeah, this is going on.
32:27
It's all going on and different flavours, different flavours as
32:31
well. You try and sort of add
32:32
different things in. Is that something you do?
32:34
Yeah, so inclusions. So brown sugar and cinnamon is
32:39
delicious. It's like a hug in a sourdough
32:43
loaf. It's very good.
32:45
Probably not good for your waistline, but good for the
32:49
taste buds. We've done cheese, what else?
32:54
Blueberry and lemon. I don't have blueberry and lemon
32:57
for kasha. That was that was very nice.
33:02
One of my friends have got 2 little kids and they absolutely
33:05
love the sourdough so they're my Guinea pigs sometimes when I
33:10
make new things. What's the amount?
33:13
Yeah, because children are the ones that are going to give us
33:17
honest opinions. They are, aren't they?
33:21
And I've done like a garlic bread type of focaccia thing as
33:25
well, which was really nice. Everyone loves garlic bread.
33:28
You can't. You can't.
33:29
Yeah, no, you can't go wrong. Yeah, you can't go wrong.
33:33
Tell me about Farina Underground Bakery that you visited.
33:37
Where is it? And tell me about the story,
33:39
because that seems like a really cool place.
33:42
It's in the middle of nowhere, so it's about I'm very bad with
33:52
locations and things. But for us to get there, it was
33:54
about 12 hours into SA. It's you've kind of got lake air
34:01
and then you've got Mari and then it's just below Mari.
34:05
So they opened up don't hold me to this because the information
34:09
kind of went in here. And then I saw the pies, the
34:11
pies and pastries and I thought, get me, get me to them now.
34:16
But they reopened, I think about 10 years ago.
34:19
So the underground, there's literally nothing else there
34:21
than a bakery. And you know, this place that
34:25
they've opened to sell everything in, but they're doing
34:29
up the town. I think at the moment they're
34:31
doing up the old police station. It's like the beautiful old
34:35
rocks of the buildings. But yeah, it's you go down the
34:40
steps and it's literally a hole with a door on the wall.
34:43
And they've got all the bread baking and you jump out of the
34:46
car and you're instantly hit with this delicious bread.
34:50
And you go inside and they've got everything from finger buns
34:53
to cook, which obviously they don't all cook in the
34:57
underground part. Yeah, but it's all volunteer
35:00
based. So everyone does their own
35:02
little job. And, you know, I asked one
35:05
person, how did you find to do this?
35:08
And they were like, Oh, well, we came camping six years ago.
35:12
We met these people. And ever since, this has been
35:14
our holiday with them. We've come back and volunteered
35:17
for a week or two. And, you know, you're watching
35:19
like we're watching through the window.
35:20
And everyone has their own little job.
35:22
If it's cutting the sponge to make leamingtons, you know,
35:26
people are making gravy for the pies.
35:30
Someone said to me, jeez, it's a long way to go for a pie and a
35:33
coffee. And I'll go yes, but it's one of
35:37
the best pies that I've ever had.
35:40
Like if anyone ever goes please get a custard tart.
35:43
Yeah, okay, I think I saw a photo of that one.
35:45
It looked. Yeah, so they've got yeah,
35:47
everything. Finger buns, cookies, pies,
35:51
pastries, sausage rolls you can get.
35:54
I think every day they might have a different like, selection
35:57
of the sweets, but when we went there, they had like, custard
36:00
tarts and leamingtons and hedgehog slice.
36:04
And yeah, it's just crazy to think that in the middle of
36:08
literally nowhere there's this underground bakery.
36:11
So it's only open two months of the year because anytime before
36:15
or after that, it's too hot for the Baker.
36:17
But. It looks like it's in the middle
36:18
of the desert. Pretty.
36:19
Much. Well, it pretty much is.
36:21
It's like you're driving along and it's like Mars, like there's
36:23
just red dirt, nothing there. But yeah, it's amazing to see
36:30
that there's something like that in the middle of nowhere where
36:34
people have going and driving crazy like we were 12 hours to,
36:40
you know, see an underground bakery and hear about, you know,
36:44
the head Baker. And of course I was like, can I
36:47
show you my bread? But he said so many people go
36:51
there and I was like, do you do sourdough?
36:53
And he said it's just too hard for us because it's such a long
36:56
process. It's just so hard for them to do
37:01
that. But the.
37:02
Fair enough. Everything was delicious, so if
37:05
anyone wants to go to Farina Bakery, I think they're gonna
37:08
open up their dates for next year shortly.
37:10
I've seen online SO. Very cool.
37:12
Did you find out about them online?
37:14
Is that kind of something you had pinned for your trip?
37:18
So the main reason for the trip in my eyes was for the bakery.
37:23
In Kurt's eyes, it was for to see like air because it's
37:27
starting to fill up. Yeah.
37:29
But yeah, that was our main two attractions that we really
37:33
wanted to see was the bakery and like.
37:36
That's that's really cool. I like I really like that.
37:40
Let's make a little, I guess, side pivot.
37:45
When I came across your Instagram, I was like, it was
37:48
really nice to see country plant lady.
37:51
I love that. Like I love the name.
37:52
I love the whole style of everything that you put out
37:55
there. Obviously, you started this when
37:57
you moved to the country and decided to start this Instagram.
38:02
What's, what was your thought process in wanting to put it out
38:06
there? Because I know that there might
38:09
be a lot of people that struggle with putting content out there,
38:12
especially if they're struggling with things like anxiety,
38:14
depression and, and whatever you feel like.
38:17
OK, if I put myself out there, what are people going to say or
38:21
are they going to judge my vegetables compared to all of
38:24
the other ones on Instagram? What was that?
38:27
What was that like for you and why did you start making the
38:30
content? It's very daunting and I think
38:34
anyone that started to make content in any aspect of
38:37
whatever you're doing it for, it's so daunting.
38:40
I remember when I first got like 10 likes and on my posts and I
38:45
thought Oh my God, this is amazing. 10 people have looked
38:48
at my crappy looking fiddle leaf that's leaves are falling.
38:52
Yeah, you're right. But if you had 10 people in a
38:54
room looking at your fiddle leaf, yeah, it's like that's a
38:57
lot of people there standing that you're pitching to.
38:59
So yeah, it's not a small thing. No.
39:02
And I think my thing would be just to post it like you don't
39:08
know these people really. Like you'd think about when you
39:12
think about it like that, you know, you get 200 likes and
39:14
that's 200 people in the room and you think, crap, that is a
39:17
lot of people, but you don't really know these people at the
39:21
end of the day. And you can make connections
39:25
with people. I've made so many great friends
39:29
online. We went on a holiday once to
39:32
Mildura and I met up with someone off Instagram and we had
39:35
garden tour and everything. So it's you just never know
39:39
where it's going to take you. And that one post that you post
39:43
now, you don't know where it could take you in a year or two.
39:47
Like nowhere in the world would I think I would have any
39:50
collaborations with brands. I just thought, you know, little
39:56
Mariah and Hay just wants to share her broccoli or
40:00
cauliflowers and things like that.
40:03
But content creating can be very daunting because I think you sit
40:06
there and you look at other people's gardens.
40:09
And you think mine doesn't look like that?
40:12
But, you know, people don't look the same.
40:14
Gardens don't look the same. And I don't.
40:16
Yeah. Nothing is meant to look the
40:19
same. And who cares if your seedlings
40:21
are still this big compared to someone that's harvesting?
40:25
Like, if you're just starting, it's all a learning curve.
40:28
Like, you know, I remember when I first started, my cabbages
40:33
went to flower because I didn't know when to harvest a cabbage.
40:38
Like, you know, you kind of know when to harvest a broccoli or a
40:41
cauliflower, but cabbage, I was like, I don't know, I don't know
40:44
this. And you know, you go out one day
40:46
and it's opened up and it started to flower.
40:48
And you think, well, that was a waste of time, but it's kind of
40:51
a learning for you next season. But just post the content.
40:56
I would say I don't call myself a content creator.
41:01
I just, yeah, I'm just a little person on Instagram in a
41:05
wonderful garden community because as you know yourself,
41:09
there are so many people. And I think I just thought, you
41:12
know, this is the community that we all have as a gardening
41:15
community. Like, you know, I've met Costa,
41:19
which I made was amazing, you know, like to me Costa is like,
41:24
you know. He's incredible, eh?
41:26
Yeah, he is. And now I'm lining up to make
41:30
him. And Kurt's like, oh, like, it's
41:32
just amazing. Like it's just meeting people.
41:36
And, you know, I'm actually going to a open garden day in
41:40
October in Warwick. So just to get like, you know,
41:45
little things like that, opportunities and you just never
41:49
know where it's actually going to take you.
41:53
Everything's just your world's your oyster.
41:55
When you post on Instagram, you just never know.
41:59
But, you know, you make friends. There might be online friends.
42:02
They're Internet friends. They're, you know, garden freaks
42:06
like all of us. But it's what all connects us
42:10
together, I think. And yeah, you just don't know
42:14
where it's going to take you. Very true.
42:17
And yes, I can relate to that. Like you, like you said,
42:22
somebody like Costa brings so much life energy to every
42:26
situation, every person he meets and it's so inspiring.
42:29
And but just from that decision to share turns into all of these
42:35
opportunities like you're sharing what you're passionate
42:38
about. And that's what really shone
42:40
through for me and why I wanted to kind of get your own,
42:42
highlight what you're doing and hear about your stories because
42:46
it's authentic. It's just sharing you and, and
42:49
your journey. And like, it doesn't have to be
42:53
like everybody else. And it doesn't really matter
42:56
what anybody else thinks. And yes, it is Internet friends,
43:00
but they can turn into real friends.
43:01
Like I met a lot of people in real life at the festival that I
43:06
hadn't met before and or I've just been communicating with
43:08
online. And then these people can be
43:11
your people and your community. Yeah, it was.
43:14
We went to the Flower Show in Melbourne and, you know, I met
43:20
up with one person and they were like, oh, there's these other
43:22
Instagram people. And now we've got a group shot
43:24
of, you know, like it might have been like 8 or nine of us.
43:28
And you're like, well, you know, six hours ago I wouldn't have
43:30
had a collective. I walk past you in the street.
43:33
I probably wouldn't have had a clue who you were.
43:37
But it's just an amazing connection that you create and
43:41
it kind of gives you purpose because you're like, well, I do
43:43
have friends on this platform, you know, and it's not, you may
43:47
not know them. It might be just the odd, you
43:49
know, reaction on your story, a little love heart, you know, oh,
43:52
great work or this and that. But at the end of the day, it
43:56
kind of, yeah, makes you warm and fuzzy and happy that you're
44:00
just posting. And really, at the end of the
44:02
day, you're posting for yourself.
44:04
Not well for what other people think of your content or
44:08
anything I guess. Yeah, exactly right.
44:11
Do you have any sort of direction that you're hoping to
44:15
take what you're doing, or are you just going to continue like
44:19
doing a really good job of growing veggies and posting your
44:22
sourdough? I don't know, I kind of thinking
44:27
that this warrant open day and I'm, I guess.
44:30
Speaker never in the million years, but I think I could get
44:35
up there and, you know, I was like, what do I actually talk
44:38
about? Like, I feel like.
44:41
And I think that's where like the self doubt comes back to us.
44:44
Like, we're not interesting, but everyone that's going to an open
44:48
garden obviously likes gardening, no matter if it's,
44:51
you know, flowers, veggies, indoor plants, you know,
44:55
everyone's got something in common.
44:58
See, I don't know where my Instagram page will take me.
45:02
Yeah, who knows, But. You're doing the right thing,
45:05
you're getting involved. And that, like, like you said,
45:08
speaking is just one of those other things where you've got to
45:11
a point of sharing what you do that someone's like, hey, do you
45:14
want to come and speak at this event?
45:17
And it can be daunting standing up there in front of people,
45:20
feeling like an impostor. You kind of yeah, why me?
45:24
But like a really good piece of advice that I was told is that
45:28
your your way of saying things is unique to you, obviously.
45:36
And people will resonate with you saying the exact same
45:39
information that somebody else has said.
45:41
But just the way you say it or your story or the way that they
45:45
connect with you that resonates and lands better with them.
45:48
So. Yeah.
45:50
We're all aiming at the same thing.
45:52
We're all trying to express our love for gardening and getting
45:56
our hands in the soil. So I feel like the gardening
46:00
community collapse a lot for everybody trying to talk about
46:03
that. There's not much combat going,
46:05
oh, hey, that's wrong. You said that, you know, it's
46:09
more just like, look, there's so many ways to do this, and we're
46:11
all just happy that everyone's doing it.
46:13
Yeah, exactly. And I think we do.
46:15
Everyone says different things, do different things, but at the
46:19
end of the day, we're just gardeners really.
46:22
And we're just trying to, you know, show what we do in our own
46:26
backyard to hopefully help someone else with their
46:30
gardening. And there we have it, ladies and
46:48
gentlemen, thank you so much to Mariah for taking her time out
46:52
to share her story with us and to go into all the things that
46:55
she loves to do. Her authenticity is something,
46:58
as we spoke about, that shines through on her page.
47:01
And I think it's something really inspiring for other
47:04
creators like myself to really kind of go and lean into what we
47:09
love to do and not be afraid of posting and sharing what we're
47:13
doing. Because it is true, there are so
47:15
many people out there and there's so many amazing looking
47:17
gardens, but we can still go out there and post our thing and
47:21
still feel good and be supported by our fellow gardening
47:24
community. Now please go and check out
47:27
Mariah's links. I've linked 2 links in the
47:30
description for you. One is the link to her Instagram
47:33
and the second one is her link to the fair that she is speaking
47:37
at really soon in Warren. So go and check out those links.
47:40
And if you're near Warren and you want to go and check out her
47:42
speaking, please go and check out the link.
47:46
Do me a favor as well. And if you enjoyed this show,
47:48
please let me know in the comments section if there's
47:51
something that you took away, if there's something that you wish
47:53
to share or add to, we want to hear from you.
47:56
Both me and Mariah are keen to hear your feedback on the
47:59
episode as well. Leave a review.
48:01
It really helps other people find the episode.
48:04
As always, I'm so appreciative of your time taking the time to
48:08
listen to this podcast and listen to me ramble on and chat,
48:11
pick people's brains and dive into all these wonderful guests.
48:15
But I really, truly do appreciate it and I'm I'm so
48:18
grateful to be able to do what I do.
48:20
So we'll see you next week. Take care, Get out there in the
48:23
garden, enjoy the sunshine. Hopefully it's sun shining for
48:25
you this week. But get out there, go and enjoy
48:28
yourselves. And we'll see you again very
48:30
soon on the next episode. Bye for now.