Ep 11 Kirsten Bradley of Milkwood with big ideas in bite sized morsels

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

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

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

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

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

SHOW NOTES

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

LINKS YOU'LL LOVE

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

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