Transcript:
Regen Ray: Hello. Soil, lovers. Welcome to another episode of The Secrets of the Soil. I’m your host region, right? And today we’re going to get our hands dirty and dig deeper into community gardens with our favorite friend, Sue Bradley. How are you going? Sue?
Sue: Well, hi Ray , Hi soil lovers. This is so great to be on today. Thanks for inviting me to come on. I love what you’re doing. All about soil. And you’ve got a common friend in me because I love soil too. We all soil
Regen Ray: lovers making amazing content, and I love what you do with all your projects. And so share with farming secrets and the soil lovers. What n8lygood is all about and a little bit about yourself and why you’re a soil lover?
Sue: Well, we all n8lygood spin around. Oh for good. All right. And five-plus years now, I had a little bit of a break over the last few years because of other projects, but it’s something that’s dear to my heart because n8lygood started once I started having children and the way we live, we live very fresh with food and knowing where our food comes from and health and witnessing some health issues with my children and how I overcame them. I want to share that with other people as well. So that’s how n8lygood was born. So I do workshops and I’m all about connecting with people on a personal level rather than doing online content, which I know you’re very good at, right? And I’m I am. I’m very much more in. I like working with people one on one or in small groups in person. So that’s what I did. I invited people into my home or indeed workshops out of their home and basically showed people how to to to get back to cooking in the kitchen. And you know, for me, it was such a common thing that I thought, Well, everyone knows how to cook in the kitchen and prepare food that’s healthy for our body. But then I soon came to know all that not actually as common as I thought. And I mean, eating around a dinner table is your family and friends is something we don’t really put a lot of value on these days. And this and then the soil journey came a bit later after n8lygood because, through that, I started studying nutrition with Cindy O’Meara and the Nutrition, the Functional Nutrition Academy, and found an incredible tribe, a tribe, a community that were like me. And so they gave me a lot of strength. And yeah, just the passion to continue that on. Yeah, and it’s just continued on I love sharing recipes recipes and little videos of how to do things. Just having fun really is just having fun.
Regen Ray: That’s it. That’s the best we could do. And I remember when we were on our summit a few years ago now and you came on and did all the kids activities, and that was a bundle of joy to see kids, you know, going in the garden and counting bugs and finding rocks and then getting in the kitchen and pickling cucumbers and carrots and everything. It was a lot of fun, and I think that is really something that’s missing these days is that fun element to education. It’s all textbook and, you know, passing the exam, but where’s the fun side of it? And I and I love the projects that you’re working with, even with the community garden, and I want to go really deep into that, that community garden. And how did you get? You know, I love the fact that health while being led you down the path of nutrition, and that’s very similar to myself and then my mind-blowing and going, what? It all starts with the soil. We need to talk about soil, you know? So I love that you’ve caught that same flame, and we’ve definitely kicked it off very easily when we first started chatting because there was a lot of Oh, me too. And I think the same. So what led you to the community garden side of things?
Sue: Oh, well, I suppose, as you said, it’s been a journey and I’ve loved. I think life is a journey and you’ve really got to celebrate those moments in your past that led you to now and then also thinking your future self as well, because we’re all one person. So getting to a community garden has been a really fun journey. And I suppose funny enough, it actually was born in the first COVID kind of time because I was working on a project that was a little bit more national before then, and I wanted to do something a bit more localized in my own community because I’m very much about local food economy, food, citizenship, connections because that’s where building a healthy community then goes out beyond your own community. So with a community garden, my dream was to bring people together on ground on country where you can grow food, you meet people, you’re in outside your in soil and then you can have. Is that food and eat it together, and then you’re you there that way? Good was that end of sharing food and knowing how to cook it traditional ways. So Community Garden was encompassing everything that I love, and it was a bit of a thing I wanted to say here on the Central Coast. Even though there are so many other community gardens here on the Central Coast, which was funny that I was never really a member of my own local one, but before a swamp was born, I’d go and talk to some of the local members there and just check in with their knowledge and and ask them, How could I go about it? And they were so supportive. And it was just talking to local farmers, just really tapping in and saying, Is there a space for this? Where can I have a community garden? So it was really , just reaching out to the community and finding out whether it’s something that they wanted or was there any way that I could do this? So council, I spoke to council. I do courses in council. I did a social enterprise program, which was fantastic. I think that was one of the best things I did. So even looking to your own councils because they do have fantastic programs to help community, because they are reliant on community doing things in a positive way. So through that program,I met other entrepreneurs that were doing social enterprise programs and the tools then to to get a piece. My my dream. My idea. And then someone a couple of people pointed to an area which is the Central Coast wetlands, and I went out and I had a look and it was basically this is it. So I just knew this is where the community is going to live. And I just approached the board and pitched it to them and put a call out to community friends on Facebook, which social media and got a great response. It was it blew my mind because my scenes on social media, hey, you know, like at a five or so people, I got so many that I had to write an Excel sheet just to keep all their names so I could contact everyone. And weeks let you know that seven of us came together and we’re still together. We’re the board of our non-profit and we, yeah, that’s yeah, it’s just reaching out community. That’s if you’re working in community, you need to work together.
Regen Ray: Yeah, I love that. And the resilience, I guess, to stick at it because I’m also in a community garden working group and getting access to land is a lot more difficult than what you might think. And you think, Oh, every cancels, just going to say yes, lost this park up or put it over here. But there’s so many elements that you need to think about. What are some tips you can share with someone? And I think you’ve already shared one about like building a working group of community driven team. But is there anything else that kind of can help people activate themselves to not give up at that land-seeking point? Because I know in the working group that I’m at, it’s very easy to go. We’re just not going to find land like this is too hard. What pushes, you know, first?
Sue: I’m a determined person and want to believe in something, but it’s also going to work easy. There’s a lot of things that you’re coming up against. Don’t feel right or it’s not flying well, then you go, OK, I don’t think that’s the right way to shoot. But for me, it’s just really connecting to people that know how to do stuff. So like my family and friends, I talk to them. Also through their social enterprise program, I was connected to the business center and they had been phenomenal in knowing because I don’t know, I had learned so much about insurance, about contracts on land, Crown Land Council, which is what you can do, but it’s just talking to people that do this kind of stuff. So the business center that’s in Newcastle, New South Wales, so I don’t know where I could relate to. Well, you saw a lot of those who love community gardens or knowing where to go, find mentors, but it’s just going to connect to your local environment groups or who are doing that kind of thing could be different, but they may have a lawyer or an accountant or someone they can say, Oh, all this stuff, I might know how to do it, how to set up a not-for-profit, or what you can do with County Council or Crown Land. But then you just put it, Yeah, just keep asking, Yeah, keep asking people. And someone will say, Oh, this person might know something. So then you go to that person, you get hi. And generally people really want to talk to you if you’ve got something you want to do and people are so supportive. And that’s what I found in these. That resonates with so many people, this kind of project, social enterprise programs, people, and it just feels community and will supporters. If you’re reading someone just on cold, call about something, they will definitely want to help you. Well, you think that that will put you through to someone else?
Regen Ray: Yeah, I love that. I think what you’ve made very clear is that your network and hanging around like minded people who can kind of get what you’re doing. Eventually, someone knows someone and it might be, you know, you or the accountant or the someone who’s running a primary school who knows the, you know, someone on something, you know, that network is is super powerful. And what about sharing your idea? Like, did you share your idea very openly at the start? Or will you be protective because you’re worried that someone was going to take the idea and do it themselves? Because how do you get these people nominated so open?
Sue: Yeah. I’m so open. I believe ideas not asked to own. I believe in the magic of ideas. I don’t know. I read a book called Big Magic a while ago, and I really need to read that book again. And for me, that was a really big shift in the idea that ideas can be a leading force. And I have experienced that too much to not believe that because you’re probably a similar person when you get you get this idea and you get shingles or you get this sense of feeling of this feels really good. Yup. And it’s bigger than you. And you’re like, Why me? I don’t know what to do. You don’t know what to do. Half the time, it is such an incredible feeling that it actually energizes you to move into something bigger. And I’d recommend anyone to read that book big magic because this will shift your sense of belonging and purpose. And when you’re open hearted and that’s what happens when you work into community, you become very open and sharing things and to share to not share. I find this. Just not I’m not a negative person articulate feeling, but that’s not common, good for people to
Regen Ray: do the idea in justice by not talking about it. You know, that’s what I found and I was intrigued whether you were talking openly about it. I was talking to someone the other day and said, I mean, if someone gives me an NDA and says, we can’t talk about this outsider, I say, this is not a project for me because I want to get really excited and share the idea in the light that flame to other people. And that’s when the ideas go really crazy. You know, if you keep it under wraps, it’s just going to always stay like that. So. And I think it comes from an abundance mindset. You know, it’s like I didn’t care about talking about this, and I openly share ideas on the podcast and on videos I make. If you take that idea and make it come to life awesome, it’s come to light. Like, I don’t have the energy to make my ideas
Sue: come through this.
Regen Ray: So I definitely abundant.
Sue: And that’s the thing. We don’t have an ownership. If it’s a community program, there’s no ownership in some communities program. So when we approach organizations or groups, we invite and then I’ll say we’ve got this great idea. Would you like to jump on board? Would you like it? Could we take it to your group? Sharing, sharing and inviting people in to do things you know in the garden because this is for the greater good is for everyone. Like, I love it. I just. Yeah. And just invigorates people. It raises spirits and I love seeing people happy and doing things they love and giving opportunities to people. And that’s what I’ve seen with the garden is connections with the groups that come through and the people that come through, and it changes lives on very basic levels. And that is a gift. And for me, when you see someone communicate someone with someone that they haven’t been able to like, like disabilities and and they and they are doing things I’ve never done before, and you can see how excited they are for me in this. And I do that hands-down
Regen Ray: winner and we’ll talk more about that because I want to dive deep into some of these stories that you’ve that I’ve seen with my own eyes because I’ve come down and visited Swamp, and it was an awesome pleasure to come and see and just see how quickly things have unfolded, you know, building that community. And and I think when I visited, it was a six month or less project and this is like this was grass and now we have all these. And that was that was really. But before we dive into that,
Sue: yeah, I encourage all my god such a proposal. You remains like this up and that we cannot believe how much you’ve actually achieved in a very turbulent year. So I know that people really seek this in times like this.
Regen Ray: I love it. I know you refer to yourself as a conscious consumer and you’re a very curious person. And I think in your bio, you say your conscious consumer eater talk about that conscious consumer. What does that mean? Because I know a lot of people have a bit of a brain value when they hear that they’re a consumer and it’s kind of demonized in this world. So what do you mean by conscious consumer tones?
Sue: A larger question in rethinking a lot of, I guess so for me, conscious consumer. I and I have three children. I’m very aware of where they’re going to move into the future and how they live and trade and buy things. And so it’s a big picture for me. Conscious consumer can include clothing. It can include how you live in your home, what you bring into your home, what you ingest in your food miles, how you travel. So you know you don’t do it all at once. You can try to live in a culture and society like this. We can only do what we can do. And it’s just during those days I feel comfortable. So say for me, is to get to know you to go to the local farmers markets. We had a plenteous a small ones here. Open you go. And I love to hear stories. And then when you get to know your farmer and you get to know where your food’s coming from. So it’s being conscious about how that food is being grown and why. And what is it going to do in my body? And then when you’re cooking it for family and friends, then conscious of that impact, it’s going to give to those people that you’re feeding. And then to the greater picture, how is it impacting our Earth, our soil, our land, food miles? There’s that whole big picture. I’m not the expert in this topic, but for me, as I cast myself as a consumer, I guess I’m not a farmer, I’m a suburban person. So for my role, it’s all about you. Do I connect to in my community that is doing these kind of things and support and support small businesses that are eco-warriors and. Waste free products do coffee cafe with your KeepCup support, businesses that are doing things that you love to see and how you want your future to look like for your next generations because it’s so important if you’re not conscious about what you’re eating or buying, it’s just going to perpetuate. And one person can make a difference. Because if you’re doing something you talk about like, When I eat food from a local farmer’s market? I can’t start writing about how good it tastes like I used to go there. Or even when you go take a photo of your farmer in the food and do a bit of a post and go here on a Wednesday, you go there and the food is amazing. And, you know, so it’s just sharing the good vibes and just making people aware of the footprint impact on the world.
Regen Ray: Yeah. And I love the fact that you’ve covered off so many different topics on that. It’s not just about knowing the farmer, but knowing the food miles, knowing the packaging and thinking more globally and bringing that responsibility back to that. And, you know, sometimes it’s hard you craving that coffee and you don’t have the KeepCup . You can’t, you know, you can’t be perfect all the time. But at least you’re conscious about it. And you know that all your compounding actions and maybe there are some people go, Well, I don’t deserve a coffee. I didn’t bring my cup, but we don’t want to make it such a painful exercise to be conscious about it. But it’s just about maybe, you know, just knowing that, okay, you’ve done this action. I’m going to offset that by doing this other action. And I love what you said also about taking a photo with your farmer and sharing that on social media and sharing their story like, that’s the power of people. And I’ve been saying lately that if we all did one small action every day, that’s seven-point five billion little actions that matters. So you know, when you’re doing that one little thing. If we compound it and we do that every day or every second day, it’s a good rhythm. living in a world that we want to see and seek
Sue: stories and try KeepCup , if you guys think of something like, what can you do? Because all of them are biodegradable, they take a long time to compost this and learn about composting. You learn about, you know, getting that you can use as a seedling pots like you could use and then put some soil and put a little seed and grow it and then put it in the ground. You know, you can reuse just being clever.
Regen Ray: Yeah, awesome. And I love that with a lot of the way that I’ve seen you do activities and the stuff that you do on Swamp. But we’ve spoken about S.W.A.M.P. Do we want to share with the social listeners what that Swamp acronym actually means?
Sue: Yes, maybe I should, shouldn’t I? Well, we call ourselves swampy switchers. I love it. Anyway, it’s it’s a sustainable wetlands agricultural makers project, and it wasn’t my idea with a name. It was one of our members. She she came up with it while she was in the shower. And she’s, yeah, she’s a unique, beautiful woman who’s very talented and very she’s an awesome her name is Cheryl and Darcy. But the whole team of S.W.A.M.P is just incredible. Humans very blessed to know them and have some joined on this tree. But yeah, she came up with the name and we all we had a bit of a poll vote because there’s a few other names and we put it out to the community. What would they would like this community garden to be named? And we even reached out to the other community gardens. We went to their to the meetings and said, Oh, are you American and S.W.A.M.P? That was the name.
Regen Ray: Nothing like a thought that comes tuition . And you know, it’s it’s I love that. So a lot of my thoughts come out in the shower as well. And I think it’s a lot of places where you could just detach everything and have some quiet thinking time. And you know, the fact that you even took it to, like other community gardens and into the network just shows your ethos and your values of of of how you how you do that. Sue it’s been so great chatting with you. We’re going to take a quick break. And then after the break, we’re going to share some of the success stories that you’ve had on this S.W.A.M.P community garden. So stick around. We’ll hear from that soon.
Sue: Thanks.
Regen Ray: All right, soil lovers, you’ve been hanging out with Regen Ray and Sue Bradley from S.W.A.M.P. We’re about to start talking about some of the success stories soon on S.W.A.M.P. I hear that you have nature play and it’s open to all people in the community. Can you share with us, soil lovers some of the stories that I’ve had the privilege of hearing before when I visited? They are getting goosebumps just thinking about it. I really want to take our listeners to what this space feels like being there apart from the amazing team that’s running it. What are some of the things that have happened in amongst the community?
Sue: Well, yeah. Well, one of our members, Mandy dos Santos, she’s a nutritionist and she teaches little people about nutrition. She’s, she’s a she’s an author. She’s a musician. And she’s all about teaching our children Nature play food, soil and of course, she jumped on stray in the beginning because we’ve been friends for a little while. Prior to this, I went, Oh my gosh, Mandy, this is going to be amazing. And so that’s where our nature playgroup was born. And it was a dream of hers to have a space for that. And so we had her come in as a contractor to come in to do this nature playgroup . We started with one day and it was just booked, just booked. So she went, Oh my gosh, and she has. She’s very much in tune with that community of nature play facilitators. So she follows a lot of other people doing this. So we’re biased. Let’s just do another day. So we end up with two days of Nature play and to see families come in with their children, just three little preschoolers. So they’re not in school yet and come and get dirty. And she has some crafts and music. She has song all relatable to food and how it’s grown. And then then she’ll do some food list and craft that is in line with the theme of the day. And stories like Because we’ve got time, we have seasonal produce, of course, but we had a zucchinis and tomatoes and herbs and they get in there. They pick it and they’re eating them, or they’re making crafts with them. One one beautiful story that I remember was this little boy, pick zucchini , and he loved it so much and he never ate vegetables. Really, like most of these children will do and don’t, but they don’t see that connection of how they grow. And so they see that they’re probably not appreciating it at the time, but they just seeing. it’s a natural thing. So he took a liking to this zucchini and he took it home with him, and he even showered and slept with it. It was became his. And then the mother thought, Well, okay, this, you know, maybe it’s time to eat it. So then they made a meal out of it, and it was just such a beautiful experience that children have with Mandy and the garden and their neighbor. When we have members pottering around, it’s just beautiful to have life of children playing and singing in the garden, and we even had a sort of winter solstice. I think we did that this year amongst everything, and that was beautiful. We had like a lantern parade in the garden with her , craft and story. So it’s really kind of the kids story to the land. It’s just it’s beautiful. So you can enjoy it and love those stories.
Regen Ray: And I saw, you know, some of the kids playing when I visited and they just there’s a different energy about it. The smiles are different. The connectivity is different. And I remember Mandy also sharing that the parents are starting to hang out and go to the cafes and talk differently. So it’s not just the kids playing it or building friendships, it’s also rippling out to to the parents. And what are some of the conversations that the parents are having? While their kids are at nature?
Sue: Well, well, I think a lot of them don’t know they are new to the community and because they’re very like-minded , of course, because, you know, they like that nature and kind of silence their children to grow up in. So I love them in a new They don’t know anyone else. And to have these kind of groups available for moms, new moms who you know, they’ve got a child that they want their children to mix with common friends. They actually become friends, and they meet and have great conversations like mothers and grandmothers screw up. You know, when you have children, you feel a little bit isolated because you go little one and it’s not a places you can go and send their children. Mandy has some well entertained and even the mothers getting and seeing and do the craft with their children. The grandparents come along as well. So afterwards, some of them go off and they socialize together. So it’s building a community outside our garden as well. So they’re connecting, finding mutual friends and that’s to create other communities is so lovely to to see that happen.
Regen Ray: Yeah, I love that and I know that you’re also inviting people who are on, like, say, rehabilitation programs and things like that. What does change mean with that in some of the conversation from from caretakers around those type of programs might.
Sue: I try not to be speechless.
Regen Ray: I know that’s why I
Sue: saying this was
Regen Ray: because I know, I
Sue: know this is something that I did not expect. It’s funny when you start a project, you have a vision of it and what it’s what you sort of see happening between me. So much has happened that has affected me so much in a way that I never could imagine. And prior to when we got there, there was a disability service using the lands. But they it was very like there was no one there using it. They were just had no way to go. So when we came in, they were very happy because then we said, Look, we’ll we’ll create a garden in here that you can actually help to build and connecting with other people that are not disabled. You know, it’s a diverse community that isn’t scarred. And so that’s not what you were asking me before. But we also we have a disability’s group that come and that’s been actually in process of getting a grant to support these connections to a soil to plate program. Wow. Because the impacts with disabilities with them coming on board outdoors is a lot of these kids have behavioral problems. And when they’re in a room and they’re all together, some are noisy and some can bother each other. Their behavior is can be challenging when they come out of the garden. They change their, they smile, they they interact, and they’re seeing other people like our there who want to help them. You know, if we speak to them as humans, he we want to share and get down and teach them something and just see them as a human and conversations I have with them, you know, some of them are so smart and, you know, they talk about their time at school and they were bullied and they are so grateful that we are talking to them just normally. And for me, I, I never thought to. I’ve never been in a situation where I was like that. But it’s a sense that you’re actually making a difference by just talking to someone. Even the we work with the Glenn Center and their rehab, an indigenous rehab center, and we invited them there because they do incredible work in the community. And that’s how they did it to the men that go, that’s what how They go through rehab and healings to do things in the community, and we wanted them to come join us and that is similar. You know, they say, this is incredible. They’re talking. They actually see us and we’re talking to them and you know, they help us so much. We thank them all the time of what they’re doing to help us. They know you’re you’re helping us this is. This is this relationship that for me, I take for granted that I see that I’m not even doing amazing, but for them, it’s just a huge, huge thing for them. So from having these fruit or so from getting fingers crossed program, that’s going to be fun to play with disabilities, then hopefully that will be rolled out for other groups. I know that glenn center into interested in trying to their size because through this lockdown, they’re building a community garden on site. So we want to have that relationship and go in there and help them do their garden and their cooking because I do a lot of the bigger projects on the community garden like I do that you can share and do some mowing and fix things. And so, yeah, and we’ve had them on radio because one of our members is on our local radio station. So it has both the disabilities and To It Now podcast with interviewing disabilities and sharing stories and the rehab ah the glenn. And they have music. So they they’re playing their music on radio. So it’s the swamp is not just at the garden anymore, it’s like it and it’s mind blowing. So it’s just so great.
Regen Ray: I’m I’m I have a frog in my throat. I am having to hold back because I just love this energy. Like, you know, people think of community gardens about grown food, and it’s so much more than that. I’m sorry,
Sue: Sue, you’re
Regen Ray: so amazing. And I can’t wait to get our community garden started here because these are the stories that people need right now and you’re activating that and you’re making it happen.
Sue: Oh Ray I wish I could giving you a hug. I’m sorry. I love you So much, so much.
Regen Ray: Yeah, so much warmth in what you’re saying. And it really does hit my heart because I’ve been there and I’ve walked on it, and it’s a completely different energy and it was just grass, you know? Like, I feel like what you’re able to do when you put powerful people on top of that grass and, you know, we always talk about like how much is so much life underneath the soil, which blew my mind when I figured that out. But then when you power that with amazing people coming above the ground and doing awesome projects like swamps and hearing these stories, that’s why I really wanted the soil lovers to hear this conversation today to just start looking at your community garden, not as a place of growing. It is so much more than that, and I feel like calling it a community garden is not the right name for them. You know, for some people, it’s their lifeline, you know, and it is their escapism
Sue: each garden is different like the one here local. A lot of them are retired and they’re incredibly lightly horticulturalists or they’ve worked in the botanical gardens or wherever, so they’ve got a place to keep that they love going in. And a lot of the older people in our communities are forgotten. They’re not. They don’t have a place where they can actually connect with younger people and share and feel valued. So to have younger people come into the garden , Hey, you know, can I help do that transition? Build that garden and stand beside someone, not your grandparent, someone different in your community and just talk. I know it’s crazy. So it’s been tricky times. You know, we’re doing this during quite a long lockdown. So it’s so it’s so lovely to talk and share about this because I haven’t been out to do this for two months. And but we know that it’s still alive, but keeping it alive through not on the soil, but just it’s tricky. But it’s it’s there still no best to
Regen Ray: keep it going. I’m big, a big backer of all the projects and you’re and what you’re doing. A S.W.A.M.P completely regenerates my soul and I want to talk about the word regenerative. What does that mean to you when you hear the word regenerative?
Sue: Well, I love that word because that’s what changed my life to soil because regenerative is so much more like I suppose when you talk about a community garden, regenerative is another layer of how we look after our country, ourselves, how we grow our food. It’s just honoring our land so that we can leave upon it. Thank you. And listen, listen to our land. Listen to our traditional owners, connecting to their knowledge. How can we live better on this land? Don’t forget what we’ve done in the past, and it’s just honoring our land and giving back. And because sometimes people talk about experiences, rehabilitation, or bringing back land to how it was once that we can do that but it will look different, but I think it’s just honoring our land. To me,
Regen Ray: I love that word giving back. You know, it’s about the soil and the world, you know, can give us food and fiber and fuel. And that conversation of giving back, you know, nutrition, you know, biology, nurturing and care. It is a two way communication. I think for way too long, we’ve just taken, take and taken. And, you know, a lot of the governments and structures and just the way that life is now has forced us just to be a bit more of a take and we’re out of balance of that. So I think, you know, that key that you said there about giving back and it can bring small little actions start a worm farm, plant a tree, turn something that was bare soil into green. You know, these all little micro actions compound and help spread the love of of of soil.
Sue: Yeah. And I just want to say one. I forgot time. A friend of mine shared something was on with friends as friends yesterday and her in her neighborhood as one of their neighbors, has opened their land to farm to grow food. Wow. So my friend, who has a suburban house, can go to this place to now grow food and chickens compost because she can’t do it in her. And this you can do this in your own communities. Some people have land and they’re very open, and they just don’t know how to ask or find people don’t want to do it. So, yeah, there’s so many ways of making a difference in your community.
Regen Ray: I love that. Share that share economy. You know, I’ve got land that I can’t use, but you open it up and the other people who want to use but don’t have access to like, it’s such a Win-Win. You know, so many people out there trying to solve problems that if we just asked or, you know. I think the thing is asking better questions or using social media to say, Hey, does anyone have land that I can utilize? I’m looking for half an acre or whatever it is. I feel like that is is such more constructive ways of using social platforms and is like directory sites and things like that. There’s so many more tools popping up during COVID to help bridge that gap between land access and meeting and knowing the farmer. Everyone’s using QR codes. Now you can basically scan food and watch videos in the aisle these days, and these are all exciting things. Three years ago, I was talking about and I didn’t think it would take a pandemic to make people use QR codes, but here we are. So, but at least the adoption there, you know, everyone knows how to use it, and we can now meet our farmer in the aisle. You know, if it is a good greengrocer that you go into, if you don’t have access to local community community farmer’s markets, which have also been put on pause with lockdowns and so forth, you know?
Sue: Oh yeah, selling team members can go shop.
Regen Ray: Yup. Awesome. I want to ask our signature question Are you ready to be the voice of our soils?
Sue: You know, it’s a big task.
Regen Ray: I know I want you to embody the soil. Pretend you’re under the ground and you’re magically being given this voice. What would you say to us on the planet Earth? If you were the voice of our soils?
Sue: Love, love, soil. We are life. We give life above soil. We have a value. We our resources should be noted and valued. Without us, there would be no life above soil. Learn about us. And. Well, I don’t know if I like the word D, because when I dig a S.W.A.M.P, there is so many worms and I’m never saying sorry, but I’m so gentle with your soil. So, you know, even with gardening, it’s like that. No, dig no-till be gentle, be gentle with us and and learn how to feed it, you know, because all these pesticides fertilizers, we’re farming, our food and land is polluting and destroying our topsoil. So please, I don’t know. I don’t know. That’s just my perspective. The soil is just, you learn about it. Love loving. Get into
Regen Ray: it. You love that, love that and be gentle with me. I think that’s a good one. I like that. I love how you say sorry to the ones that are so adorable, do you?
Sue: Next time, I’m next year and tomorrow I will. I literally. There are so many. That’s a good sign. They’re alive and that’s, you know, that’s what we do with the kids. We’re changing, subject to getting better. We do the kids, you know, and that’s what the disabilities. That was one story I had with one guy. He loved the worms and he wanted to save. And so when I was digging and giving the worms, and then he would put them into the compost and well, then I’ll teach them. And that was the first word of one of the kids to come with disability. He’s not very verbal. And I shared that with you, and that was such a beautiful story that his first word could be sent back in the where they go into is worm wow, when I guess
Regen Ray: the power of our soils, you know, so healing. So giving, so caring. Well, Sue Bradley, it’s been an absolute pleasure digging deep with our soil lovers today and myself learning all about your community, garden and your spirit, your resilience and your power to to activate communities. So how can people that are listening hang out with you more? What’s the best site or ways of connecting?
Sue: You can find me on my Facebook and Instagram as in8lygood . And you can also check out us S.W.A.M.P , which is on the Central Coast. Also, we have a website W W W Swamp Central Coast dot com dot AU . And you can check out what we’ve been up to. There’s not been a lot of action in the last two months, but we do do some socials just to keep things alive.
Regen Ray: Excellent. Excellent. And you come on to podcasts and keep the the message alive. Thank you so much. soil lovers, all the links that you mentioned, whether that be on social media or getting onto the website, I highly recommend that you get around the Swamp Central Coast. And if you’re not in the local area, think about how you can start activating your community garden or start one yourself. There is a lot of people who are in need of these type of activities, and every community needs a champion to run that Sue you are that champion, along with a lot of others around your inner circle that you’ve built up over the years. So thank you so much for all the work that you’re doing to keep our soils alive and connected to all different ages and diversity of the community.
Sue: Thanks, Ray It’s been an honor to be here. I just loved talking to you. I love your joy and passion to the soil. We have such great fun. Talking we do right. We do
Regen Ray: so. Thank you so much, Sue, and soil lovers Get on to the website and make sure that you get to the Soil Learning Center. If you want to see the video version of this podcast, where you can see the tears in my eyes. Until then, keep staying curious. Keep digging deeper, get outside into your community garden and let’s give our soils a voice.
Sue: Thanks, Ray. Awesome.
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