The Women & Nature Podcast

Ep 10: Season One Finale Wrap-Up

This is the closing episode for Season One of The Women & Nature Podcast where I run through some of the things I’ve learnt from these eight amazing women and the common threads that run through their stories including permaculture, the beauty of witnessing children interacting with nature, and the simple advice to get outside more. I am so honoured to have met these women and for the beautiful, open and inspiring conversations we had. I’m already looking forward to Season Two! If you have anyone you would like to hear from in upcoming episodes please reach out - this podcast is for you! To stay in touch while I’m on maternity leave: * Website: www.emmadrady.com [https://www.emmadrady.com/] * Instagram: @emmadradynaturopath [https://www.instagram.com/emmadradynaturopath/] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emmadrady.substack.com [https://emmadrady.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Ep 9: Sam Hickling - a bright future for children and families through nature play

In today’s episode I’m sharing with you my chat with the wonderful Sam Hickling who is the owner and facilitator at Acacia Play, a nature and permaculture based play group. We covered so many topics in this interview including Sam’s journey from a more standard early childcare career to connecting with nature while travelling to supporting a chiropractor and studying nutrition to becoming a mum and then incorporating all of this experience together when she landed at Acacia Play when founder, Sarah, decided to step away from the business. We also spoke about how their play groups have been sparking curiosity and change within the whole family not just the children attending, how her own children have been a source of nature connection for her husband, how nature play can help set expectations for what is normal when it comes to imperfect produce and how growing gardens wherever she can has formed unexpected bonds with others. Acacia Play currently has two lovely locations. One at The Purple Pear Farm in the Hunter Valley and another called The Paddock which is in Belmont on the southern end of Newcastle. If you are interested in participating in any of the wonderful initiatives Sam mentioned today head over to their website to get involved or their social media for ideas to try yourself at home. Sam and I could have (and we actually did offline) speak for hours. I really hope you enjoy listening to this conversation as much as I enjoyed recording it. LINKS: * Acacia Play website: https://www.acaciaplay.com.au/ [https://www.acaciaplay.com.au/] * Acacia Play instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acacia.play/ [https://www.instagram.com/acacia.play/] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emmadrady.substack.com [https://emmadrady.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Ep 8: Eva Angophora - connecting to ancestral ways of living

Hello lovely listeners and thank you for joining me today for episode number eight where I interview Eva Angophora. Eva is a woman who lives and breathes nature. Her Wild Beings business offers an opportunity for people to learn ancestral earth-based skills such as lighting fire without modern tools, hunting, tanning hides, foraging and so much more. These offerings can be through workshops, multi-day retreats or a weekly bush school for children to attend which is particularly useful for those in the homeschooling community to connect with other like-minded young people and their caregivers. In our chat today we spoke about lots of different topics such as the transformation from being raised vegetarian to hunting wild meat, what it’s like to feel disconnected to your body and how nature helps - something we both have in common, the beauty in witnessing women’s confidence and resilience growing when learning bush skills, some of the challenges involved with living a more earth-centred approach to life and our mutual love of bugs and spiders. Eva is such a kind person and I really enjoyed speaking with her. She is super approachable and gentle, making what could be a fairly daunting topic to explore seem a lot more achievable. I urge you to check out Eva’s website to see what events she has coming up or if you are a little further afield to follow her instagram for inspiration on how to connect more with the wild ways of nature. I hope you enjoy the episode! Very recently it was announced that Eva is a cast member on the latest season of SBS’s Alone Australia which airs on 26th March 2025. It must have been a lot to hold in during our chat which was recorded earlier in the year, especially since I actually mention the show!! We are all rooting for you Eva :) LINKS * Eva’s website: https://www.wildbeings.org/ [https://www.wildbeings.org/] * Eva’s podcast: Wild Beings Podcast [https://open.spotify.com/show/64Y6BvpiVbOSs89hFVtZ6L?si=E4pi4SREQFWeBLjlIk1Atw&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaZRvcrZ_7ovcCXrhjNAnj5M4H3tuUjba4zclD1w3xDbLeq7stUFsuifP7I_aem_85HLEz9Y7Y5cnPzRyo37wg&nd=1&dlsi=453e85bd3dea4c4b] * Eva’s instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eva.angophora/ [https://www.instagram.com/eva.angophora/] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emmadrady.substack.com [https://emmadrady.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Ep 7: Johanna Bodewes - helping the land express itself

Welcome back to The Women & Nature Podcast for episode number seven where I have the pleasure of speaking with the deeply connected Johanna Bodewes. Johanna, or Yo as her friends call her, lives on the beautiful inland part of the Central Coast in the Lower Mangrove region on her property which she has named Freedom Farm. After feeling the stress and struggles of the Sydney rat race 16 years ago, Johanna and her partner made the brave decision to relocate to her family’s farm initially to save money and re-coup but then eventually to make a life there. And what a life they have formed! Not only are they enjoying the beauty of this land themselves but they have dedicated their energy to inviting others to spend time on the property through retreats and workshops, as well as raising two sons in strong relationship to nature. In our chat today we also speak about Johanna’s experience of looking after the land as a young girl and how that shaped her into the strong and resilient person she is today, how she had to overcome a lot of self doubt when moving to Freedom Farm and choosing what others would consider to be an alternative lifestyle path, her relationship with the aboriginal owned Bush to Bowl organisation who farm native plants on her property, and the transformations she has the privilege of witnessing when hosting her women’s rewilding gatherings. Johanna is such a wonderful, open-minded, caring and community-minded soul. If you have the opportunity to attend one of her retreats or to book a weekend of camping at Freedom Farm, I encourage you to do so! I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as I enjoyed recording it. LINKS: * Johanna’s Newsletter: johanna@newdawn.net.au [johanna@newdawn.net.au] * Freedom Farm: hipcamp.com [https://www.hipcamp.com/en-AU/land/new-south-wales-the-freedom-farm-river-paradise-7rvhy0l7?adults=1&children=0&srid=bcb278c2-2f19-4b12-9f53-5e41c97b2e13] * Bush to Bowl: https://bushtobowl.com [https://bushtobowl.com]/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emmadrady.substack.com [https://emmadrady.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Ep 6: Bianca Nelson - harnessing the spirit of plants as medicine

Today’s interview is with the wonderful Bianca Nelson. Bianca is a fellow naturopath who I had the privilege of meeting through Meraki Wellness Centre in Erina back in 2021 when we both worked there. However, it is the plight of the naturopath that even when we are working in a big clinic with many other naturopaths or clinicians we very rarely get to spend time together because we are always behind closed doors with our patients so it was such a gift to have this opportunity to catch up and speak about some of our favourite topics. Bianca, also known as the Aboriginal naturopath, has family origins from Yuin country on the South Coast of NSW but has been lucky enough to call the Central Coast her home since birth. Along with naturopathic herbal medicine, Bianca also works with plant spirits by offering reiki sessions and helping her patients connect to Australian bush flowers. In our chat we spoke about her journey from support work to naturopathy and now this newer energetic offering, the ethics of plant medicine harvesting, her work with Pukka herbal tea and how important it is to nurture nature respect in the next generation. At the beginning of the episode Bianca was feeding her gorgeous little son Ochre so if you hear some sweet sucking sounds, that’s just him enjoying his midday meal. This one is a little longer because we had so much to talk about and once you hear Bianca speak so passionately about plants I think you’ll know why. I hope you enjoy listening! LINKS: * Bianca’s instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theaboriginalnaturopath/ [https://www.instagram.com/theaboriginalnaturopath/] * Meraki Wellness Centre: https://merakiwellnesscentre.com.au/bianca-smith-2/ [https://merakiwellnesscentre.com.au/bianca-smith-2/] * Songline Dreaming Festival: https://regeneratewellnesscollective.com/pages/healing-sessions [https://regeneratewellnesscollective.com/pages/healing-sessions] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emmadrady.substack.com [https://emmadrady.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]