E2 Sadie Chrestman from Fat Pig Farm

It’s never too late to start farming.

This week, Sadie Chrestman from Fat Pig Farm shares her story of moving to Tassie with partner Matthew Evans to start a new, rural life - in her forties.

We ask her what it’s like being ‘that famous treechanger’, why she’s obsessed with the soil, about her pledge to drink tea with strangers, and how she discovered her dream job aged 50.

Her humble, level-headed wisdom is the antidote to overwhelm and an inspiration for anyone wanting to radically change their life - one pig at a time.

SHOW NOTES

• Sadie’s unconventional childhood in India and Indonesia.
• How do we acknowledge and act on our privilege? 
• The impacts of COVID-19 on Fat Pig Farm’s long table lunches. 
• Pros and cons of homesteading (in the time of COVD-19). 
• Why you can’t isolate yourself from your community (even if you’re pursuing self-sufficiency). 
• Has the concept of community evolved in the last 20 years? What is Sadie’s experience of community in Tasmania? 
• Why it’s OK not to get along with all of your neighbours. 
• Why to knock on your neighbour’s door and say hello - even if you live in the city. 
• How to stop worrying so much about what people think. 
• Social media as a tool for business and advocacy, rather than a bare-all window into life.
• The beauty of finding something in common with a complete stranger. 
• Sadie’s pledge to connect at the school bus stop.  
• Simple moments of joy on the farm.
• Why she revels in her role as head gardener (without a degree in horticulture!). 
• Why growing food and replenishing the soil helps reassure her in a time of climate emergency.
• How the Powers That Be have shifted the blame onto the individual - rather than acknowledging the bigger picture. 
• Sadie’s moments of hypocrisy.
• Sadie’s op-shop gardening attire. 
• How you can generate your own sense of place - even if you’re a long way from home. 
• Words of encouragement for first generation or “older” farmers. 
• How they started small and grew organically - rather than diving in headfirst. 
• The simple ways we can all begin a transitional path to a better tomorrow. 
• Has Sadie ever doubted the path she’s on? 
• How cooking someone a meal constitutes profound human kindness.
• The beauty (and phases) of vulnerability. 
• Sadie’s one piece of advice for a better tomorrow. 

LINKS YOU'LL LOVE

• The Good Life: What Makes A Life Worth Living? - Hugh Mackay, 
• Farming Democracy - Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance 
• On Eating Meat; The Real Food Companion; The Dirty Chef; The Commons - Matthew Evans
• Gourmet Farmer - SBS Series 
• Fat Pig Farm + @fatpigfarm

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