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I know by the calendar we have arrived in winter b

I know by the calendar we have arrived in winter but here in this little part of the world we are still in the turning.
This is my favourite time of year.
Pallettes of burnt orange, magenta red, rusty ochre and sunshine yellow set the landscape ablaze and herald the last hurrah for a time of warm days and cold nights. It's time for the pace to slow a little as our huddles shrink back to our closer crew. We head into the pines or paddocks for mushroom hunts that are muffled and quiet, mirroring the peacefulness of the place where these little fungi morsels are found. We light a match on early fireside dinners of just-picked-corn before squirelling inside for new season apple pies with our closest folk.

I can feel the bite of the incoming winter chill in the evening air and the morning frosts are just gearing up to nip in earnest but the last of the autumn colours are too gorgeous not to share.

As part of the huddle book tour, Charlie and I rec

As part of the huddle book tour, Charlie and I recently headed to the cutest little town of Tumbarumba to kick off the first of many supper club gatherings @nestcinemacafe (Laura is such a bloody dream... it's one heck of a cool cafe, utterly unexpected but delightful in every way) and with just 48 to go before we arrived I realised we hadn't yet organised accom...true to form...but to our delight, Laura's sister Ang, is equally as clever and has recently converted the local Presbyterian church into quite possibly the most delightful little b n b I've had the fortune of slumbering between in. With cour popping linen sheets and gorgeously OTT floral wallpapered walls, a giant church key, lit fire, warm bathroom floor and piles of fabulous books, the only thing I would have changed was our need to leave.

We rarely leave the farm and if we do...it's almost never together, so this little night in tumba was truly heaven sent. 😇💗🧡

Huddle me happy!!! Since this little book launched

Huddle me happy!!! Since this little book launched 3 weeks ago I've talked with literally hundreds of bloomin good humans about our story of separation from the earth, the power of rebuilding patterns of ritual, taking agency for the way we make our decisions, connecting to our food, finding a sit spot, reinstating initiation, replacing consumption with culture, the potency of potlucks and asking not "what's in it for me" but instead asking "what holds us all?...and it's country, it's ALWAYS country.

My sincere love and gratitude goes to Georgie from @youmeplusour3 @greatoceanreads, Ang at @moonacresschool Laura & Ang from @the_sweet_by_and_by & @nestcinemacafe, Jen and Rick @tenthousandharvests Mickey from @glenmorehouse. The invitation to come into your homes, farms, backyards, cafes and community halls to share with your beautuful communities and speak from the heart about things that are hard to hear things, share stories, spur comeraderie, hug, feast, cry, sip tea, ponder and think critically and courageously has been a gift.

It's incredible how much you learn when you sit inside gatherings and really listen. I've learnt a lot from you all...most especially, the myriad ways to huddle!!!.

Ahhhh @pipmagazineau I didn't even know this was h

Ahhhh @pipmagazineau I didn't even know this was happening...pretty bloody tickled. 🙏🙏

Here's to learning the art of the yarn and making time for it.

Big weekend of huddle gatherings this Friday Satur

Big weekend of huddle gatherings this Friday Saturday and Sunday....a few tickets left at all four gatherings which will be filling our bellies with brunches, suppers, cocktails and lunch. In kitchens, gardens, courtyards and paddocks.... well great, converse, laugh, maybe cry and be a human as we can possibly be.

Will you join me at @nestcinemacafe @tenthousandharvests @moonacresschool @glenmorehouse

Do you need to read this right now? I did, althou

Do you need to read this right now?
I did, although it took the human who knows me as well as I know myself, to gently present this to me as a gift for healing.

The shame we carry in our bones because of the burnout burden is not ours to carry alone. It is a collective weight from continued engagement with an extractive world.

Charlie co wrote this poem with Aiden Cinnamon Tea. A long story that stemmed from a place of concern, with the pure intention of shifting an unhealthy narrative that had taken hold.

He wanted me to see that I was a leader fatigued by my role; a person whose nervous system, heart, and spirit are frayed. Who doesn’t need strategies right now — who needs sanctuary, restoration, and a way to make meaning of where I stand.

He wanted me to see that burnout is a portal.
Not a portal to another job, or a new plan — but to a different way of being. It asks not what do I do next? but What is life asking of me now, if I fully surrender.

.Go gently xx

Can we talk about a book that I greatly hope ends

Can we talk about a book that I greatly hope ends up on the shelves of ALL our homes. Recently released by @theurbannanna its mission is to bring permaculture into EVERYBODYS lives EVERYDAY.

It's beautiful, practical, accessible, thoughtful and brings the permaculture principles to life in a way that makes them feel easy to build new rhythms and patterns around.

Anna Matilda might also be just the most generous soul you ever will meet. She opens her pantry, garden and knowledge stores for anyone who needs it and she even 'stores her excess in others'.

I chatted with her this week on the @futuresteading podcast and already it's one of our most downloaded. This lady is a legend.

Bloomin Beaut to appear in your pages @countrystyl

Bloomin Beaut to appear in your pages @countrystylemag. Here's cheers to building new rituals, rewriting new stories and reconnecting to our people and place.

Here's cheers to huddles!!!

And it's out! Out in the world to start conversati

And it's out! Out in the world to start conversations about rewriting our story, rebuilding our rituals, embracing emergence and connecting to our huddle, both human and other-than-human. My events calendar is soon to be released and still filling up. I can't wait to be in your community chatting about ways to create huddles (sounds like cuddle right😉)

The wait for this little baby has felt protracted but finally she's here. Thank you to all those glorious humans who've pre ordered, sent words of encouragement and provided inspiration to write this in the first place. It's filled with recipes from legends such as @ladyjo_and_co @woodstockflour @hannah_moloney @fat_pig_farm @theshadybaker @theurbannanna @_michellecrawford @catieofthesouthernwild

With love! Jade

To be a twin is a simultaneous curse & a super pow

To be a twin is a simultaneous curse & a super power. To never be alone means you always belong & you always have a comrade in life but to never be alone means it can be hard to grow, hard to breathe & hard to define your identity & to really know what it it 'that is yours to do'.

The dynamic is a powerful one, each with your own role to play. Things can be rough, tough, torturous & hilarious. Being their friend is fraught as it's always two for one, sometimes two against one but never for you to interfere.

18 years ago these two larrikins arrived seven weeks premmie amid drama that made it hard to imagine they'd ever become grown men. But indeed they have...They've crossed the arbitrary yet official line in the sand declaring them legal, young adults. With open hearts, eager minds and impatient actions they are heading off into the world to drive, vote, dance, drink, travel, explore and discover...probably as much about them selves as the world they are hungry to see.

They are beautiful young men! As 'twindividuals' they have much to learn but they are curious, kind and so very capable... where they'll land is anyone's guess but I know they'll have each other to navigate it all.

Together you've won soccer grand finals, run your own business, challenged senior school staff, dolled out endless charm, smashed your bedroom plaster, paddled the Murray, built incredible friendships, worked really hard for others, debated exhaustively, negotiated chores, camped and hiked the mountains, helped plant an orchard, taken doughbros to festivals, been in a movie, starred in endless photoshoots, completed year 12 and neglected to clean your room...

They know their own mind and are hard to persuade, they are ambitious but applying a very wide lens and together they are now in the world.

We love you Harry and Bertie and are so bloody proud of the young men you've grown up to become.

You are as wonderful as you are different...despite the world mixing you up endlessly.

April 25th always begins early. Well before dawn.

April 25th always begins early. Well before dawn. It also has a sombre tone. Of course any day that begins with poppy placement, the last post and hundreds of your town folk standing shoulder to shoulder in solemn remembrance will feel sombre.

Today we remembered the Anzacs, honoured their families, felt empathy for their pain and thanked them for the freedom we enjoy today.

We especially gave conversation to the role of our traditional owners in that war and the injustice of their treatment.

Once dawn was broken we shared cups of tea and baked Anzac biscuits using my grans hand written recipe (learning that the rsl controls any and all commercial bickies ensuring the recipe stays true).

I held my Nana and pop close in my heart today.

Last we forget.

Officially huddling here at Black Barn Farm on Sat

Officially huddling here at Black Barn Farm on Saturday the 3rd of May. Tickets are limited but I'd love to share the afternoon with you. Everyone will take a copy of the book home. X

This little beauty is now available for pre order.

This little beauty is now available for pre order. It's officially on the shelves in all your fave book stores by the end of the month but if youre a cool cat and want to snaffle a pre ordered copy, follow our linktree link and place your order ahead of the game.

Live In just a few weeks.

Can't wait!!

🍏🍎Our annual heritage apple tree sale is LIV

🍏🍎Our annual heritage apple tree sale is LIVE ONLINE.

If you've been eager to plant your own apple orchard (more than a few trees constitutes a back yard orchard)and you want trees which have been grown in soil fed with rich biology, hand weeded and without synthetic chemicals... then stop here and check out our range of more than 50 varieties. Including packs.

Pre orders are open now on our black barn farm website and they will be sent out right across Australia (except tas, nt and wa) in early August. You can also collect at the farm on the 23rd of August. But ordering now guarantees the variety you are after.

April 2 and the old girl had been kicked back to l

April 2 and the old girl had been kicked back to life after her dormant summer.

She's been dusted off and emptied out? The kettle is topped up and the hydronics are on. The bakery of wood is full again and the just picked apples are ready to be sliced and dehydrayed in her slow oven.

By October I'll be glad to put her back to sleep but today, this annual moment of lighting her belly to bring warmth into our home is such a delight 😊

Today's the day! For what you say? It's April on

Sometimes you just need to sit in the sun by the f

Sometimes you just need to sit in the sun by the flower patch to let the noise of the world fade and your own internal narrative be still.
Popping here in case you need a moment of still, gentle warmth too.
X

Off grid living festival is coming up and I'm taki

Off grid living festival is coming up and I'm taking to the main stage to talk all things huddle... will I see you there?

HOME Just four letters from the alphabet but encom

HOME
Just four letters from the alphabet but encompassing of so darned much.
For me it's the place where any pretence or performance gets left at the door. A place to go gently when it feels tough out there. A place to drink tea, debate over dinners, be humbled by the repetitive and experiment with the new.

A collection of too many things but reminicint of a lifetime of memories... places, faces, things we've done...

Amidst the humdrum of a bustling family life (that in so many ways expects everything), there's a rhythm that dilutes the cortisol spikes, settles the heart rate and expects nothing. Just you to be you....ratty and raw or rich and resplendent...or perhaps a little of both.

Things feel hard right now. "Go gently' I tell others...pause...take a breath and be ok to sink into the discomfort of the unknown. I'm utterly grateful for this place and the people who make it home 🙏

Morning harvest! 🍅 🍅 🍅 HAPPY! We've be

Morning harvest!
🍅 🍅 🍅 HAPPY!

We've been feasting on these guys fresh for the last 6 weeks so it's now time to get them bottled for winter.

Here's the sauce recipe I use:

5kgs tomatoes -we mix ours all together so we can cook in small batches more regularly rather than aiming for one variety to have enough to use at once. Sieved to remove seeds and skins - Charlie does this when he makes it but I tend to just dice them up and throw them in without sieving, I quite like the added body they offer and don't find them bitter

YOU NEED:

½ cup sugar rapadura/coconut
1 tblsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1cup apple cider vinegar
12 full chillies (remove seeds if you prefer it milder)
2onions diced
6-8 cloves of diced garlic
Half tsp garam masala
Half tsp morocan allspice
Coconut oil

HOW:

Brown off onions, garlic and spices in coconut oil
Simmer all ingredients in pot for 1 hour

Blend

Simmer for a further 2 hours or until sauce consistency. Stir regularly so it doesn't burn.

Bottle in sterilised bottles and water bath at 60 degrees for 20 minutes

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