Jay Young from Flinders Farm Gate on regenerative farming, garlic and a paddock full of sunflowers

In this episode of The Sentimental Gardener, Cass chats with Jay Young, co-founder of Flinders Farmgate, a small-scale regenerative farm on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula. Alongside her husband Nick, Jay grows garlic, sunflowers, dahlias and seasonal flowers, while finding ways to share their special patch of land with the local community.

We talk about how a friend's suggestion to grow garlic set their farming journey in motion, how losing an entire garlic crop led them to diversify into flowers, and how a sunflower picking event grew into something much bigger than they expected.

Jay also shares what she's learnt about regenerative farming, building healthy soil, working with nature rather than constantly intervening, and the realities of balancing a growing farm business with family life.

And, of course, we talk about her sentimental plants: the climbing beans that take Jay back to her grandparent's garden, the winter-scented flowers that remind her of an early job at a flower shop, and the sunflowers that continue to bring her joy.

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Introduction: Meet Jay Young of Flinders Farmgate

01:56 Childhood memories of a farm in South Africa

07:25 From city life to a life in Flinders

15:51 How growing garlic started it all

19:03 Losing a crop and finding a new direction

21:16 Sunflowers, dahlias and the farm shop

28:43 Farming, family and finding balance