Hello and welcome back to what is another season of Dish the Dirt.

Gosh, I'm excited to be recording again and to be sharing the stories, knowledge and passion of our flower growers.

Today I am joined by the inspiring Hannah Urquhart, a young grower whose journey has taken her from studying agricultural science to working full time at Bush Roses in NSW.

Hannah's love for Australian native flowers, her commitment to education and industry collaboration and and her work with Wildflowers Australia and nothing short of remarkable.

In this conversation, she shares her path into the industry, the lessons she's learned along the way and the exciting projects she's part of that are helping to shape the future of Australian flowers.

I really enjoyed this conversation with Hannah and I believe that we just need more young people like this coming into the industry for a bright future.

Thank you Hannah for sharing your time and let's get into it.

I would like to acknowledge the Traditional custodians of the land on which we record and share these stories and pay my respects to Elders past and present.

I extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Listening today as we talk about flowers, farming and connection to the land, I recognize that First Nations peoples have been nurturing and sustaining this country for 10s of thousands of years and continue to hold deep knowledge and connection to it.

Hi Hannah, it's lovely to have you on the podcast today.

How are you?

I'm good.

Thank you.

Beck.

How are you?

Yeah, I'm really well, Thank you.

Do you want to tell us a little bit about where you're situated and what you do in the flower industry?

Sure.

Yeah.

So I am living at Bookham NSW so it's about an hour from Canberra and half an hour from Yas and I work on a family owned flower farm there.

Yeah, wonderful.

And what's the flower farm called?

So that's Bush roses.

Wonderful.

And how did your journey with flowers begin?

So for me, I started growing over my uni holidays.

I did AG science and I just finished last year and in my first break, you know, at uni usually get quite a few months off over the summer.

I went home and I had a bit of spare land in the garden and I thought, oh, I'll just, I'll put some flowers in because we used to have innias around in the garden at home when I was younger.

And I thought it'd be nice to just have a little crack and just do it for fun.

And so I did it and I loved it.

And then I found that the next, the next summer, I wanted to do it again.

You know, every time I went back to uni, I kept thinking about it more and more and I really sort of fell in love with it.

I couldn't stop thinking about it.

Yeah, incredible.

What drew you to Egg Science to begin with?

Well, just growing up on a little 90 acre plot down at the South Coast of NSW near Nara and I've always sort of loved plants being outside and that sort of thing.

My first job during high school was just at a garden nursery.

So I've always, you know, been drawn to that side of the industry.

Yeah, wonderful.

And so you were growing during your uni break just in at your parents property, was that it?

Yeah, yeah, that's right.

And I wasn't, I wasn't selling, you know, I thought about selling some small bunches and things, but really for me, it was that idea of, you know, giving them to people, you know, in my life, my friends, my family, when I, when I go for coffee, I can take some flowers to friends or, you know, at Christmas, I'd, I'd bring, you know, 1015 bunches to share.

And it was always very, you know, exciting to see people and their excitement, you know, they were so happy to be given something like flowers.

And I really love that feeling.

Yeah, it's a great feeling, isn't it?

So then from growing during your uni break, have you finished uni now?

Yes, I have.

Yeah.

So I've done the four years and finished last October and then November I went straight to book them to start full time there.

Wonderful.

And what was the decision behind that?

I think in my third year of uni, I was on Instagram and I saw a post about the wildfires Australian National Conference in a Chika Moama and they had a student scholarship.

So I applied and I was very lucky to receive it.

And so I went there in August of 2023 and got to meet lots of amazing people and got a really good look at the industry, some farm tours and it was very exciting.

And I think that's when I sort of realized like, wow, this is really, you know, this is something I could pursue.

You know, I wanted to do agronomy initially.

So it's sort of consulting in agriculture and maybe horticulture.

But I think like the flowers, you know, I was thinking about that more than I was thinking about my degree at the time.

So I was very lucky to have that opportunity and and to actually see it rather than just to be, you know, doing my own thing, growing flowers at home to be involved in the industry.

Yeah.

And so that's.

So what was it like shifting from being a university student to going into flower farming full time?

Yeah, it was definitely gradual.

You know, I was very hesitant at first because I wasn't sure how feasible it was as a career path.

And, you know, I never considered myself to be a farmer and I sort of had always thought about consulting, helping people and that sort of thing.

And so, you know, economy is very chemical based and usually you're focused on one or a couple of crops, such as, you know, a couple of grains or you're just doing apples or oranges or something.

And you're spending a lot of time around people doing, you know, obviously consulting.

And it's very different as a grower, you know, if you're on a small scale farm, you're probably on your own or you know, you're not seeing as many people.

So it was definitely a gradual sort of process.

But you know, I really, I really loved the flower side of the industry and I couldn't say no by the end of it really.

Yeah, wonderful.

So what is your role at Bush Flowers involved on a day-to-day level?

So every day we start with harvest.

Usually roses is our main crop and so we do everything first.

We pick in the morning and then we do roses after sort of 10 AM.

But we have a lot of different lines of flowers.

So we have, you know, we could be anywhere on the farm doing different sort of picking.

But the rest of the day is very diverse.

You know, it could be wedding spreading mulch or fertilizer or snail bait could be planning.

We buy a lot of trays from Bull, Australia and maybe some potting up.

And then we pack roses on Tuesday and Friday, and that usually takes us maybe anywhere from three to five hours.

So we're grading them by length and then bunching them in 10 or 12 stems and putting them in sleeves.

And then also doing a bit of propagating as we're trialing a lot of Australian native species such as stacker, stylus, sort of Daisy, mella, Thai Lotus, and funnel flowers.

OK.

Yeah.

So it's very, very varied every day.

Wonderful.

And how has your agronomy background helped on the flower farm?

I think it's been, yeah, really good.

My AG science degree was very broad.

You know, we did finance, we did marketing, soil chemistry, plants and animals, and it just gave me like a really good understanding of, you know, the role of everything in the larger scale of the industry.

Yeah.

Yeah, and I think it helped with problem solving a lot too.

Just to think, you know, outside the box.

Yeah, wonderful.

So with the scale and diversity that you grow up Bush roses, can you tell me a little bit about that and how that looks?

Sure.

Yeah, we probably are around 5 acres in total.

We have greenhouse growth growing and then we grow outside the greenhouse.

So our main house is probably about 60 by 25 meters, and then we have another six that are around 3040 meters long and then maybe 6 meters wide.

So in the greenhouse, we're mainly growing in pots and in hydroponics with scoria, and they're irrigated very, very frequently.

So maybe 6 sevens sort of times a day variably.

And mainly the greenhouse crops are roses.

So back in 2018 they were pretty much roses only and they had a big outbreak of western thrip and sort of decimated the whole crop.

And they realized it's not, you know, it's not safe to just have the one crop and better to have a diversified crops.

So from then, now we've probably got about 100 different lines of flowers.

You know, we've got.

Yeah, yeah, there's a lot.

Used to be probably at their prime, they probably had about 20,000 roses and yeah, yeah, lots.

And they've been slowly over the last few years going a little bit out of roses some, some of the roses they've just gotten rid of.

And so when I arrived in November, they probably were down to around maybe 15,000 rose plants.

And then they probably pulled out another one or 2000 this winter because roses are really, they're really an intensive crop.

And, you know, every day the two of them would be picking them on their own for about 2-3 hours straight, depending on the time of the year or the season.

And to do that seven days a week is incredibly exhausting.

You know, there's only so many hours in the day.

And to just be putting that all into the roses makes it very difficult.

And it's tough not having the time to focus on the other crops.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

And not even just the picking, it's like the disbudding and everything that goes.

Away.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And they're always checking, you know, the irrigation, the weather and changing it if it's getting hotter or colder, and checking the pH and the electric conductivity of the water that's being drained through the pots, sort of as a representation of the nutrients that have been taken up by the plants.

Yeah.

So yeah, it's incredibly complex, the.

Science behind it isn't.

It.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Huge.

Yeah.

What's been your most memorable moment on the farm so far?

Oh, that's a tricky 1.

I don't know.

I think I've just found it all.

It's, it's such an exciting experience, like just being a part of it all.

I think actually one thing that really comes to my mind there is so my boss Derek, his father is a sheep farmer and he runs maybe about 2000 merino just around the edge of the flower farm.

And so sometimes they'll get contractors in for shearing.

And there was this couple that came with their two kids and they went for a little walk around the flower farm.

And then, you know, there's this guy sort of in his 30s, like, you know, a classic Shearer look.

And they came down and we were standing there and Derek like opened the door to the cool room and he just this guy just gasped.

He had the biggest, like, look of shock on his face.

And but like, it was, you know, pure joy and shock.

He couldn't believe like what he was seeing inside the cool room.

It was like this magic, you know, door moment.

I love that it's.

So, yeah, yeah.

Flowers really do it for people, don't they?

Yeah, yeah.

So how do your flowers reach the customers?

So we send our flowers by Korea.

Most of our customers, probably 50% are in Canberra and then the rest are across region, regional NSW.

So they arrive to our customers on Monday and Thursday and we send them out about 5:00 PM the day before.

And we don't really want to send to places if they can't make it there by midday the next day just because of heat and that sort of thing.

It's sort of a bit risky.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So we have one Korea and she does all of Canberra.

And then, you know, the rest of obviously different people because it's very different locations from, you know, WABA to Young and Aubrey, that sort of thing.

And what would be your biggest piece of advice?

Maybe somebody's studying or wanting to get into the flower industry.

Why do you think it's important to go and spend time on a flower farm?

Yeah, I think, you know, growing is so complex people, you know, misunderstand and mis estimate, like how much is involved.

There's so many factors like other than just understanding, you know, how to grow plans and how to improve your soul and that, you know, those two things are obviously complex enough on their own.

But like just to understand everything, all the marketing, all the pests and the diseases, it's so complex that I think, you know, having that base understanding through, you know, studying horticulture or agriculture, you know, TAFE or uni, whatever, any courses you can get your hands on, they're so important to give you that sort of prior understanding and that different way of thinking.

And I think too, like networking is another like really big opportunity for people to like hone in on learning and speaking to other people and hearing about their experiences and that sort of thing.

Yeah, Yeah, I think, yeah.

I went on a trip recently to Victoria and visited, you know, propagators and growers and nurseries and protea flora too, which is the biggest propagator and distributor of Proteas in Australia.

And that was like amazing.

Like, you know, I was buzzing after that trip.

Was so exciting to get to like learn from all these other people and, you know, hear about what's going on in the industry and the problems they're facing and what things are going well, what new things they're trying to grow.

Just such a good experience.

And I think like, I'd really encourage people to make an effort to make these connections, whether that's just by reaching out and contacting them or by, you know, attending events or conferences even.

I recently went to Grown Up Funds conference and that was really good too.

Yeah, yeah.

Amazing.

So that takes me to, I guess your Wildflower student scholarship and going to your first conference and being part of Wildflowers Australia.

Now you volunteer and I know that you're one of the people behind the Grow New Growers webinar series.

Do you want to talk to me a little bit about that?

Yeah.

So I think, you know, after attending that conference, there was a really good turn out, probably over well, truly over 200 people at that conference two years ago.

And you know, people were really excited.

There's a lot of new growers and like a lot of sort of momentum and excitement building in the industry.

And I think this, this new girls webinar series that we've created is sort of about the idea of providing more to our members, you know, like through, you know, membership, you do get, you know, reduced fees for events and you know, there's newsletters and we have an online library.

But we wanted to give something new, especially to those new growers who are sort of just getting started.

So we created the series and there's seven episodes.

We've got like an introduction to the industry.

We talked about what to grow, you know, determining site possibilities and needs, farm finance and then knowing your market.

And then there's two episodes discussing day-to-day life on the farm.

So we had some really good speakers, growers and educators and that sort of thing.

But yeah, I think it's just been really exciting to be a part of this sort of new wave of wildflowers Australia.

And like it feels that everyone's like super get dedicated to supporting members of the industry and providing these new opportunities to learn.

I know that you've got something that you can share about memberships today.

Do you want to let me know what that is?

Sure.

Yeah.

So generally like these webinars are free for our members, but if you're a non member, they are $44 each or you can buy them as a bundle.

But now instead, if you wanna pay just a little bit more, we've had this new thing that's come through, we've had some negotiations under a project that's been funded by the NSW government and implemented by Agri Futures and RMCG.

So now we're able to offer a one year only discount to our growers membership, which brings the $385 down to 288.

And I know this membership sort of cost might seem a lot for, you know, new growers or small growers, but it's really important because it supports the industry body and it helps us put on more events for growers to attend because we're largely like a volunteer based industry body.

So like everything I've done for those 7 webinars, that's all been volunteer work.

I think the first three I drove to the location of the webinar, like to the other speakers.

So I drove from Wagga to Kempsey, which was like maybe 9 hours.

And then I drove from Wagga to Sydney twice, which was both 5 hour trips.

So that's all like volunteer in my own time and that sort of thing.

Yeah.

And so with our membership, you'll get access to discounted prices, as I mentioned, and then you get all the seven webinars for free.

And there's other, you know, of course, benefits that are online on the website, like lots of documents and resources that you can use.

And I think, like, for me, one of the most valuable things that is, you know, about, like, part of being a member is the networking opportunities, as I mentioned earlier, like all events.

Yeah, it's really great to meet other growers who are doing both, like, similar and different things in the industry.

And I think it, like, really inspires you to do new things on your farm.

Yeah.

Yeah, great.

And there's so many people who are a wealth of knowledge in that industry, isn't there?

Yeah, for sure.

Absolutely.

Like you, you wouldn't believe, you know, some of the people you meet.

I I didn't realize there's all these different jobs out there and I didn't realize the extent and the size of the industry.

Yeah, yeah, that's great.

So what's exciting about the diversity of Australian native flowers for cutting?

I think, yeah, Australian natives are definitely my sort of greatest area of interest in the cut flower industry.

There's just an incredible range of form, you know, in size, shape, colour and texture.

There's just, I keep learning, you know, there's more and more species that I just, you know, you didn't know that existed in the 1st place, let alone didn't know they, they could be used as cut flowers, you know, and then there's, there's such a jewel purpose nature, you know, having them fresh, having them dried and dyed, being able to use them in big beautiful wreaths that last for years.

And and for the plants themselves, you know, they just can be incredibly productive and then they can grow in a range of soils and climates.

Yeah, great.

So do you want to tell us a little bit about you Co authoring your recent paper for the Pro Tier Association?

You've got so many hacks.

You've got so many hacks and so many accomplishments so far in the industry.

It's wonderful to speak to you so.

Yeah, thank you.

Yeah, it's been, it's been a very exciting journey for sure.

So pretty well, it started after the conference.

I had six weeks of placement that I had to do as part of my university degree and I got to choose where I wanted to do it and sort of the scope of where in the industry I wanted to do it.

And initially I was going to do it in consultancy, but after attending the conference, you know, I really was pretty sold.

And I thought, you know, I want to give this like a proper try.

And so I searched for a farm that I could do my placement on, a flower farm, and I ended up being very lucky to be able to do my placement at East Coast Wildflowers.

So if you don't know, they're located at Mangrove Mountain, which is sort of an hour north of Sydney.

And through that placement, I met Jonathan Ledbetter.

He's the propagator at East Coast Wildflowers.

And since then we've become like great friends and he's been an incredible mentor to me.

So during the whole of last year we kept in contact after I did my placement.

And in the end, last December, he asked if I would be interested in Co authoring a scientific paper for the International Prodigal Association conference.

Yeah.

So we decided to do the paper on Australian native protease for use in the Australian cut flower industry.

So if you're not familiar, Protea are not actually native species to Australia.

They're native to South Africa.

And but Australia, you know does have a lot of native protease, which is the family.

And then Protea is just one of the genera within Protease, but it's South African.

So that's with wildflower Australia.

Well, why with Wildflowers Australia we do Australian native and proteases together?

OK.

The South African ones, because they're very closely related.

So we did 19 genera that are all Australian and you'd probably be familiar with quite a lot of them, you know, banksia, haikya, grevillea, isopogen, pasunia, petrofoli.

Yeah.

Wonderful.

If somebody wants to read this paper, how can they do that?

Yeah.

So it's got to be peer reviewed, peer reviewed.

At the moment we only submitted it, you know, a couple of months ago and Jonathan presented it in California at the International Proteo Association conference in March.

So they'll peer review it and then it should be eventually published in Actor Horticultural A.

So you can look up Hannah Urquhart, Jonathan Ledbetter and then Australian Native Protease for use in the Australian cut flower industry.

And I'm not sure when it will be published, but potentially maybe in the new year.

OK, yeah.

And how would this make a difference to what we're doing in Australia, you hope?

Yeah, I think it's just getting people to be more aware of the species that are available.

Like, you know, obviously a lot of people are cultivating banksias and gravellias and hakeas, but there's all these other really exciting genera that can be propagated and grown, you know, Athetonia aloxalon, you know, there's so many that people aren't aware of that are just such exciting species, and they're so great as cut flowers.

Wow you have such a wealth of knowledge.

I didn't know a few of those that you just read.

Often.

So I can't wait to be able to read this paper myself.

What's a memorable moment from being on the farm with Jonathan?

Oh, it's just, it was such an exciting experience.

And every time I've gone to visit since, I, I just cannot believe, you know, the things that are in flower, you know, seeing these tiring tall paper daisies and flannel flowers, you know, I'm just like forever inspired by all the new things that they're growing there and that he's propagating.

It's amazing.

Yeah, great.

Yeah.

And why does local matter to you when it comes to flowers?

Why are you so passionate about that?

I think that it's, you know, the same in a way that people are so passionate about buying Australian grown food.

You know, you're supporting Australian farmers, the Australian economy and you know, you're supporting produce that has a lot less air miles and generally less chemical application.

When I went to the Grown Up phone conference last month, something that really stuck out to me was said by Rita Feldman.

So she's from the Sustainable Forestry Network, and she said that locally grown flowers have around 1/10 of the environmental footprint of those that are imported or grown in heated greenhouses.

And I think that's just, you know, such a significant difference that people should be really a whole lot more thoughtful about it all.

And I think like I do understand like the place that imported flowers play in the industry, you know, we don't really have enough production is high in high volumes throughout winter to support the Australian forestry industry.

But I think we really need to focus on finding new ways to be able to grow in different species that are able to grow throughout our winters.

Yeah, fantastic.

What continues to motivate you in this field?

I think I'm really interested in bringing new and unique Australian natives to florists.

I think like when you think about consumers encouraging them to buy to like any flowers as a reminder to slow down and appreciate the little things in life.

You know that flowers are a parachute product and it's not, you know, they're not always meant to last forever.

And you have to consciously make an effort to stop and appreciate it, you know, while it's there, while you've got it in front of you.

And I think like to, as I'm getting older, I'm becoming less and less interested in gifts that are plastic, you know, things that maybe won't get used or, you know, they won't last long, but they'll become junk and they'll be in landfill.

And I'd much rather like gift giving from an environmentally conscious perspective.

And I think for me that's things that are food, you know, flowers, anything that's been grown.

And, you know, there's flaws to this, of course, Like I don't want to 1/2 rooted bunch of files from Woolworths that's been wrapped in plastic or, you know, sitting in a block of floral foam, you know, and I want to help probably educate people on this, you know, both growers and consumers.

I really love like the idea of doing extension work.

And I hope that, you know, one day the industry will be strong enough to gain more support and funding from the government.

And then, you know, this will help us educate everyone better.

Really.

Yeah.

This sort of takes me on to my next question.

You might have answered it in that question, but what are your goals for the next five years in the industry?

I think I'm like pretty open to sort of what's ahead.

I'd love to go back at some point to East Coast Wildflowers and learn from both Jonathan and Craig and Robert Loft, who is the propagator and grower of Paper Daisies at East Coast Wildflowers.

You know, he's got a wealth of knowledge and he's probably bred over 1-2 hundred different lines of 0 Chrysler.

Yeah, Paper Daisies and they're amazing.

And if you've, if anyone's, you know, been to Sydney markets, you'll see them.

They're spectacular.

The range of colors and the size of the heads and the productivity of the plants is amazing.

You know, he talks about each of these colors in terms of how productive they are, and he'll say bunches per plant, which is amazing.

You know, he might have a variety, and he'll expect maybe 6 to 8 bunches per plant in a season, which is amazing.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Why is that important for people to know?

I think it's just being open to, you know, maybe trying something new, like, you know, what Florette does.

It's amazing, like trying to breed your own.

And there's a lot of other growers in Australia that are doing it on smaller scales, you know, breeding like dahlias and that sort of thing, you know, florally.

And lots of other growers are doing it.

Yeah, yeah, right.

So I always ask these questions at the end.

I feel like I could talk to you forever about your experiences and what you've learned in the industry and you know, is there anything that's really stood out to you that I haven't asked that you would love to share?

I'm.

Not sure, I think we've covered a fair bit.

But yeah, I guess, I guess, you know, as a new grower, I think it's really like really important for people to try lots of different things, you know, try growing different species, try different sales routes, tried talking to people and, you know, going to new events and just doing things that push you out of your comfort one to learn for sure.

And I think that's what's really helped me that like, you know, I'm I like to color within the lines, but you know, it's been really helpful for me to push myself.

And, you know, I showed up to this conference not knowing a single person at, you know, in the flower industry.

And, you know, I was so nervous to do that, but it is, you know, it's changed my path so much and I'm so thankful that I did that because I, you know, I've been so lucky since to have had so many wonderful opportunities in the industry.

Yeah, Well done, I think.

Thank you.

The industry needs more young people like you.

So yeah, you're a big inspiration to people out there, I think.

So that's very kind.

If you had to leave the farm Bush roses in a hurry, what three things would you take?

Or you could choose East Coast wildflowers.

Perhaps either one?

I think I would take my box of seeds.

I just, you know, everyone has their own big or small collection of seeds.

And probably my Falco second tiers, just because they're mine and I've had them for years, you know, And then I'd probably take a Ziploc bag of cutting material, any native species that I can find and get as quick as I can.

Yeah, great.

And what's your favorite farm tool?

I think you just answered that.

Probably yes, my Falco secateers, but also, you know, I'm sure everyone says the Horry knife is amazing and you probably or is it gonna underestimate how much wedding you'll do?

And it just, it's so helpful to get, you know, all those deep roots out.

Yeah, I spent a bit of time on a rose farm and Oxalis was my worst enemy.

Yeah, yeah.

So definitely.

Can vouch for that wedding.

How do you Who do you think is an unsung hero in this industry?

This is a new question for this series and OK, yeah, I quite like it.

Yeah, I think that's great.

I think for me, there's probably 2 that really stick out at the moment.

I'd say Craig Scott from East Coast Wildflowers, because, you know, he's incredibly generous and he's always supporting industry events.

He's a part of both Wildflowers Australia and Flower Growers Group of NSW and, you know, he puts a lot of time into events and planning and he's often, you know, volunteering his own flowers for, you know, forestry events for Wildflowers Australia and it's incredibly helpful.

And then the other is Jonathan Ledbetter, who, you know, is Propagator East Coast Wildflowers and a great mentor to me.

He's always experimenting on the farm and finding new things.

And it really, I think the discussions that we have together really challenges the way that I, you know, problem solved.

And we have really good scientific conversation about plants.

And I really appreciate having that side of things.

You know, coming from that AG science background that having that complex discussion is incredibly helpful and keeps me thinking.

Which is great and wonderful.

Is there anything exciting coming up for Wildflowers Australia that you wanted to share?

Yeah, we've got three free workshops that are sort of supported by Agri Futures and NSW Government and RMCG.

7th, 8th and 9th of August we're hosting these free integrated pest and disease management workshops.

7th is of August is at East Coast Wildflowers on the Central Coast, the 8th is at Hinterland Hills Flower Flower Farm which is the far North Coast and then the 9th of August is at Mountain Nursery which is at Kempsey.

So in these workshops you'll get a tour and then you'll get to sort of hear from experts and you'll be looking at pests and diseases on the farm.

So that's a really good opportunity to improve your pest and disease knowledge.

And then we're also hope helping, hoping to host some florist events, maybe one in Perth on the 12th of August and then one on the 6th of September at East Coast Wildflowers.

So there will be floral demonstrations, which would be really wonderful in spring, lots of beautiful native flowers.

And then we have hopefully a farm tour in SA in November.

And then lastly, our national conference, which is going to be next year in August on the Sunshine Coast, which is super exciting because I think, you know, for me, that's where it all started at the national conference.

And that'll be 3 years since I sort of, you know, consider I entered the industry and hoping to be, you know, play a role in doing some of the planning and organizing for this conference.

So it's super exciting getting all the ideas together.

That is really exciting and I really do feel that the Wildflower Association is just going from strength to strength, isn't it at the moment.

And it's such a good place for new growers and for growers that have been in the industry for a long time to look to for support and for all these exciting workshops that are coming up.

Can you just give us the website address where people can find these events and book in for them?

Yeah, it's just wildfowsaustralia.com dot AU.

Great.

Perfect.

And then we have Instagram and Facebook too, so we'll post all our events on those.

Right.

I'll put all of this in the show notes as well, so if anyone loves looking for that information, they can find it there.

Hannah, just to finish up, is there one piece of advice that you would give to somebody starting at in the industry?

Yeah, I think, you know, as I said before, just to to push yourself to try someone, something new and step out of your comfort one, you know, show up to these events and meet people, make these connections and find those opportunities because they are in the industry, you know, people really are willing to help you and support you, you know, if this is something that you want to get into.

So I think that's definitely crucial.

Thank you so much.

I am so thank you.

And if anyone would like to follow your journey, they can do it via Instagram, is that right?

Yeah.

Yeah, wonderful at agricultural life.

Is that right?

Yeah, that's right.

Great.

I will put that in the show notes too.

OK.

Well, thank you so much.

Thank you and.

Wonderful to speak to you.

Lovely to chat, thank you Beck.

I absolutely loved that chat with Hannah, a true example of how passion, curiosity and a willingness to step outside your comfort one can open incredible doors.

If you'd like to connect with Hannah or learn more about the work she's doing with Wildflowers Australia, you can find all the links in the show notes.

And if you enjoyed this episode, please don't forget to follow Dish the Dirt so you don't miss more stories from the growers and change makers of our industry.

Thanks for listening and until next time, keep being blooming fabulous.