#58 Growing Wilder with Simon Allston

My father, Simon Allston, has been a pillar of strength, support and wisdom to me for the last 34-years of my life. Raised in England and a child of the British boarding school movement, my father moved to Australia for Law School. It was here, on Aussie soils that he found his greener fingers… and my mother. A proclaimed farmer on his marriage certificate, my mother and father moved to Tasmania to establish a greener life and family – including me! Mum and Dad raised my brother, James Allston, and I on a small organic hobby farm to the south of Hobart. Here they encouraged us to explore ‘The Valley’ and that I did, causing varying degrees of chaos with my impish spirit. Meanwhile, my father dug in the alluvial soils morning, night and weekends, and in between, he practiced law, first privately and later in the Government sector. Here he worked on many complex environmental cases, both for the Government but also charities such as the Wilderness Society. For the remaining years of his working career, he was the Tasmanian Ombudsman. As you will hear on the podcast, my father is a deep, compassionate thinker. We are oh-so-alike and yet oh-so-different. Where I played wildly and pursued competitive sport, I had lovingly thought of my father as a yoga-loving, green-fingered hippy! Is it Karma for these judgmental thoughts that I now find myself loving nature, plants, yoga, meditation and deep thinking!? My father is a life-long learner and forever, at his heart, a farmer. He now lives on Bruny Island in southern Tasmania where is he aiming to bring 70-acres of run-down land back to full health. His garden grows, his mind explores new learnings, and he is always ready to hold space for James and I as we, too, continue to grow. This is a rich conversation and I hope that you fall in love with it as much as I did during the recording process. Some of the topics covered in this podcast: •My father’s love-affair with gardening •Raising a wilder, competitive child – me! •A caution note about success •The need for us to live locally and conscientiously •The science of soil and how repairing soils can assist the reversal of climate change •Living on an island in Tasmania •Love, parenting and remaining true to oneself Visit the show notes at: http://www.hannyallston.com.au/simon-allston.html