By Andrea Louise Thomas
Mornington author Anna Matilda, aka The Urban Nanna, is keen to share her wealth of knowledge about simple ways to live a more sustainable, efficient and economical life. Her bestselling book, Everyday Permaculture, is a beautiful, easy-to-follow guide to living in sync with people and the planet. Given the squeeze of the current economy, this ethos makes a lot of sense, but permaculture isn’t just a philosophy of low waste and economy; it’s also based in community, nourishment and kindness.
“Permaculture is about trying to live the most ecologically sustainable life ‘starting where you are, using what you have and doing what you can’. The foundational ethics of this system are earth care, people care and fair share,” she says. This is not some pie in the sky unreachable concept. There are simple every day actions individuals can take to live a more considered existence.
Permaculture is about trying to live the most ecologically sustainable life starting where you are, using what you have and doing what you can
Born in Denmark to a Swedish mother and Australian father, Anna grew up with the principles of permaculture, even if they weren’t known by that term yet.
Her mum is a keen gardener who has always grown her own produce and used it in her cooking. She was baking, preserving, and cooking with fresh, wholesome ingredients long before it was fashionable.
“As a little girl, I loved nature, bushcraft, foraging and making from found objects. I wanted to be a real forest girl,” she says. Her dad worked as a biotechnologist so each member of the family engaged closely with nature, examining its patterns and appreciating its virtues.
Anna and her mum, an interior designer, also drew artistic inspiration from their forays into nature. They still love to draw, paint and make things from what they collect in nature. Home economics at school was boring compared to what Anna was learning at home. She was more interested in chemistry, biology, French and literature.
Botany and genetics were her chosen subjects when she went to the University of Melbourne. Going to university was a social awakening for Anna. She met other super smart, neurodivergent, kindred spirits. In fact, it was so much fun that her studies suffered and she decided to avoid accumulating further HECS debt and go into the workforce.
Anna tried everything from landscape gardening to being a nanny. None of her eleven ‘starter jobs’ appealed. So, she went to Australian Catholic University to pursue a double degree: Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Teaching, majoring in Visual Arts with a minor in Theology.
Art has always been important in her life and Theology provided fascinating stories. It would also help if she wanted to teach in Catholic schools. Anna followed her heart into Primary Education. Her motivation was for kids to feel safe, seen, heard, nurtured and nourished.
Fortunately, she landed at a school accredited for its focus on sustainability. She worked closely with her students, challenging them to come up with their own solutions. It elevated their problem-solving skills, created connective thinking and gave them ownership over their own knowledge. They cooked what they gathered in their self-built permaculture garden. The real joy for Anna was witnessing their ‘aha’ moments.
Anna completed further studies in permaculture at CERES in Melbourne, completing a 14 week Urban Gardener course. Formal education and hands-on practice in foraging, cooking, preserving food and making traditional handicrafts gave Anna the knowledge and skills to start her small business, The Urban Nanna and it’s been going gangbusters ever since.
Through radio, TV, print media, her website, social media and her own publications, Anna is getting her eco-focused, Earth-first approach out to an appreciative public. Her book is selling like hotcakes and her workshops are consistently booked out. Even better, through council funding, most of her workshops are offered for free.
Everything Anna does comes from a place of sharing and caring. She lives a genuine permaculture existence. She is quick to point out that people don’t need land to grow. She practiced permaculture while living in rental property with little available space. A huge proportion of the world’s population are renters. No one was doing permaculture this way because of the temporary nature of renting. Anna quickly addressed portable permaculture.
While Anna thinks 100% zero waste isn’t really achievable, she believes we can certainly aim towards it. At current levels of consumption, we would need four or five Earths to carry on this way. Lower waste and respectful, responsible use of resources provides ways to connect with others in a deeper more meaningful way of belonging as we all invest in saving our planet.
“It’s about balance. We have a place in a living system where we eat, sleep and play. When we feel part of this system, we respect embodied energy more. Be frugal, moderate and engage with your community. Cooking from scratch using locally grown is one easy way to do this. We can learn how food works and retrofit that cooking to what we actually have. It’s perfect in a cost of living crisis. Community sufficiency is the way to go,” she says. Then everyone feels empowered. It’s a win-win.
Originally published in Peninsula Essence Magazine.
