Jade Miles' Huddle on our Nundle verandah

Our September gathering with author, podcaster and regenerative farmer Jade Miles, of Black Barn Farm, was four years in gestation. Jade and I started talking by direct message in 2021 on the back of the launch of Jade's first book Futuresteading. It was a definite yes when Jade approached us to be part of her 2025 lower Hunter and north west NSW tour, taking in Nundle, Somerton, Dungog and Singleton, to promote her second book Huddle. Jade had toured the book in Victoria, WA and the UK since its launch in May.

Our shop verandah has hosted three author events, but this was the first post pandemic lockdown. Our last author event was with Fat Pig Farm's Matthew Evans on Sunday 15 March 2020. It felt significant to welcome our shop community to settle in on our verandah again, engaged in Jade's compelling storytelling.

In preparing for the event I revisited Jade's books and planned a tasting from the recipes featured in their pages. Where possible I used produce from our small farm; preserved plums, apples and passata, eggs, honey, lamb, silverbeet, kale, mustard greens, parsley, thyme and rosemary. We did alright for hosting an event during the 'spring hunger gap' that Jade describes in Huddle as a time when there are slim pickings in the garden and new seedlings yet to emerge. It was excellent motivation to spring clean our shop kitchen and warehouse. I laugh at myself looking at my handwritten lists of what we needed for the event - plates, cups, cutlery, napery, tables, chairs, flowers - and where they would come from (house or shop).

Duncan was a great help of course, transporting furniture from home and even dashing home to cook lamb sausage rolls in our oven. Thankfully Mum and Dad were visiting from the coast and Mum came along to the event to listen and help. Good friend, and fellow Nundle business owner, herbalist Rachel Webster (Oakenville Farm), was another pair of helping hands.

When Jade arrived, for me it was like we'd already met and I was welcoming a friend. I'd listened to Jade's podcast Futuresteading while we were painting our house and I was familiar with much of her backstory and values. It was affirming to see the delight in our guests' faces as they met Jade and talked while they chose a book (or two) for signing. Guests travelled from Tamworth, Liverpool Plains, Wollombi, Maitland, and Lake Macquarie after reading about the event on our socials, journal, and Galah magazine newsletter.

After a welcome drink of plum shrub and nourishing C-soup (carrot, cashew, cumin, coconut and coriander) we gathered in a rough circle to hear Jade. Both Futuresteading and Huddle had emerged out of crises. Jade's reaction to the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires, during which husband Charlie Showers was among a crew that survived a burn-over, was to write about how individuals' everyday decisions as consumers could reduce their ecological impact on climate change. The impetus for Huddle was chain of events that left Jade vulnerable, isolated and broken as she commuted from WA to home near Beechworth in north east Victoria without her ID or bank keycards, and a dead phone. Huddle honours the importance of our support networks and looking for commonality at a time when the world is polarising.

Being familiar with Jade's books I had a pre-conceived idea that the afternoon would focus on self-sufficiency, growing and preserving food, and sharing food to create opportunities to explore commonality. However, it was much, much more. I had prepared questions for Jade, but after asking just one question Jade was off. She shared stories of her free range childhood and early exposure to permaculture via her parents' friendship with Bill Mollison. Jade generously told us about her experience of feeling that her roles as farmer, podcaster, writer and Sustainable Table chief executive officer were not enough, and how she embarked on a vision quest to find her ecological purpose. Jade cautioned that a vision quest is not for everyone - four days and nights alone in the bush in a small space three-by-three metres square, without food or entertainment, allowing you to reconnect with your intuition and sense of purpose. 

As we listened intently, a voice in the back of my head kept telling me to feed our guests. There were lamb sausage rolls, greens and ricotta tarts, chocolate slice and apple cake to serve. Duncan and Mum helped me bring out the food, but the conversation was too rich to interrupt. This afternoon was not about food at all. Jade delved into our deep need for connection with ancestral knowledge, embedding rituals in our lives, and creating rites of passage marking transformation between different life stages. Jade's experiences connected emotionally with our guests. There were tears among our circle. Jade's supported vision quest had challenged her physically, mentally and emotionally, and revealed her ecological purpose to host rites of passage camps on Black Barn Farm. "The key takeaway from it for me was the importance of working with women to be witnessed and reconnect with themselves and the landscape," Jade says.

As our afternoon came to an end, our guests hugged Jade goodbye, full of appreciation for her warmth, and generosity with her time and insight. A message from Dr Trini Dickson after the event summed up the shared experience; 'Absolutely loved our afternoon of "huddling" and the encouragement to speak the long lost words of connection that many of us are yearning for.'

Gluten-free lemon and berry tart (serves 10), from Huddle

This is a dish that I didn't have time to make for our Nundle Huddle, but I made it the following week. Jade serves it for every workshop, school group or bus tour at Black Barn Farm.

What you need: BASE 200 g (7 oz/2 cups) ground almonds, 65 g (2 1/4 oz/1/2 cup) buckwheat flour, 175 g (6 oz/1 cup) brown rice flour, 80 g (2 3/4 oz/1/2 cup) chia seeds, grated zest and juice of two lemons, 110 g (4 oz/1/2 cup) solid coconut oil, 95 g (3 1/4 oz/1/2 cup) soft brown sugar.

FILLING 12 egg yolks (freeze egg whites for use in omelettes or meringues), 1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract, 4 tablespoons natural rapadura sugar (or soft brown sugar), grated zest and juice of 3 lemons, 250 ml (8 1/2 fl oz/1 cup) coconut cream, 75 g (2 3/4 oz/1/2 cup) fresh or frozen mixed berries, plus 150 g (5 1/2 oz/1 cup) extra, double cream or plain yoghurt, to serve.

What you do: Preheat the oven to 180C. To make the base, blitz all the base ingredients in a food processor until the mixture resembles fine crumbs (or combine in a large bowl and rub oil into the mixture with your fingertips.)

Transfer to a 20 cm (8 in) tart tin, pressing into the base and up the side, making sure to cover evenly and fill in any gaps or cracks. Bake for five minutes, then set aside to cool a little.

Meanwhile, blend all the filling ingredients, except the berries and cream or yoghurt, in a blender until just combined.

Pour the filling over the pastry case. Sprinkle the berries evenly over the top. Bake for 50 minutes until the top is set and golden.

Serve with the extra berries and cream or yoghurt.

 

 

 

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