Meet our gardening experts

Caroline Trevorrow  

Caroline is Digger’s Catalogue & Publishing Manager, co-ordinating the development of our catalogues and production of our books. In her spare time she is also Club Manager , studies history and is an avid backyard vegie gardener.

Clive Blazey  

 Clive Blazey is the founder and CEO of The Digger’s Club. He has helped write four books on flowers, vegetables and fruit gardening. He is a leading opponent of genetically modified seeds and the commoditisation of our supermarket driven food supply. To preserve our gardening traditions the club has pioneered the rescue of heirloom vegetable and fruit varieties. Through its nursery, two gardens and bimonthly magazines it seeks to preserve our finest varieties and traditions.

David Glenn  

David Glenn is a well respected gardener and nurseryman but also a passionate plantsman and owner of the Lambley Nursery in Ascot, Victoria. David has searched the world and carefully selected, beautiful plants that thrive in his garden in central Victoria.

David Holmgren  

David Holmgren  is an ecologist, ecological design engineer and writer. He is known as one of the co-originators of the permaculture concept with Bill Mollison.Their wide-ranging conversations and gardening experiences encouraged Holmgren to write the manuscript that was to be published in 1978 as Permaculture One. The book was a mixture of insights relating to agriculture, landscape architecture and ecology.

Diggers Horticultural Advisor  

Julie Willis is Diggers' Horticultural Advisor and a passionate gardener growing both ornamental and edible plants. She brings her UK qualifications and experience in Australia to Diggers and builds on her knowldge of plants for all climates and situations. Julie has presented Diggers workshops and develops Diggers fact sheets.

Dr. Don Huber  

Dr. Huber is a distinguish Professor and Scientist, his agricultural research the past 50 years has focused on the epidemiology and control of soilborne plant pathogens with emphasis on microbial ecology, cultural and biological controls, and physiology of hostparasite relationships.

Dr. Maarten Stapper  

Dr. Stapper is a farming systems agronomist who's main focus is helping farmers improve the profitability of their operations by harnessing the power of natural healthy soil processes.

Evette Jungwirth  

Evette is Diggers Seed Manager. Over the years she has also headed up our Heronswood Garden Shop, plant and bulb department giving her a wealth of knowledge to share with members. Evette a passionate backyard gardener and a Diggers Botanical Guide.

Greenpeace  

Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization^[2] with offices in over 40 countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, Netherlands.^[3] Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its diversity"^[4] and focuses its work on world wide issues such as global warming, deforestation, overfishing, commercial whaling and anti-nuclear issues. Greenpeace uses direct action, lobbying and research to achieve its goals.

Hamish MacKay  

Hamish Mackay is a leading bio-dynamics practitioner.

Jack Marshall  

Jack Marshall is the owner of Frogmore Gardens in Newbury, Victoria which specialises in perennials, druoght tolerant plants and is pioneering the establishment of prairie style gardens.

Jayne Anderson  

Jayne is a retail assistant at Heronswood with years of experience with the Diggers product range as well as horticultural qualifications including a Bachelor of Science (Environmental Horticulture). She often leads our garden workshops, sharing her experience with members, and supports retail customers with garden advice.

Jeff Donne  

Jeff is an Award-winning journalist and photographer from Tasmania, Australia, specialising in people, science and nature writing, a field he calls eco-Journalism. He has received two scholarships for journalism and a finalist place in a national journalism competition. Image: © University of Tasmania

Julie Willis  

Julie is an experienced and passionate gardener with a particular love for ornamental plants. She brings her UK qualifications and experience to Australia as she builds her knowledge in plant selection and performance in our climate. She assists in all areas of the garden particularly in the food production garden at Heronswood.

Lou Larrieu  

Lou has travelled extensively overseas, visiting gardens and trials to expand her knowledge of heirloom vegetables, seed production and seed saving techniques which she brings back to Diggers to improve our trials, selection and range of vegetable seeds. She has managed our Fork to Fork vegetable supply garden, and now manages Diggers vegetable trials and seed production. She contributes articles about her travel experiences and seed saving work.

Luke Palmer  

Lynne Rosetto Kasper  

Lynne Rosetto Kasper is an award-winning American food writer, radio journalist and host of The Splendid Table, whose audience is "people who love to eat." The show features interviews with chefs, restauranteurs, and wine experts. In 1993 she won the James Beard Cookbook of the Year Award for her book The Splendid Table: Recipes from Emilia Romagna, The Heartland of Northern Italian Food. Her radio show won the prestigious James Beard Award on two occasions: in 1998 for Best National Radio Show and 2008 for Best Radio Food Show.

Pat Mooney  

Pat Mooney is the executive director of ETC Group which is dedicated to the conservation and sustainable advancement of cultural and ecological diversity and human rights. Pat has tirelessly been fighting against GE seed dominance and farmers’ rights and well as authoring or co-authoring several books on the politics of biotechnology and biodiversity. He has won the Right Livelihood Award (the "Alternative Nobel Prize") in the Swedish Parliament in 1985 and the Pearson Peace Prize from Canada's Governor General in 1998. 

Penny Blazey  

Penny, with Clive started the Diggers Club in 1978 and lived on the property at Heronswood, emmersed in a gardening life. She writes regularly for the Diggers catalogue and travels extensively, visiting the worlds best gardens for inspiration.

Peter Hatch  

Peter Hatch is the Director of Gardens and Grounds at Monticello. He is responsible for the efforts to restore and maintain the landscaping, vegetable gardens, vineyard and orchards of Monticello in the spirit of Thomas Jefferson’s own practices. He has lectured nationally and written a number of books and articles on gardening at Monticello.

Phillip Adams  

Phillip Andrew Hedley Adams, AO (born 12 July 1939) is an Australian broadcaster, film producer, writer, social commentator, satirist and left-wing pundit. He currently hosts a radio program, Late Night Live, four nights a week on the ABC, and he also writes a weekly column for the News Limited-owned newspaper, The Australian. Adams is (or was) on the Advisory Board of Wikileaks.

Priscilla Van Den Broek  

Priscilla's role at Diggers is not only as Garden Supervisor at Heronswood but she is also instrumental in developing our offsite event displays such as our annual garden display at Melbourne's Food and Wine Festival. Priscilla travels widely, visiting and working at overseas gardens, particularly in Europe with experienced gardens to broaden Diggers gardening skills and techniques. Her qualifications include a Certificate II in Horticulture and she has a Diploma in Landscape Design.

Rex Ennis  

Rex has been growing vegetables in his own backyard for over 40 years and brings that wealth of experience to Diggers seed production and seed saving processes and to our members through the articles he contributes to our magazines. Rex keeps busy at Diggers during the seed production months of summer and autumn then travels during the cooler winter months when production slows.

Rosalind Creasy  

Rosalind Creasy is an American garden and food writer, photographer, and landscape designer with a passion for beautiful vegetables and ecologically sensitive gardening. She has been a pioneer in the field of edible landscaping and is an award winning author of many books and a regular contributor to newspapers, magazines and radio covering gardening issues.

Samantha Scott  

Samantha Scott is a Melbourne based artist whos cross-disciplinary practice employs various permutations of organic abstraction via natural and industrial materials to convey an artistic language that embodies a connection between the self and the wider biological universe.

Simon Dodd  

Simon began his career as a volunteer at Chelsea Physic garden, followed by a period as Head Gardener for London's largest historic private residence Crosby Hall. After moving to Australia he worked in many private gardens before joining Diggers in 2010. Simon has a RHS Diploma in Horticulture and City in Guilds practical certificate in gardening.

Stephanie Alexander  

Stephanie has had a lifelong passion for food after originally becoming a Librarian. A trip to France inspired her interest culminating in the opening of her famous Stephanie's Restaraunt. Other restaraunts followed but her passion for food led to her authoring  12 books on the subject. Her interst in the future of food in childrens cooking led her to set up the Kitchen Garden Foundation in schools, to assist children in the growing and cooking of food to improve their passion, palatte and skills. She a champion of the quality & diversity of Australian food.

Talei Kenyon  

Talei is Diggers Communications and Education Manager and passionate gardener and experienced overseas garden tour leader. She has travelled extensively visiting gardens and events internationally, observing plants and people and the relationship between.

Tim Sansom  

Having grown up with a passion for nature inspired by many family camping trips, Tim went on to study Environmental Resource Management.  After completing this study he travelled extensively, working for a time in the UK where his interest in gardening began.  Upon returning to Australia he completed a Graduate Diploma in Horticulture, leading to a career based around the idea of living lightly on the planet through gardening. The natural link between gardening and the broader environment was Permaculture. After running a landscape design and construction business,  Tim moved to central Victoria to work in Bendigo at the Gravel Hill Community Permaculture Gardens for 3 years before joining the Digger’s Club in 2004 as a gardener at St Erth. Today Tim is one of our joint CEO’s, looking after the Horticulture Division.