Nourish Talks, on the rooftop at St Canice’s Kitchen Garden, brings you some winter warmth on July 23. You’ll hear environmental legends Michael Mobbs and Costa Georgiadis in conversation with Lucienne Joy about city sustainability. You’ll feast on three courses of spectacular food from our friends at Seed2Soul. You’ll soak up an exclusive musical set from award-winning songstress Ange Takats. You’ll be immersed in beautiful styling from interior design firm Davenport Campbell. You’ll learn more about the power of gardens to build wellbeing and community while enjoying an inner-city oasis that’s changing lives through food, growing, connecting and learning.

Costa Georgiadis: Lovingly described by some as half man-half hedge, Costa and his famous beard have been hosting Gardening Australia for the last couple of years, building a devoted and enthusiastic following. He’s a holistic landscape architect, Sydney local, and tireless supporter of community gardening. At St Canice’s Kitchen Garden, Costa has taught us the ways of lasagne bed gardening and green smoothie mixing. Now, he takes to the Nourish stage to talk verge gardens, city living, ecological thinking and sustainability. http://costasworld.org/

Michael Mobbs: In 1997, Michael Mobbs, then an environmental lawyer and now an esteemed sustainability consultant, overhauled his Chippendale terrace house to be sustainable - independent of city water, sewage, and power. More than 60,000 people have bought ‘Sustainable House’ - the book he wrote about how to follow in those trailblazing footsteps. Tens of thousands of people have toured with him through his house and neighbourhood to see what’s possible. There's a replica of his house in the Powerhouse Museum. More recently, Michael has embraced the ecological and moral challenges of gardening. Growing food, building connections with farmers, transforming the urban streetscape, making soil, and telling stories about it in his second book, ‘Sustainable Food’. http://sustainablehouse.com.au/

Ange Takats: One of the purest voices on the Australian music scene – Ange Takats is able to coat with sugar, crush with sadness and cut through to the soul of a song. The former foreign correspondent turned folk singer’s second album Arva blends 30s jazz with 60s folk and scored the songstress a Queensland Music Award in 2013. Strangely enough, Ange began her music career in Bangkok where she was based for two years as a journalist. During her time in south east Asia she joined a folk rock band with two whiskey-swigging Thai musicians, performing weekly at one of Bangkok's top music venues.Her worldly adventures and natural gift for storytelling have allowed her to develop a unique performance style – weaving lighthearted travel tales between darkly emotive songs. Ange's Nourish performance comes off the back of a three-month songwriting sabbatical in Nepal which was cut short due to the devastating earthquakes. http://www.angetakats.com.au/

Lucienne Joy: Lucienne Joy has spent a lot of her life talking. As an on-air radio personality in Sydney, London, Canberra and the French Riviera, Lucienne has honed her skills in incisive interviewing and uncovering fascinating stories. Somehow, Lucienne also found time to be Head of Radio at the Australian Film, TV and Radio School for six years, a lecturer in the School of Communications at Charles Sturt University, a Voice, Presentation and Media Trainer, a senior political staffer for Maxine McKew and Programs Manager for the Australian Children’s Music Foundation. Oh, and she’s a published author. Her first novel, Ulterior Motives, was released in 2008 and there’s another on the way. http://luciennejoy.com.au

At Nourish (Winter) Michael, Costa and Lucienne will be in conversation about food, ecological footprints, community, friendship, transformation, consumption and how living more sustainably in the city is only a few decisions away. You’ll also learn more about how the garden is building resilience and community for various clients and community members.

You buying a ticket to Nourish Talks directly contributes funds to people who need it most. You’ll be helping enrich the lives of refugees and asylum seekers, young mums, people experiencing mental health issues, those sleeping rough, and anyone who might benefit from some soil on their hands or some food in their bellies.

You’re warmly invited to be part of this event – Thursday July 23, from 6:30 – 10:00 pm – at St Canice’s Kitchen Garden. This is a ticketed event, open to all ages. Tickets sold out early for the inaugural Nourish in April, so be quick!

THE FINE PRINT: We need to let you know that access to the rooftop is up several flights of stairs, which means it isn't accessible by wheelchair. The talk itself will take place in the Hall, which is fully accessible, and we'd be pleased to work with you to find a way for you to still experience as much of the event as possible. Call Tilly on 0403 988 132 to discuss, or email nourishtalks@gmail.com. If you can handle the stairs but will need seating once you're on the roof, we've got that covered.