We are loving seeing our Green Hip Tribe expand and welcome new exciting members! Our Green Hip Tribe celebrates ladies with different skill sets, experiences and stories to share. In this week’s blog post we introduce you to one of our newest Green Hip ambassadors, Chloe Thomson from Instagram’s @beantheredugthat. Chloe is a horticulturalist, gardening presenter, self-confessed plant nut and a super mum to two young boys! Talking plants and gardening has always made her happy, here’s her journey…
It Begins with the Roots...
Chloe grew up on a small hobby farm, where she was surrounded by rolling paddocks of wide-open spaces, horses, chickens and veggie gardens. Revelling in the peace and beauty of the small family farm, Chloe soon found her passion for gardening and the outdoors.
The more Chloe got her hands dirty on the farm, the more she knew that she just couldn’t be tied to a desk job. After completing her Bachelor in Agricultural Science and then her Graduate Diploma of Horticulture, Chloe set out into the vast and varied horticulture industry. Her very first job out of university was working at a strawberry farm, where Chloe would taste countless strawberries each day for the breeding program – yum!
For Chloe, things only went up from there! She worked in several other agricultural roles before moving into sales and communications for several different popular gardening brands. In these roles, Chloe was fortunate to give talks, presentations and demonstrations for a wide range of audience’s and garden lovers. Chloe spent 5 years as a TV presenter on The Garden Gurus, where she was able to show her passion and talent for horticulture.
A Blooming Future...
Chloe’s determination and drive hit an all-time high when she created her own online gardening series ‘The Gardenettes’, with long-time friend and business partner Melissa King. In the series, the women create retro-tinged gardens and delicious cooking content, with a love for organic matter and home-grown harvest. The success of the series has allowed the women to continually expand and grow their series.
In March 2020, Chloe was appointed the host of Bunning’s brand new podcast series, ‘Staying Grounded’. Since the beginning of the series, the podcast has been very well received, ranking in the top 2 home and gardening podcasts nationally!
Chloe’s Backyard Project...
Over the past 6 years, Chloe has developed her sloping backyard into a sanctuary of herb gardens, flower beds and small green spaces. She admires nature and gardening as both a safe haven, and a place for her to get her hands dirty.
When Chloe, her husband and their 2 boys moved into their quarter acre block in the outer Melbourne suburbs six years ago, there wasn’t a single plant in sight! Since then Chloe has designed, refined and loved her garden. She says that ‘it will probably never be finished’ as Chloe is always re-imagining the space, looking for areas to fill with more luscious greenery, blooming natives or edible plants. Safe to say, you can always find Chloe tinkering around her sloping oasis.
Make sure to check out…
Chloe’s Instagram: @beantheredugthat
Chloe’s Podcast: ‘Staying Grounded’ - available on iOS and Google Play.
The Gardenettes: https://thegardenettes.com.au