Welcome to Nurtured Life, an Australian website curated by Debbie Bassingthwaighte that’s dedicated to growing food, caring for living systems, and nurturing a grounded, connected way of living. Whether you arrived through curiosity, recommendation, or chance, you’re warmly welcome.

Nurtured Life brings together gardening, permaculture principles, wellbeing, creativity, and everyday wisdom, with a focus on practical, ethical, and place-based living. Much of the content is shaped by warm temperate and subtropical conditions in South East Queensland, supporting home gardeners and nature-connected households to create productive, resilient gardens and meaningful lives.

I’m Debbie Bassingthwaighte, the writer, curator and voice behind Nurtured Life. I’m a wife, mother, grandmother, lifelong learner, teacher, mentor, gardener, designer, homesteader, and permaculture-inspired community member. Learning has always shaped my life, and this site is my way of gathering and sharing what I think of as living wisdom. This is knowledge shaped by experience, observation, and care.

For more than twenty years, my husband Brodie and I lived at Madingley Homestead, a productive five-acre Land for Wildlife property in the Lockyer Valley in South East Queensland. Our gardens nourished family, friends, and local wildlife, and deeply informed our understanding of ecological gardening, permaculture design, and stewardship of place.

In early 2025, we entered an exciting new chapter by downsizing to a two-bedroom villa on a 380 square metre block in Toowoomba. We’ve named our new home Bella Vita, meaning Beautiful Life, and are now exploring micro-homesteading and designing an edible, biodiverse garden in a much smaller space.

Nurtured Life continues to evolve alongside this journey. Through my garden guides, plant profiles, wellbeing reflections, wildlife care, recipes and creative practices, my hope is to offer practical guidance, gentle inspiration, and a sense of connection.  I hope this encouragement will support you to nurture your garden, your wellbeing, and your relationship with our living world, and to live a Nurtured Life.