\u201cI ignore that advice on a daily basis,\u201d he twinkles, \u201cbecause I find that the most inspiring thing in my life is to work with children: their outlook, their positivity, their creativity. They look at the world differently, they push us to take things from new angles. So for that reason, the opportunity to do this show, where we put the kids upfront and in a leadership position where they\u2019re being pro-active and not just standing there as extras \u2013 for me that\u2019s my happy place.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Molly Moriarty is one of the presenters of the spin-off show, Gardening Australia Junior.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Steven Siewert<\/cite><\/p>\n In a way it\u2019s surprising this show took so long to come into being. Gardening Australia<\/em> is all about teaching people the marvels of nature \u2013 specifically those bits of nature to be found in our own backyards \u2013 and if you\u2019re going to teach people, best to get \u2019em young. So this show, where the GA<\/em> team makes its pitch to the primary school set to get to grips with various aspects of making things grow, is an obvious angle. And even more obviously, if you\u2019re going to reach the kids, you need some kids on board, which is where GA Junior<\/em>\u2019s gaggle of pint-sized gardeners come in. With their grown-up co-stars acting as guides, the junior gardeners are the engine of the show, radiating youthful exuberance and bringing that quality that is to be so admired in the youth: an eagerness to get one\u2019s hands dirty. For junior gardener Molly Moriarty, that\u2019s the best part of gardening. \u201cBeing outside digging up dirt and investigating what\u2019s in the ground is really fun.\u201d<\/p>\n The junior gardeners came to the show with various levels of screen experience, but Molly brought bona fide star power to the set: having appeared in productions from Cowboy Bebop<\/em> to Heartbreak High<\/em> to Thor: Love and Thunder<\/em>, there was no chance of her getting overawed by the camera. But like all her co-stars on GA Junior<\/em>, Molly\u2019s gardening credentials are also impeccable \u2013 her passion for greenery began under the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been into gardening since the first COVID lockdown \u2013 my school had sent out care packages to all the students and inside was a packet of sunflower seeds. So I planted my very first plant and watched it grow, and from then on, I\u2019ve loved getting out and taking care of all our plants.\u201d<\/p>\n Many adults in 2023 would probably be sceptical of the idea that your average Australian child would be amenable to taking an interest in gardening \u2013 or of going outside at all, given the joys to be found on various screens. But Costa believes the ability of children today to plug in to all the information available online actually helps in pushing them to take an interest in nature.<\/p>\n Reggie Swao, Costa Giorgiadis and Molly Moriarty in Gardening Australia Junior.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>ABC<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cChildren are incredible sponges,\u201d he enthuses, \u201cand they\u2019re having so much information thrown at them these days, across multiple platforms and devices. It\u2019s easy to generalise and say, get off your phone and your computer and get into the real world. But the thing is, as a result of all that information they\u2019re very much conscious of the world around them, and they\u2019re conscious of the challenges, particularly around the environment.\u201d And though Gardening Australia Junior<\/em> may be just a little show where kids make compost or build a butterfly cafe (yes, butterflies have cafes \u2013 who knew?), he sees children\u2019s love of gardening as evidence of their desire to do something to make the world around them better.<\/p>\n \u201c(When kids are) constantly bombarded with information that the planet is in trouble \u2013 they\u2019re taking it in, they see this information \u2013 when you sit them down and talk to them, they\u2019re aware of the state of the world, and they want to do something. That\u2019s what I love: that practical side of saying, I\u2019m not going to get in a tailspin about it, let\u2019s do something. And they do, they love learning about native bees and native insects and how they fit into the picture and what pollination\u2019s about. Creating challenges around nature, they are challenged because they see the state of the world, but they also want to do something. The school strike, and all of that kind of activism: that\u2019s because they care, and they\u2019re scared. They are alarmed about the future, and that\u2019s not a negative, it\u2019s just a reality, and gardening is kind of a way of connecting to the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n In a way it\u2019s surprising this show took so long to come into being.<\/p>\n If kids are connected to the environment, it\u2019s clear that Costa is connected to the kids. All of the Gardening Australia<\/em> team take part in the junior version, but as on the grown-up edition, Costa tends to draw the eye more than most. Capering about like a friendly green-thumbed Rasputin, his energy makes him seem a big kid himself \u2013 gigantic beard notwithstanding. \u201cCosta was very funny, and full of energy,\u201d Molly says, inspired as all are who come into contact with the great man. \u201cI loved watching him talk a million miles an hour.\u201d<\/p>\n Maybe the greatest takeaway from Gardening Australia Junior<\/em> \u2013 at least from the perspective of an old TV reviewer who, let\u2019s face it, is not exactly the target demographic \u2013 is the chance to see young people soaking up knowledge, gaining new information about the world, and \u2013 like the plants they\u2019re working with \u2013 growing. Molly speaks excitedly about what she learned on the show \u2013 \u201cI\u2019ve learned that you can grow plants in a jar!\u201d \u2013 and Costa is just as excited about what he witnessed in his co-stars. \u201cProbably what came out of the series is that by the end of their involvement, they were seeing things differently, and excited about seeing nature. They learnt that nature isn\u2019t this thing that\u2019s out there \u2013 it\u2019s actually them. It was nice to see those little lightbulbs come on, when they were exploring a story and actually connecting to the threads behind it, and how those threads connected to the big picture. They gained a new capacity to express themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n