HANNAH MOLONEY is an author, sustainability advocate and a TV presenter who is passionate about urban agriculture, community-led food growing and climate action.
GOOD READING caught up with Hannah upon the release of her latest book, Why We Garden.
MEET HANNAH MOLONEY
Hannah Moloney grew up in sunny Meanjin/Brisbane on an urban herb nursery her dad ran in the back garden during the ’80s and ’90s.
‘My mum worked at the Native Title Tribunal providing research and support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander group’s land right claims. The house was always noisy and busy.
‘Mum and Dad eventually bought the house next door which they rented out, and the herb nursery expanded into that backyard. A couple of years later my grandma moved across the road and Dad expanded the nursery into her backyard too. We ended up with around half an acre of herb nursery in the inner-city suburb of Kurilpa/West End.
‘All of us kids worked in the nursery, helping Dad out after school or on the weekends. Most of the time we didn’t really want to as we wanted to faff around with our mates and just be kids.
‘After I finished school and left home at 18, I travelled Australia. I visited social and environmental campaigns and volunteered on organic and permaculture farms. I could see the power of conservation and gardening and farming to work with both people and place, to help grow a good life for all.
‘Before I was 19, I was dead-clear that this is where I’d spend my life working and threw myself in with my whole head and heart. I’ve been here ever since.’
ABC viewers would know Hannah for her appearances on the ever popular Gardening Australia where she often films her pieces to camera from her garden, which is on a steep block, outside Hobart in Tasmania.
Her latest book was inspired by what would become its title, Why We Garden.
‘Whether its edible, ornamental, native or another version of it, gardening can take up a lot of your time, energy and spare cash.’
‘In today’s world, people are increasingly busy and stretched in all directions and yet so many of us choose to garden despite all the barriers. While it’s sometimes impractical and irrational, we’ll bend over backwards to nurture a patch of earth into life. So I wanted to dig deeper and put some words to people’s reasoning and weave in historical research and storytelling throughout.’
Hannah decided to explore the question of why we garden with a wide variety of people, speaking with politicians, artists, activists and thousands of ordinary gardeners. It includes interviews with Tim Winton, Bruce Pascoe, Laura Tingle, Clare Bowditch, Bob Brown and Costa Georgiadis, among others.
What key message does she hope readers take from Why We Garden?
‘I hope they remember that as humans we have more in common than not. That access to land (and gardening) is not only a human right, but it’s a human need. And I also hope that people remember that along with the carrots, eucalyptus trees, roses, peach trees, native grevilleas, banana trees and pansies – humans also have a key role in the garden as, ultimately, we are Nature.’
Hannah is an inspiration to many with her work in permaculture, protecting and empowering nature to flourish. But who are the people that inspire her?
‘Annemarie and Graham Brookman in South Australia (they come as a pair so count as one) who run The Food Forest. Technically it’s a permaculture farm but includes multiple productive gardens in a tough climate with limited rainfall. They’re tenacious, insanely productive and have a holistic ecosystem approach to gardening and landscape health.
‘Fiona Brockhoff from Victoria, one of Australia’s most celebrated Landscape Designers specialises in working with native plants in stunning ways.
‘Bob Brown from Tasmania. Former Greens leader and life-long environmental defender, Bob advocates to protect our wild places (our natural and biggest gardens) including old growth forests. We rely on these wild places in order to have a healthy world that we can garden in so I’m incredibly grateful for his work.’
So, what lies ahead for this passionate and energised woman?
‘Overall, I see myself pushing and stretching myself further and further and further to see what else I can do to help create a good life for all.’
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hannah Moloney is a TV presenter on ABC’s Gardening Australia, permaculture practitioner, bestselling author and climate activist. When she has a quiet moment, you’ll find her in Nipaluna/Hobart gardening, playing the ukulele (badly but happily), trail running (badly but happily), painting birds and hanging with her delightful family.
Follow Hannah Moloney on Instagram
0 Comments