Gardening Australia Junior Podcast

To celebrate Science Week we're unearthing a special episode of Gardening Australia Junior! The theme of this year's Science Week is 'Seeds of Science: Nurturing knowledge for all'. They're not just talking about planting seeds in the ground. It’s about planting seeds of curiosity too! Every great scientific discovery starts with wondering about the world around us... Why is the sky blue? Why do apples fall from trees? What’s hiding underneath our feet? Join Costa, Dr Nij from Imagine This and the Gardening Australia Junior crew in learning all about the secret lives of worms.

Join Costa, the Gardening Australia Junior crew and a monstrous midge as they travel to Antarctica to see how plants grow in the South Pole.

Join Costa, the Gardening Australia Junior crew and a colossal caterpillar as they answer the age-old question: what’s the difference between fruit and vegetables?

Join Costa, the Gardening Australia Junior crew and a super-sized koala as they discover how trees survive bushfires.

Join Costa, the Gardening Australia Junior crew and an army of ants as they find out how plants get sick.

Join Costa, the Gardening Australia Junior crew and a humungous scarab beetle as they investigate whether any of today’s plants are as old as dinosaurs.

Join Costa, the Gardening Australia Junior crew and an enormous ladybird as they find out why some plants sting.

Imagine This host Dr Nij joins Costa and the Gardening Australia Junior crew to find out why worms are so good for the garden.

Join Costa, the Gardening Australia Junior crew and a super-sized slug as they discover whether mushrooms glow in the dark.

Join Costa, the Gardening Australia Junior crew and a huge butterfly as they find out whether plants cry.

Join Costa, the Gardening Australia Junior crew, a giant mosquito and a grasshopper as they discover how Venus fly traps work.

Roses are red, violets are blue — or are they? Join Costa, the Gardening Australia Junior crew and a beautiful butterfly as they discover how plants get their colours.

A game of hide and seek turns into a search for nature's hidden cubby houses. Join Costa, the Gardening Australia Junior crew and a terrifying termite as they uncover the mysterious makings of tree hollows.

Poop helps plants grow, but which creature makes the best manure? Join Costa, the Gardening Australia Junior crew and a blowfly as they examine the dung of their favourite farm animals.

A fruit salad feast ends with a tumultuous flight through a banana plantation. Join Costa, the Gardening Australia Junior crew, a fruit bat and a fruit fly on a wild ride that requires thick skin.

A mindfulness class becomes a gargantuan gassy garden. Join Costa, the Gardening Australia Junior crew and an impatient yoga teacher as they answer the question: Can plants breathe?

A picnic turns into a voyage in a glass bottom boat. Join Costa, the Gardening Australia Junior crew, a turtle and some seagulls, as they examine the grass growing at the bottom of the ocean.

The stench of rotten meat is wafting from a rocket-shaped fungus in the garden. Join Costa, the Gardening Australia Junior crew and a fleet of blowflies as they find out why some plants reallllllly stink.

A desert sandstorm ends with a climb up a skyscraper-sized cactus. Join Costa, the Gardening Australia Junior crew and a giant rat as they discover why cacti are covered in spines.

A carpet of prickles is taking over the school playground. Join Costa, the Gardening Australia Junior crew and an enormous poodle as they track down the source of their weedy woes.

Flowers transform into trampolines and tunnels with a sprinkle of magic compost! Join Costa, the Gardening Australia Junior crew, a long-tongued moth, and a blue-banded bee as they explore all the different shapes of flowers.

Have you ever soared through the sky on a butterfly's back? Crawled through termite tunnels? Bounced on flower petals like trampolines? Now you can, with a sprinkle of Costa's magic compost! Join Costa and the Gardening Australia Junior crew discovering the secrets of the natural world as it's transformed into an enormous adventure wonderland.

Today’s the big day! Caylee and Costa plant Caylee’s seedlings, and set-up her garden. But that’s the easy part – the tricky part is looking after your plants, and keeping them happy and healthy. After listening, Costa challenges you to plant your very own garden. Whether you've got a big backyard, a balcony, or a little pot on a windowsill it's time to get gardening. Then, use our helpful Gardening Buds Diary to help you learn from and take care of your garden.

Caylee and Costa use everything they’ve learnt so far to choose the plants for Caylee’s garden. But Caylee has a big question for Costa – after she’s planted her garden, what happens if something goes wrong? After listening, Costa challenges you to think about a time something didn't go to plan, and what you did to learn from it.

Caylee is getting closer to figuring out what kinds of plants she wants to grow in her garden, but it’s important to remember that gardens aren’t just for us people! Costa talks about how important garden spaces are for the birds and bugs that share our neighbourhoods. After listening, Costa challenges you to go for a walk and see what kinds of critters you can spot in the gardens around your neighbourhood.

Caylee makes a special trip to Gardening Buds HQ to learn what plants need to keep healthy and happy - sunlight, water and food. Then, Costa introduces us to some wiggly little friends and teaches us how we can help make healthy soil. After listening, Costa challenges you to see how one of your plant's leaves will change being exposed to less sunlight.

Caylee and Costa put their microclimate goggles on to do something very important - a site assessment – to understand the space that Caylee will grow her garden in. We find out how light, size, temperature and lots of other things can affect what will work for you and your garden. After listening, Costa challenges you to put your microclimate goggles on and do some detective work at your place.

8-year-old Caylee calls the Gardening Buds hotline for some help to get her very own garden growing. She speaks to Gardening Bud Costa, but before they can plan Caylee’s garden, they go on a walk to find out about all the different kinds of gardens. From verge to vertical, pollinator to pizza, there are so many kinds of gardens! Gardening Buds challenge of the week: Create a drawing of your perfect garden and email a photo to Costa at ABCKidslisten@abc.net.au

Everything a kid needs to know to make their garden grow! 8 year-old Caylee loves being outside and wants to make her very own garden. But where should she start? What soil is the best? Do worms help? Which plants work for small gardens? What about big gardens? How do plants even work? With the help of gardening expert Costa, each episode Caylee will learn as much as she can about these big questions. Whether you’ve got a big backyard, a balcony or a little pot on a windowsill, get growing with Gardening Buds!