Gardening Australia's Hannah Moloney reclaiming food culture with new book

The Tasmanian native and presenter of ABC's Gardening Australia released her second book in Launceston last week, Good Life Growing.

The new release is packed with informative images and illustrations to guide Aussies through their first garden.

Ms Moloney said whether you were a beginner grower or more experienced, there was always more to learn.

"A lot of gardening is often assumed to be more complicated or more overwhelming than it actually is, and so this book is really about how we can get rid of any barriers for people so they can have a crack," Ms Moloney said.

"That includes people renting or in between housing, so making sure we're catering to people in all housing situations or income brackets as well."

Reclaiming food culture is a large focus of the book, which Ms Moloney said involved becoming more connected to our "food system".

"When we grow food, we're saying we want our food system to be part of our life," she said.

"We can all play a role in where our food comes from; when we have a crack at growing food, we're saying we want our food culture to be part of our lives and not something that comes from this mystery farm outside the city somewhere."

Along with reclaiming food culture and combating food insecurity, Good Life Growing speaks to the mental health benefits of getting your hands dirty.

Ms Moloney said there was an "incredible relationship" between mental health and gardening.

"It's always been known to me in an sense that when I garden, I feel better," she said.

"I've seen more and more scientific research where it's proven that having soil under your fingernails and on your hands actually has a response in your body."

A growing body of evidence suggests a "friendly bacteria" called Mycobacterium vaccae found in soil may be responsible for the good feelings, as it's been known to activate brain cells to produce serotonin.

"It's absolutely one of the wonderful reasons I do it and of course once the garden is established, it feels pretty darn satisfying," Ms Moloney said.

She said the book's key hope was that everyone could have a go at gardening.

"There is something for everyone in this book," she said.