Vasili's Garden

Vasili's Garden is an Australian television gardening program. Hosted by Vasili Kanidiadis, each episode of the show, which is unscripted and largely unedited, focuses on the plants and produce from the garden of a migrant family from Melbourne, with Kanidiadis emphasising traditional methods of gardening and Greek cuisine. The show has become known for Kanidiadis' lively and sometimes outlandish methods of presentation of the show, his piano accordion playing at the end of the show and his use of the Greek phrase 'maresi' throughout the show. The show first aired on community television station Channel 31 in 2002 and was produced by Kanidiadis' own production company, Maresi Productions. In 2007, after two years of negotiations, the show moved to SBS, collaboratively produced by I Like It Productions, with the main appeal being the reach of a national audience, unavailable up to that point on Channel 31. The format remained largely unchanged, owing to Kanidiadis' insistence that the show retain its 'home video' feel. Kanidiadis sees this as an important aspect of the show, saying that he wants to make "people feel like they are watching their next-door neighbour's house or their aunty or uncle's house."