A new gardening show coming soon to Netflix won’t be your usual how-to offering—and its A-list comedian host is the reason why.
Netflix just announced that actor Zach Galifianakis will be hosting a new gardening-centric series on the streaming service titled, appropriately, This Is a Gardening Show. Rather than positioning The Hangover star Galifianakis as an expert, the show’s description states he “approaches the subject [of gardening] with curiosity and self-effacing humor, admitting that his goal is to learn alongside the audience.”
We recently spoke with Galifianakis to learn more about what inspired the new series and the biggest lesson he took away from filming it.
How the Show Came to Be
According to Galifianakis, the idea to host a garden show came to him during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Then the opportunity to do just that arrived in a moment of serendipity via a producer phone call. But the actor said his love for gardening actually took root much earlier.
“Years ago, while in Greece, I saw an older gentleman in his garden,” Galifianakis says. “He seemed happy. I asked if I could take his photo. I still have it. It was that moment I was going to spend a good amount of my spare time in a garden.”
Since then, he said he has taken an experimental approach to gardening, with a keen interest in older farming practices. This year, he’s making his first attempt at growing asparagus and planted them in a bed of seaweed, “as I hear they love it.” He’s also taking a unique approach to growing blueberries, he shared, by using a cedar log he hollowed out with fire as a planter—“an Amazonian technique a friend was telling me about.”
Credit: Netflix
What to Expect
The show will certainly lean into the actor’s humor. The trailer features the host asking a gardener, “Without sounding stupid, what is a tomato?” At another point, Galifianakis asks a child what his favorite fruit is, and the child responds: “Kale.” “That’s not a fruit,” the star pointed out.
Despite all the humor, which will feel familiar to fans of the actor’s popular Between Two Ferns internet talk show, it is clear from the trailer that Galifianakis holds a deep respect for the growers featured in the project, a sincere passion for gardening and agriculture, and a desire to promote its benefit for the planet and its future. It will be an inspiring—and entertaining—reminder of what makes caring for your own garden and growing your own food so rewarding.
Along the way, Galifianakis learns from the gardeners and farmers he interviews. While heaps of knowledge were imparted during filming, he said the biggest lesson he took away was the importance of soil. One episode, the series’s sixth and final one, shows the star marveling at expert Joyce McMenamon’s tips and tricks for composting to improve your garden soil. “It is all about soil. That is your base,” he says. “Soil has become my main focus in gardening.”
Credit: Netflix
When Does It Premiere?
The new series is set to premiere on Netflix on April 22, which is also Earth Day. It will consist of six 15-20 minute episodes that all share a common goal, according to Galifianakis. “I just hope to make a connection between food and people,” he says.
Read the original article on Better Homes & Gardens
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