This is what Zach Galifianakis loves about gardening: “The miracles that you get to see — small, little miracles that we take for granted.”
Wait. Was this a bit? Galifianakis, an actor and comedian, is best known for the deliberately stressful interview show “Between Two Ferns” and for prickly, provocative fare like “Baskets” and the “Hangover” movies. So this earnestness could have been mistaken for a gag. But Galifianakis, an avid gardener, meant every word.
At his home in rural British Columbia, he grows myriad fruits and vegetables. He has beekeeping aspirations. Onscreen he is rarely serene, but gardening calms him.
“All the gardens I visit, there’s always peace there,” he said. “When you see nature making sense, it’s really fulfilling.” He is at his happiest, he said, when he is down and dirty.
That philosophy made Galifianakis, 56, the natural choice to host “This Is a Gardening Show,” a short-format how-to show that arrives on Netflix on Wednesday, Earth Day.
“Gardening shouldn’t be for a niche group, and everybody deserves to grow their own food,” said Chris Kim, a creator of the show. “Who would be the perfect person to represent all of us who have dumb questions, silly questions?” That person was Galifianakis. “Gardening can be awkward, but so are his jokes,” Kim said.
The episodes alternate segments in which Galifianakis learns from expert gardeners and others in which he interviews school-age children. The tone is zippy and family friendly, though Galifianakis still offers jokes about poop, drugs and suicide.
“How is this funny?” one child asks him.
Still, the message is nakedly optimistic. “The gardens are hope; the earth is our hope; nature is our hope,” Galifianakis says in the show.
Speaking by video from the less verdant home he keeps in Los Angeles, Galifianakis discussed comedy, manure and his true feelings about cantaloupe. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
Did you grow up gardening?
My grandparents gardened, but I did not. I was a communications major at an agriculture school. Looking back, I wish I had studied it. There was a woman I knew, her major was soil. At the time I thought it was ridiculous, but now I’m like, Oh my God, I wish I knew more about soil because that’s everything.
How did you get into gardening?
I was in Greece in my 20s. I was on a Vespa, scooting around, and I saw this man in his garden who looked to be about 80 and he looked so happy. I got off my scooter, I said, “Excuse me, can I take a picture of you?” I just took a picture of this very happy man in his potato field. And I thought at that moment, if I make it to that age, that’s where I want to be.
What a pure thing. And surprising. Because your comedy at the time was pretty dark and uncomfortable.
Well, there’s my stage persona, and then there’s my real-life persona. They’re in contrast.
What was your first garden?
A few years later, I moved to Venice [in Los Angeles]. If you have a little grass patch in front of your sidewalk, it’s not yours, it’s the city’s. But you can garden it. I dug it up, I wanted to get all the crack cocaine out of the dirt. I replenished it with manure and compost. I grew grapes, ghost peppers, I wanted it to be a local garden; I wanted people to just pick from it. I got more serious about it when I ended up in Canada. I’ve got this garden I’ve been working in almost every day. I find an immense amount of peace there.
What are your favorite things to grow?
I love pumpkins because I love the reward of seeing how big they get. You can feed pumpkins to your dog; you can smash pumpkins; you can do anything. Also pumpkins are pretty hardy, so they kind of care for themselves. My ultimate goal is to grow everything you find in a Greek salad.
Do you have the climate for olives?
No, I cannot do olives. And there’s no feta cheese tree.
What made you interested in making a gardening show?
These producers somehow found out that I garden. They called me and they said, would you be interested in hosting a garden show? I’ve always wanted to get to know really good gardeners because it’s working toward a paradise. It’s working toward Eden.
Why incorporate children?
They are the ones that really need to do this. I’m disappointed that we as humans have not seen this as the most important thing to hand to the next-generation, where our food comes from. So it was from a pure place. Interviewing kids — look, it’s so fun. It’s also pretty easy.
Did you have to alter your comedy style for this?
I’m not going to go and be insulting and brash and all that to gardeners. This is more of my real personality. And I want kids to be kids. I will protect innocence for sure.
What’s the best thing you learned?
It confirmed my hunch that the garden is the place for harmony. And also, gardening is not hard. It really isn’t. There’s a time suck to it, but that’s not lost time. All of a sudden two hours, three hours have passed, and you feel good about it because you’re out in the air, you’re close to nature. I look around at cities, and I cannot believe how much concrete is in our world. Why aren’t these gardens?
Does the show have a political aspect?
No. Food is the great connector. You and I might not agree on politics, but you and I both love cantaloupe. I mean, I don’t like cantaloupe, but you know what I mean.
What do you want people to take away from the show?
I want them to be entertained by it and also inspired by it to try to grow something. If we can green up our spaces and cultivate a culture around that for the future, it’s very healthy.
What about people like me who don’t have any outdoor space?
Well, you have a window? You’ve got some sunlight? You could do cherry tomatoes; you could do celery. Can you not find a little spot that you could just dig?
I’m on the wait list for a nearby community garden. Can you throw some weight around?
Yeah, I’ll get you a good spot.
Alexis Soloski has written for The Times since 2006. As a culture reporter, she covers television, theater, movies, podcasts and new media.
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