My gardening world
Joe Lycett is a British comedian and television presenter. He has hosted BBC One’s The Great British Sewing Bee and appeared on BBC Two’s Live at the Apollo. He also hosts the Channel 4 consumer justice show, Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back.
What’s been the response to you opening up online about your love of gardening?
I’m out and proud – it’s been really positive, when you realise how many gardeners there are, which is brilliant, we need more! However, my view on gardening is a bit ‘different’. While plants are beautiful, I also see that they’re fighting each other for light and nutrients. There is aggression and violence in gardens, and I think there is something very funny and unexpected about that.
What appeals to you about gardening?
It’s such a solace and so useful for my mental health, a real break from show-business stress. It feels productive, positive and endlessly fascinating. As a stand-up comedian, you want a response straightaway, but as I’ve got older the joy of seeing something come to life – that feeling of nurturing something – has really appealed to me.
Does your family enjoy gardening?
My mum is an amazing gardener, she opens up her garden in Birmingham for the National Garden Scheme every year. She worked for Cadbury, but whenever she could get outdoors, she was gardening, and you can see the results of that now. When I first started my garden, she and my dad helped me out and gave me tips – it was a real family project and a really lovely way of connecting with her.
How exciting is it to make your own compost and what’s your recipe?
Very exciting. We’re all (and should be) worried
about climate change and the amount of waste we produce. Since I got a hot compost bin, my waste has gone down massively. If I’m just starting it off, I’ll put as much vegetable waste in as I can, then the same amount of torn-up cardboard and some chicken pellets. I mix it together well and leave it to heat up. Compost heaps and bins can get really hot – my mum once told me, “You can cook a fish in there”, and I was like, “I think I’ll just use the oven…” As a beginner, what have you found easiest to grow?
Kale. If you would like to feed 70,000 people with one metre of earth, just shove in some kale. Broccoli has also done well for me, and I found an amazing recipe where you roast broccoli and kale together in a tiny bit of oil. Then add olive oil, chopped garlic and salt in a bowl, and just mix the roasted veg into it. When you are cooking stuff you have grown yourself, those are the magic moments. I’ve also roasted radishes and made a little pesto with the radish leaves to go on top – I felt like a mixture of Monty Don and Nigella Lawson, which is very much my vibe, I would say.
Listen out for Joe when he appears as a guest on our podcast this summer. Tune in to Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also listen to previous episodes at gardenersworld.com/podcast