This is a Gardening Show

Farming July 9, 2026

A review of the gardening show hosted by Zach Galifianakis.

Gardening
Soil
Media

Earlier this year, Netflix released a 6-episode season of a new show called “This is a Gardening Show” (though host Galifianakis joked in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that a better title would have been “Holy Shit, There’s a Carrot”). It’s part documentary and part comedic interview (slightly toned down and more family-friendly than “Between Two Ferns”), but touches on several well-known aspects of gardening at all scales (up to orchards and farms): apples, tomatoes, foraging, root vegetables, corn, compost.

The theme of the show is a little bit less extreme or activist-y from some of the other media I’ve read or watched lately, though Galifianakis does end nearly every segment with a comment that “the future is agrarian”; in light of many of the decisions and current events around AI data centers taking over farmland and “forever chemicals” being approved for use or protected against accusations that they cause cancer, this seems almost prophetic or imperative, strongly encouraging the viewer to start down a journey to take control of his or her (or their family’s) own food supply.

However, this gentle and more inquisitive tone, underscored by the children he interviews to bookend each segment, does make gardening feel more accessible and less scary. As an example, the final segment seems like a very slight embellishment on the very simple “take food scraps, make compost”, which is honestly about as complicated as it really needs to be. Compare that to my research on the subject where I read multiple articles and watched several Youtube videos claiming to educate me on how to “create the perfect compost pile” before I ended up just following the advice of “take food scraps, make compost”. Personally, I find the science behind compost fascinating, so it was by no means a waste of time, but at the end of the day I still have compost.

If you have Netflix and any interest in gardening, I think this show is a great place to start. It intentionally does not use the word “homesteading” in the title, because that term seems to come with a lot of overwhelming expectations, even if that (or something approximating it) might be the end goal. Even if you don’t think you have any interest in gardening, but are interested in where food comes from (or want to teach your kids where food comes from) or are concerned about food security, add this show to your to-watch list. It’s only 6 episodes, each roughly 15 minutes long, so it’s easily binge-able (I watched it over the course of two days, and that’s only because I was interrupted the first day and only got through 5 of 6).