HEREFORDSHIRE gardener Monty Don talks about his 'sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll' past growing up as part of a celebrity podcast.

The host of BBC Gardener's World, who lives in Longmeadow, near Leominster, chats to broadcaster Nick Grimshaw and Michelin star chef and restaurateur Angela Hartnett OBE as part of The Dish.

He explains how gardening changed his life. 

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"I'd been expelled from a few schools and I was sort of fairly wayward," he said.

"I remember coming home from school, having a cup of tea, and going out into the garden, because that's what I did by then. I remember I was sowing carrots, and I had this incredible, ecstatic moment of feeling the sunshine, of smelling the earth, of holding the seed in my hand, and it was a kind of beatific experience of just knowing that this was everything I had ever wanted.

"This was the whole world in this moment. And then I was sort of thinking, ‘well that's a bit strange,’ because up ‘til then sex, drugs, and rock and roll were very high on my list, and gardening was not on there. And that night I went to bed, and I had a dream, and I dreamt that my fingers, my hands, grew like roots into the earth."

Hereford Times: Monty Don with the team of The DishMonty Don with the team of The Dish (Image: Chris Blacklay/SE Creative Studio)

Elsewhere in the podcast, Monty offers his top gardening tips, as well as sharing details about an embarrassing disagreement with a Jerusalem artichoke.

"I once went to a very smart house party with Sarah, this is in the 80s, and I've never had Jerusalem artichokes," said Monty.

"And they served them at dinner, and I had seconds and thirds. I spent the rest of the weekend looking for places to break wind."

Nick replies: "It is a very powerful farter of a vegetable. And I don't know why."

Angela says: "Yeah, yeah."Series 4 of Dish from Waitrose & Partners, hosted by Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett, is available on all podcast providers now.