My country retreat

Marcus Wareing on how the pandemic inspired him to change his lifestyle

- REBECCA FLETCHER

MARCUS WAREING’S TALES FROM A KITCHEN GARDEN

NEW MON-FRI / BBC2 / 6.30PM / EPS 1-5 of 10 / COOKERY

When Marcus Wareing bought a fledgling kitchen garden four years ago, he had no idea how it would change his life. The Michelin-star restaurant owner, cookbook writer and MasterChef: The Professionals judge was as in-demand as ever, and thought the 65-acre smallholding in East Sussex would simply be a place to potter and switch off in rare moments of downtime.

Instead, the land has inspired him to embrace the dream of living, growing and cooking in the English countryside, and his venture into the world of farming is at the heart of a new BBC2 series, Marcus Wareing’s Tales from a Kitchen Garden.

Here, in an exclusive interview, Marcus, 51, who lives in London with his wife, Jane, and their three children, tells TV Times more…

Is it true you’ve never tried farming or growing veg before?

Yes. I’m from a farming background in that my dad was a fruit and potato merchant, but he used to buy and sell produce, not grow it.