Looking for the good life

After developing a passion for growing fruit and veg, Ade and Sophie Sellars quit their professional careers in the City and embarked on a gardening adventure that would change the course of their lives

- Ade and Sophie Sellars

Gardening has always been in my life, although I didn’t really pick up the spade until 2010. My late dad was a great gardener. I have treasured memories of him placing me in his wheelbarrow as we headed towards the largest playground I’d ever seen. There, I’d be left to my own devices: exploring plots, having adventures, and creating stories, normally Star Wars related.

When I was older, I moved to London with the hopes of being an actor. After my training, I rose to the dizzying heights of playing ‘spear-carrier 4’ at London’s National Theatre and dying in the arms of the Rocky IV villain Dolph Lundgren.

After years of trying to get in front of the camera, I was more successful behind it, so I became a TV editor and director. It was a very creative job, enabling me to travel the world meeting weird and wonderful people.

But when I bought my first house with my wife 10 years ago, I rediscovered gardening and my world changed.

DO NOT KILL!

At first, Sophie was the gardener. But when she had to go abroad for several months to work on a film shoot, she left me with a collection of half-germinated seedlings and strict instructions not to kill them.