De Graft Mensah - BBC Gardeners' World Spring Fair 2026 Preview

The BBC Gardeners’ World Make a Metre Matter campaign is back! and this year, it’s coming to life in a bold, interactive way. BBC Newsround presenter and passionate allotmenteer De-Graft Mensah is teaming up with expert garden designer Lucy Chamberlain to create gardens that inspire small garden ideas and demonstrate how every metre can make a difference.

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

Now, if you're fed up with the winter, and who wouldn't be after all of that rain, you're looking forward to the spring. And I'm sure you're looking to forward to BBC Gardeners World Spring Fair, which returns to the beautiful setting of Bewley in Hampshire from Friday the first to Sunday the third of May. Now, making an appearance this year at the show is somebody who's been waiting two and a half years for an allotment. Many of you will know him from C BBC's newsround, DeGraft Mensa, and he joins me to look forward to the show. Um two and a half years. That's quite a wait, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 0:37

Oh, it's it's so long. It's funny. I remember, I remember the day I signed up for my allotment plot. I was sat on my sofa, I think having a conversation with a friend saying, you know what, I really want to grow things, uh, but I don't know where to start. And I think it was a friend who said, you know what, why don't you try applying for an allotment plot? Now, me being naive, I assumed it was just a process where you put your name in and then you got the plot straight away. Um, that didn't happen. I got a notification nearly instantly saying, due to long waiting lists, it might be a while till you hear from us. And it was, it was two and a half years. It was, I think, I think I was doing a food shop and I got an email saying that, oh, congratulations, a space has come up. And I'm like, a space has come up where? I'm like, oh the allotment's block. And I was so excited, and since since then it has real, it's really been a a baptism of fire.

SPEAKER_00 1:30

Yeah, yeah, there's uh there's an awful lot to learn, and taking on an allotment is uh it's not to be undertaken lightly, is it? But uh I I know that it's encouraged you to see things in a different way, hasn't it?

SPEAKER_02 1:43

Oh, big time. It's really it's really changed the way, if anything, that I view what I'm eating, uh view sort of how things grow seasonally. It's it's provided me with such great joy as well. Um, I remember I think one of the first things I grew might have been a some courgettes, and just honestly seeing the sort of transformation from seed to seedling to sort of bigger plant. I I felt like a kid in school. It was that same excitement that I had when you know, growing up, you learn how runner beans grow. It was that same level of excitement, and it's been wonderful to sort of tap into that joy again.

SPEAKER_00 2:25

Has it been good effectively becoming a beginner?

SPEAKER_02 2:28

Oh, big time. It's if anything, there was a part of me when I first started where I was slightly panicky, and I think it's because you know, I picked up the plot, I had this giant space uh that was filled with litter and uh plants that had overgrown because the person who had it before me just hadn't taken care of it, and I'm I'm sort of presented with this massive space, and I just didn't know where to start. And every day that I'd go to the plot, I would sort of walk there, sort of put my hands on my hips, look at it and think, hmm, okay, uh big job. We'll tackle this next time. And it just kept being pushed and pushed and pushed until one day I had a my plot neighbor, um, a guy called Steve, who sort of comes by to introduce himself, and he gave me the idea of mate, just cover up half of this plot, deal with it next year, just focus on this small space and take it from there. And honestly, that that has helped massively. So being a beginner has been daunting, but also it's I like to say I've received such intergenerational help at the plot. At my plot in particular, there are people of all different ages, some a lot older than me, some who are my age, and just sharing that experience, that knowledge with everyone has been so rewarding and so helpful for someone like me.

SPEAKER_00 3:46

You've got a huge following for your uh Instagram site uh at Degraft is Growing. And therefore, you you've sort of gone into the spotlight uh in a different way now, haven't you? Because you know, your your credentials on newsround are well known. But now you've gone in gone into a new area. Has that been an interesting sort of transition for you?

SPEAKER_02 4:05

You know what, it has been, because anyone who knows me for anything gardening related, I always like to preface it by saying, I am not an expert, I'm I am merely a person who has found an interest in gardening and who is learning like loads of other people around the country. But I think for me, the most interesting thing has been watching our audience at Newsround engage with growing because I've shown an interest. You know, there are the times where I've shared things that I'm doing on the plot on my Instagram or on my TikTok, and just seeing kids just so fascinated with how things are growing, and they're often leaving comments. Oh, they're often leaving comments saying, Can you grow this next? Can you try this next? Sometimes the things that they do suggest are very, I'd say, um, adventurous, and I have to tell them, you know, you do have to remember we live in the UK. Um and I have only just started this, so let's let's crawl before we run. Uh, but it's it has been interesting, sort of changing, changing environments and entering this new world and just connecting with other young gardeners who know so much more than me. It's it's really it's both opened my eyes but also provided such such joy in learning something new.

SPEAKER_00 5:20

Interesting that you say uh you know the following that you have that has come through Newsround. Because I know that you've spent uh an amount of time in your career um advocating diversity uh in the media. And you seem to be implying, correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem to be implying that that diversity has has spilled over big time to your involvement in gardening.

SPEAKER_02 5:41

Yes, yes, and I think it's one thing that I'm very keen on doing when I'm sharing my gardening bits is letting people of all different backgrounds, of all different sort of uh socioeconomic backgrounds know that growing things is possible for anyone. You don't need a big garden, you don't need you don't need a big plot, as long as you've got a pot of compost that you you can put in in a sort of uh training pot, as long as you've got a seed, as long as you've got a balcony, as long as you've got a windowsill, there are opportunities to grow things. And I think, you know, traditionally, at least for me growing up, you sort of assumed people who were growing things were only able to do so because they had big lavish pieces of land that they could grow things on and and they had the facilities to do so. But if I can teach those younger than me anything, I would love it to be that no matter who you are, no matter where you come from, this should be something that is accessible to you. The the idea of putting something in the ground and seeing what happens.

SPEAKER_00 6:43

Absolutely, uh a universal message uh there, isn't it? Yeah. Um now you are coming to BBC Gardeners World Spring Fair. Uh you're there for all three days from the first to the third. You're going to be very, very busy because you are working with the brilliant Lucy Chamberlain on Make a Meter Matter. Tell us about that.

SPEAKER_02 7:04

Well, it's um first of all, I must say I'm very excited because Lucy is ace um and has already taught me so many different things that I that I didn't know. Uh, but this whole idea of uh making a metre matter is encouraging people that you know, with every square meter that we've got, we can make these small, impactful spaces matter, no matter how small it is, we can we can make these sort of beautiful borders with with small spaces, and you know, really encouraging people that with small spaces, we can come up with you know these budget-friendly ideas that can really help us out because you know, right now we know that families up and down the country are feeling a bit of a pinch, and you know, we know that we are in a bit of a cost of living crisis, so it's encouraging people that no matter how small the space is, you can make something impactful. So hopefully, people will take a lot from myself and Lucy as we sort of show them what they can do with with minimal space. I must stress that Lucy will be the brains behind the operation. Um, she is obviously very experienced and very knowledgeable. Um I what I provide, you'll have to come see me on the date. See what you get from me.

SPEAKER_00 8:22

You have you have got a very brilliant teacher in Lucy Chamberlain, hugely experienced. Um you're quite right, you're teasing everybody by saying, Come and see what I've done. Can can you give us a little insight into what you're you're putting in your meter?

SPEAKER_02 8:34

Oh, let me see what I want to share. That is a great question. So, in our meter, oh, so I will give I will give you this. Um, sorry, I've just had my dog join me on the sofa, which startled me. Uh she wants to get involved as well. Um no, what I can share is what we are including are things that really play on your senses, I want to say. So, to give people a bit of a tease, I want to say think about things like your sense of taste, your sense of smell, um, and think about things that will I want to say enhance what you can make in the kitchen. I'm really being guarded here when I probably shouldn't be as guarded. Um, but I imagine big colours, big senses, um and ultimately things, yeah, practical things that people can cook and can use in their day-to-day cooking lives.

SPEAKER_00 9:36

That sounds intriguing. And if you wanted to know more, you will have to go along to the show. Friday the 1st to Sunday, the 3rd of May, are the dates. It's at Bewley in Hampshire, and there is lots of information on the website, BBC Gardenersworldfair.com. Um now, deGraff, you're also, I said you were busy, uh you're also on the BBC Gardeners World stage uh and in the in-conversation stage. You're going to be doing a lot of chatting, aren't you?

SPEAKER_02 10:04

Yes, I'm going to be doing a lot of chatting, which is good because I can talk a lot. Um, but I think if there's anything that anything that I say that could entice people uh to come take a listen is I really just want to continue sort of talking about this message of if I can do this, literally anybody can. Before I started gardening, I hadn't done any gardening whatsoever. The most I've done is had a couple of house plants that had died. Um so everything that I'm doing now has been a result of things that I've learned over the past nearly year now. Um, so I'm hoping that whilst on these stages, I can just hammer home the message of if I can do this, trust me, anyone can.

SPEAKER_00 10:50

Sounds like you're on a mission.

SPEAKER_02 10:52

Yes, yes. And you know what? It's because it's something that it's something that I care about, and it's something that I've realized in growing things, just how easy it is. I think before I started growing, I assumed that oh, there must be some sort of complicated alchemy that goes behind growing. But again, it was a message that my plot neighbor Steve said. He goes to me one day, the girl, just put in the ground and see what happens. I'm like, really, is that it? And then it I don't get me wrong, a lot of things on my plot have died. A lot of things have died, but I've been able to see things grow so beautifully. I think one of the best experiences I had was uh one of my producers at work uh came to help me on the plot with her young uh daughters, and just watching them engage with the plants around us, watching them sort of put their hands on the basil plant and and smelling their fingers and see the cogs turning in their brain. For me, any chance I get to recreate moments like that, I'm I'm down for.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

Do you know it's hardly surprising that your Instagram has a huge following because your enthusiasm is infectious, uh, to say the least. Now, the show is uh is a is a big show, lots to see and do. Um, the showcase gardens, um, and there's a the headline Hillier one is neighbourhood of gardens uh this time around. Um beautiful borders, uh I mean shopping as well. Are you are you a shopper? Will you be taking plenty of money with you to go shopping with uh the nursery exhibitors and the other exhibitors that are there?

SPEAKER_02 12:26

My problem, my I wouldn't say my biggest problem in life is I'm too much of a shopper. If there if there's an opportunity to buy something, I will. Um and I I find I find what I find interesting about myself is I've now become one of those people who will go through like a garden centre and I'm I'm having to literally clench my fist to tell myself to go after don't buy anything. You've you've got too much at home, but you can never have too much. There's there's always something you can get.

SPEAKER_00 12:54

Have you got a favorite gadget that uh that you've bought that you use in the garden? I asked this of all the gardeners I talked to, and it's interesting some of them. Have you got a favorite uh garden tool or gadget that you've got?

SPEAKER_02 13:05

You know what? It was a tool that I got given yesterday, and I'd never heard of it before, and I'm going to sound like such a rookie, but I got given a diber. And I I had never heard uh I was a member of the garden as well team who told me, Oh DeGraft, have you got have you got a diber at home? And I've gone, sorry, what? And he goes, you know, a dibber, and I'm like, I I I do not know what you're talking about. He explained it to me, and now it's become one of my favourite things to use. Uh Dibbers are great, aren't they?

SPEAKER_00 13:36

Tell everybody what a dibber. For those who don't know, tell everybody what a diber is.

SPEAKER_02 13:39

So a diber is essentially a a garden utensil, I want to say, that you poke in the hole and it creates a hole for you, a small hole for you to pop your seedlings in, uh, pop your seeds in, uh, pop plants in. It honestly is I used it, I used it for the first time yesterday, and I and I said to myself, how have I gone so so long without a dipper? It's how have I done this? I must have a dipper everywhere I go.

SPEAKER_01 14:05

How have I gone so long without a dipper? That's now if that isn't the title of your first book, your first garden book, I don't know what it is.

SPEAKER_00 14:13

What else are you looking forward to uh at the show? It's gonna be an amazing uh event down there at uh Bewley.

SPEAKER_02 14:19

Oh, big time. You know what? I think for me, because it is my first time at this type of event, I'm looking forward to soaking it all in. I know there's gonna be incredible um live music, as you mentioned, there's gonna be um in conversations with where people can can listen to incredible people talk about the world of gardening, opportunities for people to buy things. Um, you know, I think for me in particular, I'm I am looking forward to just seeing it all for the first time. It's it's in a way, it feels like, and correct me if I'm wrong, because this is somebody who has never been there, it somewhat feels like the gardener's Glastonbury. It feels it feels like a it feels like it's gonna be a good event. And I do love me some Glasgows, so I think you've summed it up very, very well.

SPEAKER_00 15:15

As I'd mentioned, your uh enthusiasm infectious, and I suspect your excitement about getting on site uh down in Bewley surpasses that as well. Um lovely to uh to hear uh what you've uh got to say, and obviously what you're going to be doing now. We'll remind everybody the website is bbcgardenersworldfair.com. The dates for the diary Friday the first to Sunday the third of May. Lots of information on the website about how to get tickets, and of course, when you can catch up with the brilliant degraft mensa. Lovely to talk to you.

SPEAKER_02 15:46

Thank you so much.