It's rare that a celebrity chef wouldn't give any credit to a food lover within her family, nor an artist pay homage to a parent or grandparent who inspired them through their example. In fact, most of us gardeners could easily trace our roots back to a relative who loved the soil as much as we do.

Which begs a few questions: Am I more likely to enjoy gardening if one of my predecessors similarly took it up as a pastime? Has their example and passion been the driving force behind my interest? And, is there such a thing as a 'Gardening Gene'?

More importantly, if there is a 'gardening gene' how do I know if I have it?

For the sake of this discussion let's assume there is such a part of our DNA that governs our ability with soil and plants. Maybe we have one single chromosome that if altered through incorrect breeding (it still happens in some countries) then we would miss out on the desire to garden and perhaps take up... rock climbing.

This seemingly minuscule portion of our genetic makeup is a very interesting part of who we are. For example, while my mother and her father are/were avid gardeners, my father, brother and sisters snob it off as a waste of time. Does this mean that the 'Gardening Gene" came through my mother's hereditary line and my siblings contracted my Dad's lesser genes?

And where will my gardening gene go? Will my children inherit this fortuitous legacy or has a rogue chromosome left them impaired?

It's an interesting side of science that is yet to be pioneered. However, I have an inkling that this genetic source, while little understood in the science world, is far more accepted in the gardening world. Hence our willingness to accept the "Green Thumb" that previous generations would have seen as a mutation of sorts.

While this is all very interesting to discuss and hypothesize about, I'm a little miffed that more hasn't been done to breed the pedigree. For instance: Why haven't we seen a breeding program happen between Peter Cundall and Charlie Dimmock? It would be like matching Andre Agassi and Stefi Graf. Their offspring would be certain prodigies.

I'm even thinking that wedding vows from hereon should include the line - right after '...for richer, for poorer..' - "...in gardening and in tilling...till death do us part." It would certainly weed out those who lack the fundamental gene essentials.

The sadness in all this is we are seeing less and less gardeners as the gene pool diminishes. Is there something we can do about it? Can we petition the government? The UN? HGTV?