You are not being too crabby at all. The lack of any decent gardening show on TV is a major disappointment. Victory Garden has changed and I no longer watch it. HGTV used to have several wonderful shows but now they are just full of gimmicks and nonsense.

It's really odd, considering how many people garden.

Hilda, I don't think you're being crabby at all. Garden shows have been dwindling and what shows are left usually leave something to be desired. I watched the show after The Victory Garden, and I learned all about how to bait lobster traps! Just what I wanted to learn about on a garden show! I'm also not sure why HGTV still has the "G" in the title anymore. It really is a shame.
Also crabby,
Susan

They ought to re-run the Victory Garden with Jim Crockett. It was better in every regard than these shows today. I don't understand why every garden show has to have a portion devoted to cooking. Preserving the harvest I could understand, or building something of use in the garden. I think I saw the same show. What's the big deal with a "fire pit"??? Cub Scouts or Brownies are the place to learn this.
JMO,
Tom

Well....I agree to an extent, but...I don't know exactly what would satisfy me. I have also stopped watching the Victory Garden, because they do spend so little time on gardening. I don't enjoy all their cooking segments, because their recipes don't appeal to me. I would really enjoy recipes that I might actually use the produce from the vegetable garden, but they get a little full of themselves and have gourmet chefs on to make meals we just wouldn't eat. Plus they used to go traveling all over the world showing gardens, sometimes every week that would take the place of a gardening segment. A little of that goes a long way and I started to get the impression that they were pleasing themselves with all this traveling. Plus I think to travel all the way to Europe in a 1/2 hr segment felt rushed. But if you spent every weekend traveling to a public garden and never had time to get into your own garden, well...that's how it felt after awhile.

My favorite show has been Gardener's Diary, which is still on HGTV early Thursday mornings. I record it and have about 10 episodes saved. That format just suits me to a tee. They visited gardens that I was really interested in and did in depth coverage. The hostess usually managed to ask questions that I might have asked and they always highlighted some of the best plants in each garden.

I used to enjoy the P Allen Smith Gardening show, but after one season of watching I grew tired of that too.

Now they have a show on called 'Cultivating Life', which may be the show you are referring to, as I am pretty sure they did a firepit show. [g] I do watch that one some and actually find some of their segments that are non gardening fairly interesting, because they are often related to the outdoors and the garden. For instance they did a craft segment on building a bamboo trellis, and other structures for growing on. They have showed how to build a cold frame. Their gardening segments have been a little hit or miss for me. They have had William Cullina from the NEWFS on as a guest twice that I have seen. He did great segments on native shrubs and another on shade gardening. I really like their property that they broadcast from. The backgrounds behind them when they are talking are captivating to me at times. I also like the way they organize the shows...by Title and theme, like Rain, Fire, Tree, Apple, etc. I still have not seen one cooking segment that had a recipe I would even try...lol. But I have just started watching them. They do seem to try harder to make the cooking segment relate to the garden though. I suspect that the problem with their show is that they try to do too much in too little time. What they offer would be better in an hour format, maybe?

I enjoyed People, Places and Plants with Roger Swain the previous editor of Horticulture magazine. They used to travel around New England in one segment interviewing local gardening persons of interest and visiting New England nurseries. They usually would have gardening segments with a little meat to them. But I can't find them on anywhere.

None of the gardening shows are cutting edge enough to try to incorporate organic growing more, or ecologically speaking showing how to garden without waste and in a way that is good for the earth. There are so many people out there trying to do that, at great effort and sometimes sacrifice, that it seems to me to be quite an oversight.

But sometimes I really do think it is me, that I am hard to please...lol. Right now, as far as gardening goes, I don't even know what would please me. When you are just starting out gardening or building a garden from scratch, you have many topics that are fascinating, but the more you fill in the space you have, then what?

pm2

Hey, we're all crabby about this topic - there just isn't enough quality programming about gardening on tv. We deserve better, based on our numbers - there are more gardeners than football fans in the US, I think. Maybe we just aren't good commercial targets, and the advertisers aren't there to support the kind of show we'd like - we probably take fewer medications and buy less junk than the average tv-watcher. (This doesn't explain why PBS is ignoring us, though.)

I haven't seen the Victory Garden in years, mostly because I still don't know how to record anything from tv and can't remember when anything is being shown. Haven't yet caught Gardener's Diary or any of the other shows, but I do watch a goofy one, Paul James Gardening by the Yard, that's on hgtv at about 7 AM on Sundays. There isn't much to it, but it's better than nothing and it's pretty much all about gardening.

I liked the travel segments in the old victory garden shows, probably just because I really like visiting gardens when I travel and think you can get a lot out of seeing great gardens, even on tv. The cooking segments I can live without, since most of my garden has nothing to do with food. I guess the old VG was all about growing vegetables, so that sort of explains why they included cooking in the shows.

PM2, I didn't realize Gardener's Diary was still on. I used to really enjoy Gardener's Journal, and I really miss that particular show.

DTD, I agree that while Paul James is goofy it is better than nothing. Although I find I rarely catch it.

There was a string on the perennials forum about gardening videos. That may become the only way we can get our fill of gardening during the winter months.

I forgot about Paul James...lol...I don't mind a 'corny' sense of humor. My DS rolls his eyes at him, but he can be informative. I always found the way he tries to drag his friends and family into the program very endearing.

DtD, I don't know if you realize it or not, but Comcast has a cable box that records and stores shows. I don't know what I did without it. I rarely watch TV in real time any more and I get to fast forward through all the commercials too. They make it so easy and reliable to record a show and a series of shows. I think it is about $8. more a month over the cost of a regular box.

Thyme...I also enjoyed Gardener's Journal too. I haven't seen that one in a long time.

pm2

I agree. I can't stand the Victory Garden anymore. I do enjoy Gardener's Diary, though. I think it's on at 7 a.m. on a weekday but can't remember which day.

Thursday

I'm not a big fan of the new Victory Garden either...the hosts are too "cutesy" for me. And I don't care about palms and stuff I can't grow here. I know there are other PBS shows about gardening but we don't seem to get any of the right channels with our Charter subscription...and as they extract a small fortune from our bank account every month I can't upgrade our service to receive more channels...

Would love to watch a cold-climate gardening program with informed hosts and good landscaping eye candy :-)

What channel is Gardeners' Diary on, please? That has always been one of my favorites.

Gardener's Diary, HGTV, 7 a.m., Thursday

Here is a link that might be useful: gardeners diary

Quick question, totally off topic except related to gardening shows.

Do you subscribe to tivo, or use the cable company DVR service? I've gotten to this point before, and can't figure out which one is better. I don't really need the elevated level of service you have to get with Comcast dvr, I'm happy with "classic cable" - so I'd have to upgrade that (to "digital cable") as well as pay the dvr rental fee. It seems like buying a tivo might be more practical in the long run, even though you have to buy the recorder and pay a monthly fee with tivo.

Any experience with this choice?

TIA- DtD

Thanks, dtd, for that info.

I find it hard to believe that a good gardening show wouldn't be sucessful at a reasonable time on any network.I don't find any in my area in southern NH my cousin who lives in the next town but has a different cable Co. gets it but she came over to visit and couldn't find any listed either.Even our radio reception is not good enough to get the show on radio,it makes me real crabby even without the firepits and cooking which I have no interest in.

dtd....sorry, I have the cable company option. I have had the same idea that you have that maybe buying tivo would save you the monthly rental for the box, but if you have to subscribe for the service, to me, it is a whole lot simpler to just buy a different box from comcast. I wonder how much the subscription is for tivo per month? Then you have two bills and something else to take care of, what happens when it breaks? It wasn't that much of an increase for us, as we already have the digital service anyway. I would love to hear about someone's experience with tivo.

I can say that the comcast box couldn't be easier to use.

pm2

Thanks, pm2!

Tivo service is around $12 a month, depending on the length of your contract. The tivo dvr that works with basic cable costs $150. My son's been through 3 or 4 comcast rental dvrs in 2 years, and has had to fight with the company to not have to pay for the replacements.

For some reason this technology has me intimidated!

diggingthedirt,
Why not just buy a DVR and find the programming yourself. They are pretty cheap. I bought a combo VCR/DVR for less than $140, and I'm pretty sure it will last for more than a year. It works basically the same as a VCR (so if you were intimidated by your VCR I guess you're stuck). It is limited to 6 hours of programming, I'm not sure how much TIVO has, or the COMCAST option, but it's enough for me. I am pretty sure a DVR only(if you don't have VCR tapes you want to play) is about half the price.
JMO,
Tom

dtd...I am not following what you are saying about your son having to pay for replacements. I have rented a DVR box and have had it about a year and have not had to replace it. Although I have called and asked about upgrading to their newest model that has more memory. Nothing was mentioned about a fee for upgrading. If I remember right, all I have ever paid for was the box rental which is only $3. more a month for that then the tivo service and I didn't have to spend $150. for a box and when it is broken, they fix it. Also it is about $6. for a regular cable box, so if you are paying for one already, then this would take the place of it and you would actually work out to be less per month than tivo.

I did have a DVR box and found it a chore to program it and troubleshoot it. I wanted something easier. I do have the ability to work out electronics to a degree, but found it time consuming and somewhat aggravating. Not my favorite activity.

The comcast DVR I now have allows 60 hours of recorded programs and the new ones have a little more room. It has been a breeze. Whoever designed the programing did a good job. Any program you are watching you can just press record and that's it. You can set a series to record and it remembers to add it to your programs every time it comes on. You can also choose which channels to record on and leave out others. Whether to record only new or include repeats too. Once I have set it, I have had very few problems. Only once or twice have I lost a program or failed to record and after a quick call to Comcast, they figured it out, instead of me [g] and it was something I was doing wrong.

Sometimes I wish I had the ability to put a program on CD from the box, but no, that is the only drawback. It isn't that big a deal for me.

I was hesitant to spend the extra money for quite awhile before adding that box, but since using it, I have felt it was one of my best decisions. Two of the major advantages, is that you can rewind, pause on any program you are watching with this box and best of all, I rarely watch a commercial any more. I record and watch it from the recording and fast forward through the commercials. Also, there is so darn little of value to watch sometimes, that being able to record what is and have a 'stash' of programs you like to watch is very helpful.

You might want to call Comcast at least and ask them about what they offer. Maybe it is a little different where you are?

pm2

dtd,
I happen to have both on demand from Comcast and Tivo you certainly don't need both services but on demand as you know is included with the premium channels and I am a TV junkie.
My experience
Tivo is big button user friendly (after you have set it up)I do like the ability to program my DVR's from the internet ie. travel, work, ect. They do have a user friendly program guide and search. I have found their tech support available and knowledgeable. There are many more Bells and whistles like the ability to download a full season of some tv shows for free, and their pay-per-view selection is from Amazon. BUT you are buying a mini processor so to speak and TIVO out sources (or did when I bought mine) the manufacturing to more than one company so the quality of the processor may be difficult to determine. One of mine for example has the ability to make a DVD copy of any recording this option pissed off the artist/licensing folks enough that they stopped selling that machine.
COMCAST on Demand Is in my opinion less user friendly than Tivo. Comcast movies that you pay for (pay per view) I have sometimes found to be similar to cable TV in that there are a few good movie choices in a sea of junk. I have replaced at least a couple of DVRs from Comcast without ever having a problem. (you might consider using a different office).
My suggestion
As with other processors the hardware is constantly improving so while you are uncertain why not take the path with the least investment COMCAST if indeed you do find that you arenÂt using it enough you can cancel and return the box. I do believe you can easily cancel your more extended channels during the summer for example and keep your basic cable when you are not watching as much TV, but double check that with Comcast. pms is right you should probably call or visit the office and talk to them about bundled packages...is comcast your internet provider as well?
If you make your decision before Thanksgiving I bet your boys would be thrilled to hook it up for you!!

We've had Tivo since it first came out years ago. At the time we bought a lifetime membership for both our Series I original box and for a Series II purchased a couple of years later. I haven't been using the Series II box for a long time for a variety of reasons, but will probably have to face the daunting task of moving it to our main TV and setting up cable networking for it because our cable provider is going to be switching phone service to a digital line, and as I understand it the Series I Tivo (which has an old-fashioned phone modem connection) won't work on that.

Setup technology aside--and for many of us it *is* a very intimidating thing to hook up initially, with all the options involved--I wouldn't ever want to go back to plain old TV. I *loathe* watching commercials, and I absolutely love being able to record programs easily and watch them at my leisure. Tivo allows you to search in all kinds of ways: by channel, by time, by title, and by key word. You can set up wish lists with titles or key words. I have a wish list for the key word "gardening," and once a week or so will ask it to show me all the upcoming shows with the key word "gardening". I can then order the ones I'm interested in to be recorded. If there's something I like that conflicts with another show, you can easily search for future episodes of it and record it at a convenient time--say, 3 in the morning when it isn't going to conflict with Boston Legal ;) Fortunately, many of the gardening shows are on channels like PBS that do repeat each episode many times. Searching by key word brings up some interesting shows on oddball cable channels that I might not have thought to look for. Since it appends descriptions I can easily tell whether I've seen that episode before or would be interested. The fast forward capability also allows me just to watch the particular story I'm interested in, and skip over something I'm not--dessert gardening, say, or cooking rhubarb.

I don't have any experience with the cable providers' DVR's. From what I've heard they're similar to, though maybe not quite as user friendly, as Tivo. But for a less expensive investment, especially since I don't think Tivo sells lifetime memberships any more, they're probably a good way to go.

I have a few questions about TIVO vs cable company DVRs. How many hours of shows can each hold? Also, how many shows can you tape at one time? My coworker has DVR and can only tape the show she is watching plus one other show at the same time. It does happen sometimes that I need to tape 2 shows and watch a 3rd and the DVR option doesn't sound good to me.
Thanks in advance.

The storage capacity depends on which dvr you get, and while I think there are different ones available from the cable companies I *known* there are several from TIVO.

Thanks to all for the info.

I love my TIVO! I have the Series II with DVD Burner that's about 5 years old and it's great. I don't use the burner as much as I used to. But it is super if I need to offload some shows that I haven't gotten to watch. I recently was close to filling up my disk space so I offloaded a slew of gardening shows to DVDs to make room for the new seasons of Desparate Housewives, Greys Anatomy, etc. etc.. I keep recording stuff, but I have trouble getting around to watching them.

I also got the lifetime membership which I think had a break-even point at around 3 years. So now I am "winning" with "free" service. I don't think they offer lifetime membership anymore. not sure.

At some point though, I will eventually want to get high-def, so I will need digital cable (am only analog now) and new LCD-HDTV. (32" or 36" I hope will do). THen I will have to bite the bullet and get the Tivo HD XL (nice chart dtd, thanks!) I will lose the burning capability and I will lose the lifetime membership, plus the digital HD cable will cost me more than currently. I don't need all those shows. I wish they had High-Def-basic!

For recording, I suppose I could go with cable DVR at that point, but I think once you have Tivo, its hard to be without it.

This is one of my favorite subjects and I almost missed it thinking we were still lamenting the demise of the good 'ole Victory Garden and the "G" in HGTV. (both of which are certainly worth lamenting!!!)

Oh, and I think that Netflix and Tivo are about to partner up to offer downloading via Tivo. That Amazon unbox thing is crap. Netflix and Tivo have tried to combine forces for a very long time unsuccessfully, but I think they finally have something planned. Netflix was offering downloads to PC's but that was not so practical either.

TIvo users: Do you ever play Wordsmith? A couple of years ago they started adding all sorts of goodies to the menu. I found that game and was addicted for a long time. Havent' gone back to it.

Oh, great, just what I need, another time sink! I have no idea what wordsmith is, but I have a feeling I'll be addicted soon. Thanks for the info, Wendy.

I started to answer Monique's question about watching & recording different shows, but I got carried away.

When I originally hooked up my Tivo, there was a choice of how to hook it up to enable the ability to record one thing and watch another. I did it that way so if I am recording something that I don't want to watch, I can change the video input to watch live tv outside of Tivo. (no pause,rewind features though).

The newer Tivo boxes have dual tuners, so that should enable receiving 3 total if you can still bypass all Tivo and go direct too. But I think the ability might be related to if you have digital cable or analog cable. I'm not sure of those details.

Speaking of dual tuners, my TV has dual tuners too (picture in a picture - good for red sox game monitoring while watching movie...), but since I hoooked up tivo, it negates it unless I am bypassing Tivo, which is rare. But if I am, that gives me 3 sorta.

Wendy,
I'll trade you hours of slave labor in your garden if you come to my house and teach me how to use my electronics. lol

I remember watching the original Victory Garden with Jim Crockett when I was a kid back in the 1970's. If my memory serves me correctly, that program had only one focus: how to grow a successful vegetable garden. It didn't concern itself with the mega $$$ landscape project around the new McMansion down the road. It simply taught people how to grow their own food. Ironically, the national explosion of CSA's and local food movements would certainly imply a renewed interest and need for that type of programming. But it does not appear to be happening yet. We might need to learn (quickly?) how to feed ourselves again. And until the recent election, I thought that PBS might want to start a new program called "This Old Bomb Shelter". But that is another story I guess.

hahaha! This thread is funny. "This Old Bomb Shelter" LOL :-)

There is definitely a groundswell of people trying to grow their own food. I'm sure it won't be long before the media cottons onto it!

We have DVR through Charter. I love it...it is the only good thing about cable! We record the things that we want to watch and then blast through the commercials with the remote :-)

And Jim Crockett was one of our own here in New England--from Haverhill MA. His successor, Bob Thompson (sp?), also a nice guy and also from MA.