Ideal bargains

Being a bit of a 'media whore', I love working across all the various communication channels - and this weekend was no exception. Saturday at BBC Essex and Sunday presenting Garden Bargains on Ideal World shopping channel on TV.
I love radio as a medium - people have always said I have a great face for radio. Even though you can't see your listeners you do get a real sense of being in direct contact with them and talking to them in their living room or garden. Ken Crowther's Gardening Plus programme is a three-hour gardening 'fest' and I've been guesting on ken's programmes for around 15-16 years. It's always a lively show, with lots of people phoning, texting, writing in and e-mailing their questions to us and this weekend was no exception. In fact, we had to limit everyone to one question - some people like to get their money's worth - in order to fit everyone in. Sometimes we get asked a lot of the same or similar questions, which is useful for me as it gives an idea of trends happening in people's gardens. This week it was more bitty with no clear groupings of questions/problems - although smelly waterbutts did come out on top!
The Garden Bargains programme is a manic two-hour show selling a huge range of garden plants and products. This week we had more than 20 products to get through - from succulents and angelonias to fruit trees, a vineyard collection, raspberry and strawberry plants. The fruit always sell well and it's a sure sign that grow your own is still proving to be a real winner with home gardeners.
I'm back on Ideal World tomorrow evening and again next Sunday. All I need is the list of things we're selling and then I can start building up my enthusiasm tomorrow morning.
Today looks like being dry (oh please!) and I'm hoping to get a chance to shoot over to the allotment for a few hours - that's if it hasn't floated away in all the torrential rain of the last few days. I've just had another BlightWatch alert, so I need to check the tomatoes and potatoes for signs of damage - please, let's not have another year like the last two!