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Obelixx

Listed below are comments made by Obelixx between Saturday, 20th September 2008 and Friday, 24th October 2008.

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The listeners 12:47pm on 24 Oct 2008 Hi Venus - I did post on the Beeb that I enjoyed the tribute but that doesn't prevent me picking holes if I feel something wasn't done as well it should have been.

Nor, MT, do I see that viewing and posting from Belgium or anywhere else makes my views less valid than anyone else's. I am British, I'm a keen gardener, a faithful viewer of GW since 1983 and I get my BBC broadcasts through legitimate licensed distributors. Why should my comments, whether praise or criticism, count for any less than yours?
Autumn rocket 09:50am on 23 Oct 2008 As a keen though inexpert veggie grower, I'm enjoying all the info and advice about veggie sowing and cloches but have to say I think there is an imbalance.

Most people's veggie patch is smaller than their veggie patch unless they also have an allotment so could we please have items on what's flowering now that we should be planning to plant or grow next year, what needs pruning, tidying or clearing now and what can or should be left, what to plant of winter interest when GW won't be on to remind us and so on.

There's more to do in the flower garden right now than split a few cornflowers.
The listeners 09:08am on 22 Oct 2008 Amjo - after 54 years of gardening I'd expect you to understand the basics of cloche use and construction but GW is also watched by complete beginners and relatively novice gardeners seeking enlightenment and who need and deserve a bit more consideration in how such things are explained and filmed.
The listeners 2:43pm on 21 Oct 2008 I resisted that comment Venus.

However, I can't resist this. It's time the production team had a look at how some people view recent developments in GW - http://sea-of-immeasurable-gravy.blogspot.com/2008/10/mutt-and-jeffs-awfully-big-adventure.html

There are several such items relating to GW on this blog and all very instructive.
The listeners 1:13pm on 21 Oct 2008 Personally, I don't care what other forums and media may have to say about GW and its message boards. The BBC boards are where keen and concerned GW viewers come to comment whther they be fans or critics or otherwise engaged with the programme past and present.

I have to wonder why it has taken so long for the production team to respond to the years of comments and complaints about poor camera work and excessive background music in recent series of GW. You don't need the latest camera technology to take good shots but you do need to be focussed on the action. GW viewers are there to learn about gardening and do not need the distraction of extraneous music to understand or appreciate what is on view no matter how clever or awful the chosen piece may be.

I too feel the cloche piece was disingenuous. If you don't want to give more air time to each individual process in making the cloche, or any other useful item, at least point out the extras such as those struts for strength and the importance of stretching the plastic properly.

It would be nice to feel the production team thinks their audience has a brain. Other than the old chap's tips on onion planting last week, the comfrey transplanting was the first piece of useful info from Joe's allotment since he started. Now can we go a step further and dispense with the off camera person for Joe to talk to and let him talk to us directly.

More of Carol on propagation and more of Alys too but please can we have fewer items covered in greater depth and not so much flitting. I'm sure the vast majority of the GW audience has an attention span greater than you seem to believe.
First thoughts 2:00pm on 26 Sep 2008 Re message 7 - the direction of the programme does come from the producer and that has been one of the main problems for some time with inappropriate assignments, dodgy camera work and intrusive sound tracks.

I'm very pleased to see the more practical and realistic approach to gardening taken by Toby so far and hope it continues in this vain as he gets to know the garden and its various areas and micro-climates. With reference to his blog, I'd like to know why the Beeb/producers/schedulers think gardening is only a 26 week activity. There is something going on all year and plenty of important jobs to be done in the down period - preparing, clearing, lifting, dividing, planting, seed ordering and some sowing to be done.

How are novices to know about all this and what and when to do it if the series starts after and ends before this active period? More experienced gardeners need reminders and can benefit from new techniques and research.
The nearly naked gardener 2:00pm on 20 Sep 2008 Apart from the Dingle garden formal bedding which is not to my taste I really enjoyed this week's programme but please, please have a word with the producer/director/editor about those stupid camera angles. We need focussed shots of the plant or activity and not arty, fuzzy angles. The restoration of common and botanical names of plants at the bottom of the screen would be helpful too.

I'm very much looking forward to the new cheap greenhouse and small veggie plot and hope for lots of ideas for winter veggies and salads along with more practical, affordable advice for the rest of the garden.

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