Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Welcome Eugene…

We made our first trip to Eugene this week. It was a blast to see all the great garden centers in the Eugene/Springfield area. We started our day at Northwest Garden Nursery. Ernie and Marietta were wonderful hosts and we spent too much time there because there was so much to see. We look forward to returning later in the year to see how their display gardens will change. Next we stopped by Gray’s Garden Center, where we chatted with Donna about birding. The hi-light of that stop was the trained jays. They dive for peanuts in the hands of the nursery staff. Very cool! Next stop, Bloomers Nursery. The hard part of shooting here was the increasingly cold rain! Bloomers is a great family business and we had most of them with us for the shoot in their wholesale fields. Still a fun (and wet) time AND we got to play on the caboose! Our afternoon found us at a brand new nursery, Oregon’s Constant Gardener. Scott is an old friend from Portland and he returned to Eugene to open the store with Ryan. They are focusing on hydroponics, but will move into being a full service nursery in the near future. We got to see their new growing room. They will soon have planters all around the store growing all sorts of flowers and veggies. The best part, they will be donating the excess food to the Lane County Food Bank. Our final stop for the day was Gossler Farm Nursery in Springfield. Roger Gossler and his family have been in the nursery industry for many years and grow a wide selection of plants! We got to tour some of the nursery (we lost William for a short time!) and did a story on magnolias. It was a long day, but a fun one! We found everyone excited about the show and we will see them all again real soon, we just hope for warmer, dryer weather next time!

Jeff
Garden Time
Producer

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Welcome back…

Welcome back…

We finally return for the new season of Garden Time. Who said it was easier the second time around? William and Judy are up to speed but I seem to be having trouble remembering all the stuff I need to do each week. All week I have been a step behind! Monday was normal. It is our ‘shoot’ day, the day we videotape the stories for the show. This is the most fun I have during the week. I laugh so hard when William blurts something out and then Judy joins in! (And none of it will ever see the ‘air’.) After Monday I got buried fast! Adding KEVU in Eugene this year was cool, but it did add another element to the routine. Each station has its own deadline and that means multiple trips to the post office. Then this week it was promos, Happy Spot specials, events calendar, streaming video, tips of the week for the KPTV crew; every time I turned around it was something else I had forgotten about. Oh well, that being said, I wouldn’t want to do anything else!
As for this first show back, it is always easier when you have a good crew behind you. For me that includes William and Judy, the great sponsors for the show (there wouldn’t be a show without them!) and of course my family, Therese, Sarah and Hannah, who put up with my stress and constant worrying. I know it is all worth it when I get comments from the viewers. Gardening can be fun, and so can building a gardening show.

Welcome back!
Jeff