Where have all the gardening shows gone?

I posted this long ago on my personal blog, but since got pissed and erased lots of stuff there. Regret seeping in....! Anyway....here goes.

HGTV should drop the "G" part of the network call letters. They have metodically taken the gardening shows out of their lineup, in favor for more "real estate-y" shows. Talk about hitting a fad two years too late! Yes, people will always buy houses. Yes, it is the best investment one can make. Do I care to see every yahoo in the country redecorate/recolor/rearrange/remix/barf the interior of their house? NO!

Chris and I got rid of cable about a year ago. We decided we were spending too much time watching worthless TV (ie. real estate-y design shows) and not doing enough "good for the brain/soul" things. Fast forward to last month. DirecTV (satellite) has the MLB package that the other providers don't, and I live with the biggest Oakland A's fan in Folsom (see our porch mat). Plus, I have talked to lots of people with DVR's who say they watch less TV because they only watch what they want, when they want. You control your TV habit, not vice versa. So we did it. Took the plunge and got DirectTV.

How does this relate? I went to autorecord all of my old favorite gardening shows only to find that 75% of them are GONE. Straight up not shown anymore! And Gardening By The Yard, my favorite of all of them, it on 2x per week, Sunday mornings at 4am. HGTV is LYING when you check their website and say it's on multiple times per week at normal times. Then why is my DVR picking them up at 4AM???? No joke! Thank goodness for the DVR. But come on. This is rediculous!

People of my generation will not know what end of a shovel to use, the beauty of getting dirt under one's fingernails, the satisfaction of a sweaty day's yardwork, the meticulous care of creating one's own food source (vegetable garden).

God help us all, and it's all your fault HGTV. (And PS a$holes, landscaping DOES NOT EQUAL gardening!)