HORTICULTURALIST and TV presenter Chris Beardshaw is to swap gardening gloves for a slightly more cumbersome oven mitt when he visits the Autumn Garden & Country Show on the Three Counties Showground at the weekend.

As patron of the society's Children's Garden, he is at the show to promote home-grown produce for healthy eating. He will be exploring his culinary potential and dabbling with some delicious seasonal recipes that bring produce from the garden to the pot.

Show spokesman Sharon Gilbert said: " As you would expect, he enjoys gardening at home and grows his own fruit and vegetables so I'm sure he's not a complete novice when it comes to cooking." For his first real foray into the world of live cookery demonstrations, however, he will be performing under the watchful eye of Les Brown, a chef lecturer, and children who designed the garden. He will be in the show's cookery theatre at 12 noon Saturday.

Main attractions for the 60,000 visitors expected include the RHS Flower Show, the Open Gardening Competition and the Midlands branch of the National Vegetable Society championships, children's farm park, dog agility, pottery workshops, cookery theatre, vintage cars and an activity area.