Gardens and gardening 2025

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Hi everyone, I used to post a lot in a previous Gardens etc until my wife was also diagnosed with cancer just over 2 years ago and she went through such a hard time so my time was taken up with not just Mrs Tvman but I was not good because of the rise and fall of red cells, white cells, neutrophils and platelets. 

The good news is that I have a little bit more free time to garden. I never stopped because it's in my DNA to get working in the garden. I'm also a wheelchair user because of a serious back condition called spinal stenosis and the pain is so great that I'm only able to work in short bursts.

So let's see photos of your gardens or allotments, whether they be large or small or maybe you only have room for pots and troughs in a balcony or back yard. 

My speciality for the last 40 years is vegetables and I have won hundreds of prizes over the last 20 years or so. I have had vegetables in show that have made me Northern Ireland champion for my sins. Unfortunately, since covid some shows have ceased therefore I haven't entered any for a few years. 

I've a few photos below, that's if I can remember how to insert them! It's been a while.

Below is a photo of the contents of my greenhouse, there are tomato plants left and right of the pathway. Also just past the tomatoes are cucumber plants against that have frames for them to climb up. The cucumber variety is Mini Munch, they're a small variety that are sufficient for a few salads 

The plants in the large pots below are aubergines, variety Black Beauty and inbetween the pots is a seed tray in which spring onion seeds have been sown which of course haven't germinated yet. Over here in Northern Ireland we call spring onions "scallions" and apart from in salads we have them with butter in mashed potatoes and that dish is called "champ". Believe it or not that was served as a stand alone dish that we had when I was small, some 60 years ago. Just mashed potatoes with small pieces of cut up scallions, cooked slowly in real butter then a dinner plate was loaded up with champ, a hole made in the top and filled with more butter then everything was mixed together and eaten. Along with an Ulster Fry in the morning, no wonder we had the highest rate of heart disease in Europe! 

Last photo below for this post is a bed of garlic (on the left), shallots in the foreground and at the far end for those of you eagle-eyed is a few red and white onions that are just 2 or 3 inches high. They are grown from onion sets that are small immature onions and usually come in a net bag weighing 250g and there are about 70 in total.

You'll notice that I have wire netting around the beds, that's because 3 years ago I had a rabbit problem. 35 years without them, 1½ years of rabbits and none since! The wire netting is staying for a while yet!

What about some photos from anyone else?

Tvman 

  • https://www.recipesfromeurope.com/kohlrabigemuese/

    Here's a recipe for kohlrabi if anyone wants to buy/grow the things

    Patrick xx

  • I am very new to gardening but have definitely discovered it to be an activity which brings a sense of  calm to me and joy . Just saw this quote which I thought very apt for our forum 

  • That's lovely my friend.

    Eddie xx

  • Excellent, Lucy. Good to know that we can take as big a dose as we wish Grinning

    Tvman x

    Love life and family.
  • A bit of local honey to keep us and friends going for a while. Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend

    Patrick xx

  • Hi Patrick is that ALL your friends?, it does look good and I know your honey is100% natural, A quiet day today, jut a couple of short walks with the dogs, how about you, my friend, how are you doing and what are you up to today?.

    Eddie xx

  • Lol, I bought 12 jars for 50 Euros which is good value I think. As for friends, six non-judgmental, understanding friends is good in my book given my experience and situation. I've been lucky but losing so-called friends on the way happens to so many of us. How is it looking for next week. I am on the allotment and just off to pay my honey debts before he sends his dog to collect the lol

    Patrick xx

  • That's a bargain my friend, allotment honey here is £7, but it's pure.

    I was lucky with friends too,  as most of mine are/were in healthcare too,, they all stood by me, though my non healthcare  we're a mixed bag, some I thought we'd be friends forever, disappeared, others were a lovely surprise,

    I'm going to wait till Monday evening to decide if I should go to Greece, I want to be sure the new meds are working first, but I think it's too early,  and I don't want babysitting and family worrying about me, I'm aiming for the 10th, things should be clear by then and I'll still have 9 days away.

    It's a lovely day for the allotment, you need a Poppy, she may only weigh 5kg but won't back off from anything, totally mad, took this today.

    Eddie xx 

  • First class Eddie. 

    Tvman x

    Love life and family.
  • Looks very tidy Eddie! What is the green stripe in the middle of the glasshouse? Is it for golf Golf️ putt?