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 

  • I do Eddie, frequently Smile 

    Tvman x

    Love life and family.
  • Absolutely my friend, you miss so much by not taking a minute just to look.

    Sad to see what's going on in NI, and hope it's not affecting you.

    Eddie xx

  • Yes it's sad Eddie but there's a lot of young teen-agers just content to riot, mob rule.

    What happened was that a young girl reported to police that she had been sexually assaulted by a couple of older teenagers who are Romanian so in their infinite wisdom the mob decided to burn the Romanians' houses and any other houses connected to Romanians or even other non protestant houses or businesses. There's a real racist element in the country and those who threaten other races' people and property hide behind masks and motorcycle helmets. What is needed is to take the approach of the authorities in the Southport and other areas and get them into court asap and give them long prison sentences. 

    Thankfully I'm nowhere near any trouble where I live now but I grew up in Belfast and lived there for 21 years before getting married to Mrs Tvman. I was caught up in 2 bomb explosions in my early teens but fortunately I wasn't injured although there were people just 1 metre away who were cut by flying glass. 

    At Mrs Tvman's appointment on Monday last she was told that the latest CT scan showed no sign of cancer. That's great, now she can give the go ahead for her hip replacement about September which coincidentally is the same time that her next CT scan will be but the surgeon said they can delay the CT scan until after the hip replacement. 

    It also means we can go ahead with the planned trip to our daughter's in Cambridgeshire in August when we intend to take the grandchildren to Legoland Windsor before they go back to school.

    How did the other 2 appointments go on Monday? I know that one was cancelled.

    Tvman x 

    Love life and family.
  • It's very sad my friend, these morons need a reality check, that this behaviour won't be tolerated, a few Christmases doing porridge, will send them all the message.

     I'm sorry to hear about your close shaves during the troubles, it really reminds you how vulnerable you are, and what a blessing life is, sadly something far too many don't share.

    Fab news tvman, NED is wonderful, I'm so happy for you both, and that it opens the way for for Mrs tvman's hip replacement, lots of good news there, not forgetting your able to visit your family now, it's a fair old trek for you both, but we'd walk it to see family.

    Eddie xx 

  • Hedge pruned, grass cut, now a long rest in the shade

    Patrick xx

  • Looks lovely Patrick, job well done,  you deserve a beer with your rest x

    Lee 2 x

  • Lovely job Patrick, what a photo too, carefully thought out Thumbsup

    Tvman 

    Love life and family.
  • Our new dwarf peach tree is surpassing all expectations

    Patrick xx

  • Looks amazing Patrick, I've never managed to get any fruit from my attempts, well done 

    Eddie xx 

  •  anyone  recognise what this is?,