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 

  • Hi Pet   lovely pics Pet. That time of year again, time to make us jealous of your lovely blooms. 

    Very happy to hear your latest result, long may it continue Heart️ 

    Tvman xx

    Love life and family.
  • A striking photo Patrick, many thanks Grinning

    Tvman xx 

    Love life and family.
  • Let me know if you can get them Lee 

    Tvman xx 

    Love life and family.
  • That looks amazing Patrick 

  • Morning Tvman,  I managed to find some solent wight garlic online so have ordered them today.  I will be planting them this week if it is not too late.  Hope Mrs Tvman is still on her road to recovery.

    Lee 2 x

  • Hi Lee  , no, not too late to plant your garlic. If I may give you a little advice I'd say not to plant them too closely, say about 5 inches (12 cm) apart and that means it'll be a little easier to weed between them which is most important. Planting them at this time will allow the garlic cloves to be put down roots to stabilise them for the winter winds. Good luck Lee 

    Tvman x

    Love life and family.
  • Hi Lee  , no it's not too late to plant garlic this week. If I can give you a little advice I'd say to plant them about 5 inches (12 cm) apart to give space between them for weeding which is most important. Planting at this time of year allows the garlic cloves to put down roots to stabilise them for the winter winds. Good luck Lee.

    Sorry I took a couple of days to reply, I've had a couple of episodes of vertigo. Mrs Tvman is progressing slowly, I thought she would be further on in her recovery but it's major surgery and maybe I'm expecting too much too soon.

    Tvman x

    Love life and family.
  • Hi Tvman

    I'm glad to hear that Mrs Tvman is still progressing with her recovery, sadly it takes a long time to get through the process, and it can be incredibly frustrating at times. As long as she's still making progress, that's the key with these long and painful recoveries.

    I got into gardening after becoming disabled, it's been a hobby that I really enjoy doing. My parents just allowed me to take over the landscaping around the house as a way of keeping my mind active. We added raised garden beds around the back patio for all the vegetables that I grow every year, and there's no better feeling than eating meals with vegetables that you grew yourself. Slight smile

    ~Stacy

  • Hi Stacy, that's got you preoccupied I bet. What's the climate like where you are? I've just mown the lawn / collected leaves at 15 degrees outside temperature - mad

    Patrick xx

  • Hi TVman, is that still troubling you despite the prescribed meds?  Take care of yourself and Mrs TVman. I like the way the Thais live in the present with no expectations for the future (even if it sometimes means blowing large amounts on lavish parties with no savings to fall back on). Maybe we could learn something from them.

    Patrick xx