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 Lee and everyone, yes, I have been quiet. A couple of weeks ago I had blood results and they were the worst they've ever been. On the day the bloods were taken I had a phone call from the cancer unit that I've never had before because it's only under certain circumstances that they ring immediately once the results are out. That rocked me to the core. Then Easter arrived and my two sons and my daughter arrived to stay, from 3 different countries. My son and dil brought their 3 months old beautiful daughter and my daughter and sil brought their two hyperactive son and daughter, aged 9 and 4 respectively. Certainly took my mind off things!! So they're all away home over the last 2 days. House is sooo quiet now!!
I have taken a few photos of my garden and veg plot. It's early in the season yet so we don't have a lot in bloom.
A few daffodils down the side of the road
A bed with seed potatoes planted. Left hand row (see the label?) is where my grandson's (Harry) Picasso variety is, the middle row is Granddad's (that's me!) Kestrel variety and the right hand row is where 4 year old granddaughter Lucy's Maris Piper variety is.
Making use of an old wheelbarrow
Garlic plants on the left and red onion plants on the right (a slight difference between the two). They've been in my plot
Some seedlings in the greenhouse
More seedlings in the greenhouse
One of my shrubberies (spot the little baby Monkey Puzzle tree on the right surrounded by setts?)
Another shrubbery, only really Camellia and Pieris shrubs in bloom as we're quite far north
So that's it for now
Tvman x
Hi everyone, I love spring when the garden comes alive again and there are many beautiful flowers in the garden.
I'm going to share a few photos from my garden with you all and I hope you enjoy them. The first one is of the first Peony Rose to flower this year, so intricate and a wonderful shade of pink/red. Following that there are azaleas, a dwarf rhododendron, a rhododendron and a little delicate flower called a bleeding heart. When you see it you'll know immediately why it's called that.
It's true to say that my no.1 love is growing vegetables and I have a real passion for that. I grew some flowers from seed in the greenhouse and yesterday Mrs Tvman and I put quite a few of them in troughs and containers.
So here they are
Hope you've enjoyed the photos
Tvman x
