Whats you fondest gardening memory?

[Strawberry patch]

I can remember sitting on my Grandads footstool eating peas and helping him pick strawberries but more went into my mouth than what went into the basket

[Greenleaves]

I can remember sitting on my Grandads footstool eating peas and helping him pick strawberries but more went into my mouth than what went into the basket

My Grandad always tried what he lifted when it was raw, spuds, parsnips etc, used to say he was checking for sweetness.
As hard as I think I cant remember him ever calling me by name? It was always "Try this boy" .....really loved my old pops

[Scarlet]

Growing some red spuds, they didn't turn out very big but even so I was very proud of myself ( I think I dug them up earl!) anyway, my Dad (who's clueless about gardening) came home from work and I proudly showed them off, he said they looked lovely and he would try them with a little salt???? His face was a picture of disgust when he popped one in his mouth.....he thought they were radish!

[Moopmoop]

My granda had an allotment but I don't remember ever going to that, not sure if he even grew veg there or if it was just for pigeons. But he did have fantastic veg garden at home, I have many a fond memory playing in the back garden, he always said that he never got to eat a ripe strawberry as they were snaffled from the plant as soon as they looked edible. He also used to dig up turnips and I would eat them straight from the ground raw and unwashed, lovely. My granda also died when I was 5 so I didn't get to spend a lot of time with him, he was only 59 and I spent a long time feeling like I was robbed of him too soon, still do really. He is the one I get my gardening bug from as no one else in my immediate family grows and I would have loved to have been able to garden with him as an adult. Made me cry again , he was a wonderful man.

[Bigmallly]

I have no gardening background whatsoever. I didn't start GYO till I was around 50. So my nearest memory would be going Pea picking when I was about 10. Climbing on the back of a tipper & being transported to a field in the middle of nowhere. I didn't earn owt as I was too busy eating 'em.

[scarey55]

Isn't it interesting how the fondest memory for many of us is being with our grandparents, it is the same for me. I love raw veggies, anything from potatoes to cabbage and I think that it was walking around the garden with my granddad trying everything he offered me that has helped me enjoy vegetables raw. I can still see him sitting on an upturned crockery plant pot surveying his creation

Sadly I don't have any grandchildren but I hope I might have been able to encourage my nieces and nephews in some small way.

[Nicos]

I have so many!!!

My first was gardening with my grandpa in his brother's plot...I LOVED being there with him.

I recall collecting flowers and leaves and scellotaping them into a scrap book and going through an ID book with my father- and really enjoying his knowledge/time with him..and seeing close to the beauty of the flowers.

Falling in love with my OH who was from a very GYO background and being fascinated by his knowledge and his pleasure at sharing all his gardening experiences/knowledge.

Seeing my OH's face when I handed him the key to his first allotment which I'd applied for without his knowledge!! ..and just watching him gleefully getting stuck in to the weed ridden plot!

Seeing the kids on the plot with their plastic Fireman Sam hats on to keep the rain off whilst playing in the mud

And the pride at converting the field at the back of this house into new veg plots...and seeing one of our cellars stocked with jams/chutneys/soups/pickles/casseroles and stored winter veg the first year we were here!

And the first phone call from our daughter asking for veg advice as she and her OH prepared their first fruit and veg plot!!


the list just goes on!!

[Greenleaves]

Really nice to read a thread where people can share happy memories about gardening....long may it continue

[mrswadders]

My memories also involve my grandparents and also my Dad. One memory that comes back every summer is turning the wheel on my grandma's and mum's spong bean slicer. I use my grandma's one now. My boy's used to love turning the wheel too when they were younger

[FROSTYFRECKLE]

Very similar memories to other peeps. My Uncle Jimmy had a greenhouse and grew "Scotch" tomatoes (Ailsa Craig toms). The smell was wonderful and my sister and I used to have salad (lettuce and tomato) pieces (sarnies). Salad straight from the garden. The back bedroom windows at my old family home had the same tom plants on the windowsills.

My Aunty Jean had loads of rhubarb which my sister and I dunked in the sugar left at the bottom of a packet of crystallised ginger. Aunty Jean also grew the hottest radishes - hated them and still do.

[Moopmoop]

My other granda grew rhubarb and chives from what I can rememeber, he used to let the chives flower and I still love the purple flowers now. He used to also grow them flowers where if you squeeze their cheeks the mouths open, does anyone know what on earth I'm talking about?

[Bren In Pots]

He used to also grow them flowers where if you squeeze their cheeks the mouths open, does anyone know what on earth I'm talking about?

Antirrhinum or Snapdragons as we used to call them, they still make me smile today

[Greenleaves]

The first taste of your very first produce.....mine was a Cos lettuce. Still love them today

[Jeanied]

Eating radishes the French way in Brittany. Finding a hedgerow full of different coloured cherry plums in Barnsley. Wandering round Wisley with my late OH - looking at the allotment and deciding to go for it on ours. These are just a few...

[Moopmoop]

Antirrhinum or Snapdragons as we used to call them, they still make me smile today

I'm so pleased you knew that, I was expecting a lot of replies along the lines of 'eh???'

I love them flowers too, although I don't think they're that popular around here anymore. I've probably not seen another one since he died 10 years ago.
Funny indeed how it's the little things that bring back the happiest memories. I've still got a scar on my leg now from when I was about 6, my brother was messing about in granda Bob's garden jumping over the rhubarb patch and asked me if I wanted to have a go. I attempted it but didn't make it all the way and fell on to the plank of wood at the back, rusty nail right in the knee. I can also remember having a spelk (splinter for all you non Geordie ) between my big toe and the next one down, can't remember it getting there but I can remember the agony of nanna Thelma picking it out with a needle .