The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

[Deleted User]

We're maximising on home growing space this year and have shed floral hanging baskets so we can grow some tumbler tomatoes instead.  I've been looking for planters for them and this year found some nifty little hanging containers that the tomatoes are planted into the base of and hang down underneath to grow on and fruit! one even has a 3 litre water reservoir in the top with a capillary matting strip underneath to regulate water flow, clever! We can fit 4 along the tall sturdy uprights on the back fence .  We've also invested in some deep large tubs for the patio and one is full of cut and come again lettuce, the other will be for spuds/carrots or some such.  We've  already put runner beans at the bottom of the rose arch and tomatoes out in the border and some bee attracting sunflowers but the fine beans are being very reluctant to germinate like the runners were last year so we may have to buy in some plants of a different variety if we want French style beans this year.  We're trying to be as self feeding as we can this year and into the future.

Floss

@Thriftygifty I'm sorry for your loss, please look after yourself x
@annieb64 it does take time, and you never get over the loss properly but learn to live around it x

VJsmum

mrs CD, anniversaries are really hard. Is dad having the work done? of course logically one knows there's no reason not to really, it might even take his mind off the anniversary  - on the other hand, there's the disruption.  My parent's anniversaries are 3 days apart (different years) so at least it gets it over with...  
I always think that whatever you decide is the best decision and what is right one year may not feel right the next.  Sorry for those going through sad times - it's something you can't really prep for.. 

GaleSF63

boazu said:

We're maximising on home growing space this year and have shed floral hanging baskets so we can grow some tumbler tomatoes instead.  I've been looking for planters for them and this year found some nifty little hanging containers that the tomatoes are planted into the base of and hang down underneath to grow on and fruit! one even has a 3 litre water reservoir in the top with a capillary matting strip underneath to regulate water flow, clever! We can fit 4 along the tall sturdy uprights on the back fence .  We've also invested in some deep large tubs for the patio and one is full of cut and come again lettuce, the other will be for spuds/carrots or some such.  We've  already put runner beans at the bottom of the rose arch and tomatoes out in the border and some bee attracting sunflowers but the fine beans are being very reluctant to germinate like the runners were last year so we may have to buy in some plants of a different variety if we want French style beans this year.  We're trying to be as self feeding as we can this year and into the future.

Reading this reminded me of a garden I came across wandering through Google Street View (to which I'm addicted). 
Someone loved that garden - I hope they still do (photo dates from 2009); I wonder what it looked like in August. And a little bench. 
https://goo.gl/maps/a1d9pYBEZSW8ig9LA

greenbee

@Thriftygifty and @annieb64 - sorry for your losses, and @Floss is right, it takes as long as it takes.
@VJsmum and @MrsCD anniversaries are funny things - I've found they get easier over time, but my mum still clearly struggles so we try to make sure she has company for significant ones, send her presents and call (lockdown has made it harder). 
My dad's been gone 4.5 years. I still talk to him when I'm stuck, and I generally get an answer as I know what he would have advised. 

DigForVictory

Greenbee pipped me to it, Floss is absolutely right.
Anniversaries are strange "pick a card" events. The day we found our lad dead is bad but there's a lot going on, it being Jan 1, to distract. What should have been his birthday? Trips me.
Family tree climbing has left me wailing over a keyboard, as I find other parents' unexpected losses catch at me. The cherry trees blooming do help - my last best photo of him is lounging under cherry blossom. Going to vote is loaded with good memories - which resurfaced & left me beaming. Youngest "out for a walk" found me cheerful & him stood in a polling station - so he succumbed to democracy. (I had explained days earlier he could spoil his ballot in any way he wanted, but I think he actually Voted.)
All wonderful strange.
 

[Deleted User]

The cherry trees will keep on blooming over the years to come D for V and with the blossom will come a time when you will smile because they make you happy to remember his life with you more than that you miss him, though you always will.  It's a gentle healing but it will come xxx.

MrsCD

@VJsmum, yes my dad is having them in. He decided he wanted a smart meter so that's when they're coming. I'll be there too just to keep an eye on things and take meter readings beforehand. The jury's out in our house re smart meters but it's what he wants so I'm going along with it. It might help to distract him a bit. He said he didn't want any more flowers for anniversaries, so maybe he's coming to terms with things.

VJsmum

Beautiful post DforV.  We make sure that MiL is not alone for the anniversary of BiL's death.

At the moment I've got 3 runner beans sprouting and two carrots so it's a good job i'm not prepping for self-sufficiency 🤣🤭🥕🥕

[Deleted User]

An interesting find this morning at the garden centre we went to for some hanging pots.  They have a food section and I have now got some dehydrated cheese in a tub.  Quite expensive at £3.99 for 250 grams but with a years best before date on it.  I'll try some in a cooked dish and see what it's like  and if it's OK I'll invest in a couple more tubs for the prepping store to add taste to store cupboard recipes if we're ever short of fresh.