Accessible gardening

[Tracydr]

For those of you with handicaps, I'd love to know some of your secrets. A few weeks ago, I suffered a scuba diving injury, decompression illness. This caused me to have osteonecrosis in both knees ( femur, tibia and patella) and maybe my left ankle. I have been dealing with severe pain in my knees and may be looking at surgery. A core decompression, grafts or, most likely bilateral knee replacements, sooner rather than later.
I'm having a hard time getting the tomatoes and other things out that need to be planted right now, not to mention working the soil and weeding.
Just wondering what others do that have mobility issues, since my problem is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon.
I have 1/2 acre, with lots of gardens and it requires quite a bit of upkeep. I can afford somebody to come trim palm trees and weed while I'm working but it looks like I'm going to have to take a leave of absence since I will have to be totally non-weight bearing for awhile to see if the knees can heal from a less agressive treatment and than will have also have lot of PT/rehab to do which would interfere with work.

[z_willus_d]

Do you recall the Barron Harkonnen's hover suit in Lynch's realization of Dune? I imagine (imagine the key word) that might suit one well in the garden, floating around like a bee.

Yes, in all sincerity, I too have questioned how one might garden if bound to a wheelchair or otherwise less mobile. I have developed lower back pains that seem to flair to excruciating levels every time this year when working in the raised beds that seem to be at just the height to impede both proper squatting as well as stand-up straight working access. I have to assume in another 5, 10?, 20? years, I'll need one of those hover suits to make due in the yard.

Good luck. I'm sure others will have more practicable ideas for you.
-n

[Worth1]

Tracy how in the devil did you end up with the bends?

Did you fly too soon after the dive.
Did you ascend to fast?
Is it any of my business?
This really bothers me that this happened to you.

If people had the money I could build a hydraulic bed that would raise up and down into a pit so a person could access the plants.
Simple really.


Worth

[Cole_Robbie]

My condolences on your health issues.

Not that covering a half acre is practical, but hydroponic gardens are less work to care for and can be built up off the ground where you don't have to kneel all the way down. The high Phoenix temperatures would be challenging, though.

[Dak]

I think lowering your expectations of your garden should be your first priority. Hopefully, you're already set up with some sort of watering, drip system in place so nothing established with be lost with drought. If you're not, then that should be your first step.

If you are able to walk at all, you might consider a walker with a chair, so you could use your arm strength rather than leg strength to get up and down.

I'm sorry to hear about your injury, I hope you recover quickly.

[Lorri D]

I am so sorry to hear of your illness. If you aren't already in touch with your extension service, I would call them. In my area, the Master Gardeners only have one large greenhouse and a few gardens for their students to work at. They often send them out to private people who would benefit from their Master Gardener students to work off their hours. I know this, because they do it at my son's school. They have a fairly large student/community garden there and they started getting help from the Master Gardener students last year. Take care, Lorri D

[aclum]

Tracy,

I'm so sorry to hear of your medical problems!!! I can't imagine how painful that might have been.

I've had orthopedic problems over the years, and recently respiratory problems, and have been mostly confined to a wheelchair for the past couple of years. I can stand for short periods of time and use a kneeler. I can maybe give you some tips, but first I have a few questions....

Do you have raised beds?
Are there suitable paths for a wheelchair/electric scooter type thing?
Will you be able to stand at all during your recovery?

If you're garden's wheelchair accessible and you can use a manual wheelchair or electric scooter type thing, I think you would be able to manage fairly well with a few adaptations.


Naysen,

So sorry to hear about your back!! I'm in a wheelchair now in large part due to back problems. I've got osteoporosis and, mainly through overdoing it gardening have managed to develop alot of compression fractures, etc. over time. I'm working in the garden out of a wheelchair now and, frankly, it makes alot of stuff alot easier - most things within arms reach and no squatting or major bending. I was thinking of your back when you were building your hillside beds. Hope your back recovers soon (give it some rest on occasion <g>)! In the meantime, maybe one of those little wheeled seats (think they might be called garden tractor as they have a tractor type seat) might save your back from more wear and tear.

Anne

[Tracydr]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Tracy how in the devil did you end up with the bends?

Did you fly too soon after the dive.
Did you ascend to fast?
Is it any of my business?
This really bothers me that this happened to you.

If people had the money I could build a hydraulic bed that would raise up and down into a pit so a person could access the plants.
Simple really.


Worth

I was doing a rather deep dive to 130 feet. I developed vertigo because my hood had stretched out and was letting cold water into my ears. Because I couldn't tell up from down and the world was spinning around, I asked my husband to help me ascend. We went up according to the rate on our computer, including a safety stop. He was fine. For some reason, I got the bends. I guess I'm not as young as I used to be and need to decompress more than my cheap old computer says.
I just purchased a new , fancy dive computer and according to this new computer, I should have done a much longer decompression than my old computer called for.
The bad thing is, since I thought I'd done everything fine, and since my knees had been hurting before we dove, I didn't realize I was bent. I had an MRI a week later because my left knee kept getting worse and was just killing me. I was also pretty sick with flu-like symptoms but not putting it all together. That's when we saw the giant bubble and all the necrosis going on. I got to spend 5 hours in the hyberbaric chamber and a few days in the hospital at that point.
All because my hood didn't fit properly and I got dizzy!

[Tracydr]

Originally Posted by Lorri D

I am so sorry to hear of your illness. If you aren't already in touch with your extension service, I would call them. In my area, the Master Gardeners only have one large greenhouse and a few gardens for their students to work at. They often send them out to private people who would benefit from their Master Gardener students to work off their hours. I know this, because they do it at my son's school. They have a fairly large student/community garden there and they started getting help from the Master Gardener students last year. Take care, Lorri D

That's an incredible idea. I wonder if our area has anything like this.
Luckily, I have a bunch of dwarfs, which I'm potting up. I need to figure out an easier watering system for everything which will decrease my moving around. I may also need to do some wheelchair accessible paths/ramps to the different yard areas, depending on what ortho says to me this week.

[Tracydr]

Originally Posted by aclum

Tracy,

I'm so sorry to hear of your medical problems!!! I can't imagine how painful that might have been.

I've had orthopedic problems over the years, and recently respiratory problems, and have been mostly confined to a wheelchair for the past couple of years. I can stand for short periods of time and use a kneeler. I can maybe give you some tips, but first I have a few questions....

Do you have raised beds?
Are there suitable paths for a wheelchair/electric scooter type thing?
Will you be able to stand at all during your recovery?

If you're garden's wheelchair accessible and you can use a manual wheelchair or electric scooter type thing, I think you would be able to manage fairly well with a few adaptations.


Naysen,

So sorry to hear about your back!! I'm in a wheelchair now in large part due to back problems. I've got osteoporosis and, mainly through overdoing it gardening have managed to develop alot of compression fractures, etc. over time. I'm working in the garden out of a wheelchair now and, frankly, it makes alot of stuff alot easier - most things within arms reach and no squatting or major bending. I was thinking of your back when you were building your hillside beds. Hope your back recovers soon (give it some rest on occasion <g>)! In the meantime, maybe one of those little wheeled seats (think they might be called garden tractor as they have a tractor type seat) might save your back from more wear and tear.

Anne

Anne, I'm so sorry to hear about your back! My garden is not currently wheelchair accessible but I think it could easily be made this way. I do have raised beds but not raised enough. They are only raised about 6 inches. But, I am potting up about 20 of my tomatoes this year and just started a bunch of peppers and eggplants that I will also pot. They can go in a raised area or even on a table if needed.
Currently, I've been using crutches and a cane to get around. When working in the garden, I've just been sitting on the dirt or sitting on a stool on the outside of the raised bed. But, I know the my days may be numbered doing this. Both of the doctors that I saw last week have warned me that I'm most likely going to have to go completely non-weight bearing soon and possibly have surgery as well.

[Rockporter]

Sorry to hear about your new illness. I have three forms of arthritis so digging in the soil is the last thing I could ever do. I have most of my plants in self watering containers since I don't have the ability to bend as well . I will be needing to raise my self watering containers(earthbox) soon because I have problems with bending with my bad knee. Initally I discovered self watering containers when I needed something to use on a concrete patio and found a homemade version called Global Bucket. From there I found the original design which is the Earthbox. I also needed something that would keep the plants from drying out too much and would stand up well to the wind. I do have to brace everything but I use cinder blocks to do it. I will eventually make it far better, but that will have to wait until I design my garden expansion.

I have a couple of 4x4 boxes built from scraps around the house using mels mix from "the all new square foot gardening". I would suggest you take a look at his design and you will find that gardening would be much easier on you from here on out. You can cover a larger area in a small space, believe it or not. It is also easier because you won't be needing to go out to the fields and turn up the soil. With Mels mix you just use a handful or two of compost to fill the hole when you pull up a plant. It really is a neat design but get the "All New" square foot gardening book, not the older version of "Square foot gardening. He changed his methods some and found that it was even easier than before.

There is also Larry Hall's design of the rain gutter garden(found on Youtube) but I don't think that would work out as well since it sits on the ground only about 6 inches high which would result in more bending. Of course you could fix that by building it up higher if you wanted to but handling the large containers when full of soil will be hard to do. I can't post a link but I have other threads pointing in the right direction.

Using raised garden beds that are easy to reach into from a wheelchair would be easiest and they aren't so hard to build. Rolling your wheelchair under them so you can work to the middle of the bed is the most effective but you might need help with the taller plants unless you can get a hydrolic chair that will raise you up to handle the tall plants.

I hope I gave you a clear message here, my brain isn't on full speed ahead yet since I literally just woke up 15 minutes ago. Coffee, Coffee, where's the coffee? Ahhh, here it is,

[Sun City Linda]

Tracy So sorry to learn of this! I have been quite ill for more than two weeks and I hate it. When our bodies start complaining and can no longer do what may have been normal last week, we really grow to appreciate good health. I will hold a good hope that you find a way to overcome.

[Tracydr]

Thanks, Linda and you get well, too!

[Tracydr]

I like the idea of self watering gardens, although I will need to cut back on the number of plants and gardens in order to do that.
I have about 60-75 tomatoes planted right now, was hoping to do more.
I was also hoping to get my other summer veggies in the ground. Still would like to get some squash, long beans, Armenian cucumbers and okra, maybe a few melons planted. Hopefully, can do a little more and hope the maintenance isn't too awfully hard.
Husband is somewhat helpful and very understanding.

[Sun City Linda]

Some of the posters over on Earthbox have over 100 boxes. I have some too, not that many, I am up to about 15 now. You can purchase watering systems which automates the watering, the weak link of the carefree system. In warm climates, like mine (and yours) I need to fill up the resevoirs twice daily for thirsty plants like tomatos.

They are a bit of work to set up but you can stand them on stands or picnic tables and make them easier to access. They are certainly easier on my body to maintain!