A Garden for a Handicap Disabled Person

[oldtreehugginhippie]

Well the last few years I have had to do container gardens and buy the bulk from other farmers and depend on my children who do the work , I pay for seeds and supplies and we share the harvest. But I was feeling sorry for myself this year. I wanted to plant my own garden again. The container garden was too hard on me and too much upkeep with the watering. So I had some brain storms and I have my garden this year. You see my land goes up the side of the mountain. but there is lots of usable land in different places.

I got a new walker that last week that has huge tires for rough terrain. It also has a nice bigseat so I can sit dwn when I need to. My legs wont go far, so having the seat means a lot. I just take longer to get there is all. and when I get to the plants I can sit down.

I have been making my seedlings inside the house and then transferring them outside. I have a very long thin spade shovel . I have been going to areas I can get to with this new walker, I sit down on my seat and I dig the tiny hole and Gary puts the plant in the ground. I can't do the bending over part to plant them.

Gary had brought the water can so he could give each plant a good start when it went into the ground, gary is also disabled and is limited on what he can do. I had planted the seeds using organic soil made just for seeding.

I have been putting different foods in different places around the land. not your normal plowed garden. I have been using hearty breeds like tomatoes and cucumbers and summer squash, watermelon and cantaloupe. also sunflowers. things that will not require lots of attending. all are growing vines except the tomatoes and sunflowers.

My house next door when I was younger I made the back patio with pea river pebbles. it had cloth under it so the weeds couldn't grow through. it is till there and gets the morning sun. the tomato plants are all going into that pea river pebble patio area I made years ago. they will not have to ever be weeded. and the soil under neath is nice and rich. plenty of night crawlers and earth worms.

the only thing i have to worry about now is the deer getting to my veggies before I do. Gary said he would water the plants when the weather gets too dry. We have three garden hoses that can be put together that are 100 feet each and can reach any of the plants.

I am really excited about this. I can't do a regular garden . the container garden is too much for me to handle. but these plants will take care of themselves. I will spray them with organic ice tea to keep away bugs.

The neat thing is I don't have to have the land plowed. And this walker will take me anywhere I have plants. this walker is GOD Send.

I have to be careful where I plant though. I was in our fruit orchard today and checking to see if the deer were doing any damage to the baby trees. I haven't been in the orchard in over two years now. (I can see it from my deck and that was as far as it went) and It got a little steep and the brakes didn't keep me from going down the hill. I had to let go of my walker. and my grandson came running. it was too steep and even though the brakes kept the wheels from turning. the wheels just slid down the hill. I didn't realize it was so steep until it was too late.

I haven't been out on the property in a couple years and had forgotten how fast it can go down. I normally stay on the sun deck and plant my flowers. and keep them up.

it will be so nice to be able to grow some of my own food again. I will let everyone know how it turns out in case there are other handicapped people out there reading this.. even being handicapped we can still do some things for ourselves. sometimes we may take a different route to get there , but we get there just the same.

[thinkgreen]

Good for you Pam. Glad you got the new walker to make things a little easier so you can do the things you enjoy. Maybe you shouldn't be so quick to knock the Topsy Turvy. Sounds like it would be perfect out there on your deck and easier to manage. I'd like to get real reviews before I bought one though.

[thickbluebug]

I am trying the no till garden, lasagna garden, the ugly gardener method. I think it's all just the old way and it was renamed. I have a scooter I ride to the garden spots. One of the no till areas is on a hill so I can only go so far.

I don't have anyone that can till for me, and I can't water everyday. So the no till seemed the way to go. Says it can sustain twice weekly waterings because of the mulch.
I figure if people can take a bale of hay and put a hole in it, slap a tomato plant in it, and get thriving plants, then the no till should work too.
I have layers of cardbord, cow manure, pine bark, straw, and grass clippings on top. It made a bed of about 4 to 6 inches.
It showed to part the material and place the seeds or plants and cover back up. It's been about 3 weeks and it looks good.
It's just Layers and layers of material and if I see a weed or grass I am suppose to put another layer of mulch on it. So far so good.
One spot is 12 x 12 and the other is 20 x 30 and I am trying to continue it on down the hill with my okra and corn. I might just get someone to pick hoe the rows and do the mulch stuff w/o the card board to see if it will hold moisture and prevent erosion.

I am trying to do the potatoes in the no till too. I read where I can continue to add pine straw as the plants grow. The new taters will be above ground and dirt free. ??? I only used half of my organic seed, so I can do a planting later, maybe.
LOL, I am trying it.
I try everything.
Now I have seeds sprouted and am too tired to get them in the ground. I am doing redneck topsy turveys for my extra tomatoes. I put out 7 so far, and have 10 plants left.
I cut the end (standing) off a 2liter bottle off and dh drilled me 4 holes for hanging strings. So far so good. I just watered them w some worm poop tea for tomatoes I found on clearance at home depot.

[oldtreehugginhippie]

The Deer ate all the plants we planted at the top of the hill. all was fine until then. So we went with container gardening on the deck. When we went to the dump, a farmer threw away 7 blue 20 galoon contaners. they were still in really good condition, just real dirty. they had been used for water troffs.

we have organic vegetable soil in them by miracle grow. and we have planted tomatoes, summer squash and canalope in them. My loofah sponges didn't make it. I had set them out on the deck to get a little sunshine and we had a freak sleet storm and it torn the last two I had up. the one that is out there is yeloow and the leaves torn to shreds. I don't think it will make it. I was in town when it happened or I would have rescued them.
\but the container garden is going well. we have had so much rain lately that we have only had to water once so far. but I know when we get into the summer and we get our drout going as usual, we will have o water enoough to make up for the easiness we are having now.

Looks like I will have to be content with a container garden on the deck. I couldn't believe all the work Gary and I went through to get those plants planted on that hill , just for the deer to eat them. I do have a nice batch of sunflowers coming up in the yard if the deer dont get them. I rased thm in the house from seed and transplanted outside. they are about a foot of more high now and I am sure I wont be able to keep the deer at bay for so long. but I am hopeful.

I put cages around my fig tree and a baby plum tree and they are coming back to life. the deer had all but killed them and there was nothing left of the fig tree but a tiny bit of green at the base, now I have lush green shoots coming up all over it from the ground level that are about 12 high now too. so now it is protected from the deer. I had to use a tomatoe cage so next year I will have to put some chicken wire around it so they can't get to it.

the deer killed off four of my fruit trees in the baby orchard. I had 13 and down to 9. the deer are very destructive to things around here. we are over populated with them in these hills. I am hoping for the deers sake they will extend hunting season next year or they will starve to death in the winter and that isa horrible way to go.

all the farmers gardens including my darling son in laws and his parents potatoes rotted in the ground this year from so much rain. I feel so bad for them to loose so much food. the potatoes are a huge crop for everyone. it isn't pretty with no potatoes. I wont be getting any either since they are the ones to supply me.

but things aren't that bad. everything in the containers are doing great. and their gardens are doing well now. just lost the potatoes. so it is not all gloom doom and dispare. I always say be thankful for what you do get out of our gardens no matter how much it is.

[ocean_brez]

Thanks for sharing your gardens with us gals! I really enjoy reading about your different gardening methods and I am loving the updates on your progress.

[OHeather]

Have any of you thought about a watering with drippers or a soaker hose?

[oldtreehugginhippie]

I like the oild fashioned watering can. I think a drip or soak hose would burn up my pump to the well staying on all the time. I protect that well and pump at all cost. those things are worth their weight in gold. Since it would take a small fortune to replace it all.

I am an old fashioned farmer and like to do things the old fashioned way. A watering can or garden hose will do the trick for us. I am very much back to basics type of person.

Originally Posted by OHeather

Have any of you thought about a watering with drippers or a soaker hose?