The person behind AmargiaExp lives here also. She considers her walker a garden tool also. She doesn’t really need it for walking, but she uses it to keep her balance when she stands up or kneels down.
She says she suffers from T.M.B. (Too Many Birthdays).
I like the design of some of the new accessible showers. Someone finally realized that something could be both functional and stylish.
There are some good books on gardening with physical challenges and they are a great source of ideas. I think The Accessible Garden by Joann Woy is one of the best ones that I have read.
Threads like this are useful because there are some challenges the books don’t cover or a personal gardening style doesn’t jive with the authors ideas.
An example that comes to mind is how many books suggest blind gardeners use straight lines and right angles, but hard lines and angles are not right for every garden situation.
Experienced blind gardeners don’t necessarily need the technique to keep up with what is planted where. I think it’s like cooks and cookbooks.
I have cookbooks I would not want to part with, but I rarely follow the recipes in them once I am confident making the dish.
I enjoy having a place to celebrate when things work, commiserate when things are frustrating and just have some fun with people who understand what I’m doing.
I’m relatively young, (late 20’s), but I don’t have much physical energy. I work from home, so I don't have as much time outside as I would like, either. So, to keep gardening, I find ways to work smarter, instead of harder.
The people who live on site with me include a blind woman who is old enough that she refuses to reveal her age. Her main interest are native plants and permaculture.
Also, a retired Airforce sergeant who thinks structural and foliage plants rule. He has degenerative disk disease in his back.
Then, there is a 30-something who has little interest in plants that aren’t edible and contends with a serious hip injury from a bicycle accident. If the four of us were told we each had to write a book on gardening despite physical disabilities, I have a feeling they would be four very different books. But, we still learn a lot from one another. Threads like this widen that learning circle.

Dutchlady1 said:Eventually this might even get its own forum

Called "Gardeners Who Are Going To Seed"

Weedwhacker said:

Called "Gardeners Who Are Going To Seed"

Perfect!!

Nadine and Jim!

I have a genetic joint disorder that interferes with movement and causes chronic pain, especially in my hands. The pain is tolerable on most days but occasionally flares up and prevents me from cooking, typing, or gardening.

Digging is the hardest part of gardening for me, especially in my very hard clay. Sheet mulching has really helped improve the soil, though. Raised vegetable beds are the best!

Thank you for starting this thread, Nadine! It's good to be around fellow gardeners experiencing similar issues.

hey y'all! I've been here for awhile. Glad to see y'all make the leap.

I know that websites have the right to change, etc, whatever, whenever....and *I* have the right not to go there anymore!

My two best accessibility tools are my Corona Long-reach Pruners (lightweight so it can be used with one hand, to deadhead my marigolds 4 foot away!!) and my (ahem) manual 4-wheel drive..also known as a sturdy rollarator with over-size wheels!

oh, yeah, I've used my pruner to weed, but that's not a reccomended use!

Hi, Nadine and Jim! Delighted to see you both.

“Gardener Gone To Seed” I would like that on a t-shirt.
Knee pain doesn’t allow me to work kneeling for very long. I usually sit on a plant roller Jim made for moving large potted plants. The doctors tell me not to do anything that puts my head lower than my heart. (Darn, no more doing cartwheels across the lawn.) Anyway, the rolling plant stand puts me low enough to work without actually sitting on the ground. Jim would probably like his plant stand back so I’m wondering if I can sit on a kneeler. I’ll have to check that out next time I’m at Tractor Supply.
Melielong I had the most wonderful experience with butterflies a few summers ago. We used oyster shells on a dirt road for erosion control, the way people further inland would use stones. Something about the recently vacated shells drew butterflies by the hundreds. By the time I finished unloading the shells from the truck, it was hard for me to move for fear of harming a butterfly. I was covered in them. Luckily, I’m not squeamish and it was an incredible opportunity for a visually impaired person to get to know butterflies up close. I am guessing it was the salt or some mineral not readily available they found so irresistible. Oyster shells no longer go on the road here until the butterflies lose interest in them.
Hi, Beth.
Good to see you here, lovemyhouse. I’ve been lurking on your Today, I am thankful for…” thread.
Thanks for starting the thread, Nadi.
k*(Kay)

Hi, Kay!!!!!!!

That sounds like a wonderful experience with the butterflies

Yup, butterflies, particularly males, engage in behavior called "puddling". That's because you can often see them drinking the minerals and salts from puddles or damp ground. Where I volunteer at MOSI, the ones in the flight cage exhibit will sometimes drink my sweat. Males need the salts in order to produce sperm so it's important for reproduction.

We haven't had a good hurricane in a while (thank goodness), but butterflies do know how to find hiding places. Sometimes, hurricanes will blow the butterflies around and people end up with sightings of rare butterflies in strange places.

As I mentioned, I don't work anymore, but every Sunday I go to the Museum of Science and Industry and volunteer. I started back in 2008 when I was working. I had to give it up for almost two years, from Feb 2011 to Nov 2012. I also had to take a break last summer while my meds were being adjusted. I have depression and anxiety and for a while I was not a nice person to be around. Didn't want to risk it in front of families and children, plus the heat this summer was brutal. I wanted something to make me feel like I had a purpose in life, and so MOSI has been my answer. I usually don't schedule things for Mondays because I often overdo it at the museum and then have to recuperate. But it's definitely worth it!

Wow .. what a wonderful, and, eclectic group of gardeners
Gotta luv it ..

I felt I had to share a picture of Lorna from yesterday after she had come home from ploughing out driveways ..
An amazing lady, with a gift for flower planting and care .. all done with ONE leg and, a sore knee on her good leg from all the hoping she has to do when her prosthesis is off ..

Hope 'Gardeners who are going to seed' becomes a reality

~M~

I am glad that this thread is welcome to new folks… Years ago I used to post on the accessible thread on DG. I have downsized so many times, it now feels like I am growing plants on a postage stamp. But I trudge on…. I think of gardening as my favorite form of physical therapy.

I found this photo from last year that shows some of my favorite gardening "helpers"….

If you click to enlarge, on the far left is one of the kneeler things that you can flip over. I seldom get down but when I do I can kneel on this, and use the handholds to help get up. Most often, I use it as a bench for tools, or just a lightweight seat to move around to take a break and sit on.

Behind it is a tall thing that takes the place of a wheelbarrow for me. I can no longer use a traditional wheelbarrow that requires lifting up on the handles. This little cart I load up then push down on the handle to push. It does not dump out as easy as a wheel barrow, but I have learned to adapt to it. It does do a great job at carrying around tools and things.

I keep a bucket with me for tossing things into - rocks, used pots, plant tags - it goes into the tall black cart when I am done and wheeled to the garage. All the stools and stuff stack into the black cart and are lightweight and easy to wheel over there.

In the middle there is my rolling stool that I use when I weed. I am not a tall person, just at 5' and have problems in my upper back and shoulders with the muscles and nerves. So, I can't bend or reach well. This stool is low, sturdy and years and years old. I can use hand tools with it and bend from the waist and scoot along and do an ok job. Not perfect, but it helps. Now that all my sun perennials will be in this small, flat area, I should be able to do most of it sitting on this rolling stool.

Then to the right of the rolling stool is my very favorite "helper"… my service dog. When I am standing, she can pick up dropped hoe handles and put in my hand. She can pick up small things like paper seed packets. She can go down a path and get a small hand tool and bring to me. I can give her a plant tag, a used paper towel or other item and she knows the command "bucket" and will go and put them in the bucket. Very similar to her task of putting things in the waste basket or laundry basket inside the house. She will even fetch my bottle of water from the kneeler stool. Most important, she can grab the phone and bring it to me if I fall and need help. I have to watch her if I give her a paper towel though. She likes to sneak back and get them and tear them up.

@daylily, what a great collection of helpers! I love that your service dog can do all those things, such a smart animal! I too have difficulty lifting wheelbarrow handles, so I'm going to look for one of those "push down on the handle" carts. Thank you for your helpful suggestions.

And your furry helper is weatherproof!! Doesn't rust even tho rusty!

Great selection of 'enablers'
The dog is a wonderful addition ..

Lorna has a gigantic, all terrain walker, a VOLARIS, that she uses at work and around the property here ..
She uses the kneeler (with care) and, because of her increased upper body strength, she has been fortunate enough to handle an ECHO power product that she has purchased several attachments for, a roto tiller, a chainsaw, a pruning device, an edger .. and some other things ..
As the grounds she maintains are not level, the little moving stool would not work ;-(

Good stuff

Oh, I envy Lorna's use of power tools!!! I would love to be able to do that, but vibration is not a good thing for me. I could do a lot more things easier and by myself without hiring help if I could use some power tools. I do have anti-vibration gloves, but it's not enough for things like the weed eater. I have dreams of being able to use a snow blower. I know they have electric ones but I have no idea how much they would vibrate compared to a gasoline engine.

Most of my yard is not level and I would not be able to use my little rolling stool on.

Unfortunately dogs don't live forever, and do need to retire at some point. Josie is 7-1/2 now. We have been together a long time and she knows me so well. I hate to think about the time when I need a new dog, but …..

Dogs can be trained to do so many things. However, they are a great amount of responsibility and it costs a fair amount to keep a dog happy and healthy so you get a good long working life from them. She is a fun garden companion though.

For what it's worth, the reason I use the small stool I posted above, in that I need to change positions as I work because I stiffen up. I can't just kneel as long as I want. I use it to help me get down to the ground and just kneel for a while. When my upper back starts giving me fits, or my knees start hurting, I'll put the stool in front of me and lean over it to continue working.

My knees are in a different position and I can continue working. I do switch back and forth. When it's time to get up, I put the stool next to me and I can push myself up to standing. I don't have to reach up for the bars on the other kind of stool.

My second best tool is my little red wagon. It is my tool caddy and I keep a five gal bucket in there. I have smaller bucket down on the ground with me and when it is full, I dump it into the five gal bucket. I have found it is not wise to fill the five gal bucket to the top ... too heavy.

At this time, I have no problems pulling the wagon back to where I keep my tools and the five gal bucket to where I empty it on the compost pile.

However, I think my very best tool is my attitude. Sometimes, I do need an attitude adjustment ... , but working in the garden does help that process along.

RoseBlush1 said:
However, I think my very best tool is my attitude. Sometimes, I do need an attitude adjustment ... , but working in the garden does help that process along.

So very true for me, as well!