Gardening as a 66-year old Polio survivor

This message was edited Feb 28, 2005 2:42 PM

This message was edited Feb 28, 2005 11:48 AM

Do you have your scooter back together yet??? How about those potatoes? Althought I'm not disabled, your method of growing them sure will cut down on my work. Great ideas!!

Judy

All is welll with the scooter and I too am sold on the black plastic approach.

Since I raved about my hose reel earlier in this thread as being so effortless for a disabled gradener, I thought I should post a picture of it mounted and in use.

It was a little pricey but in my case I simply couldn't get the job done with any other type

I'm so glad you posted a picture -- I just couldn't envision it. Can it be mounted so the hose is parallel to the house? Our faucets are at the sides of our house.

I need one of those!!!! It will pay for itself by keeping my multiple hoses from being ruined.

Thanks for the picture.

Judy

One of these days I will. Gotta get more plants first.

GW;

My link (way) above on the hose reel should take you to the one you need. What I like about it is the quality, heavy duty construction. It should last a long time which makes the price worth it IMHO.

Thanks for the link.... I have tiny hands, size 4 wedding ring and it is very difficult for me to handle a hose of any description.

Judy

This message was edited Oct 31, 2004 9:15 PM

A "nose?" :-D

Well.... you saw what I've been doing every 2 hours 24x7 for 5 days now!! I'll correct it... lol lol lol

Hi DW. Good to hear from you again. Maybe I can do you a good turn. Ever heard of EARTHBOXES? Nothing to do with raised gardens. They are special fabricated plastic tubs that makes my gardening far, far easier and I am assuming our disabilties are quite similiar.
The approx. dimensions are 12"x29"x14"wide. You only have to fertilize them once at planting time, never weed them and water every three days or so. They cost $29.00 but worth every penny. You can look them up at www.earthbox.com.

This message was edited Nov 1, 2004 3:48 PM

Tplant, I got a "security alert" when I went there. What was that about?

imway2dumb - I didn't get one...either your virus detection software is too sensitive or mine isn't sensitive enough, maybe? lol

I'll try again. Actually I think it was from IE.

There certificate expired on 10/04. Thats all it was. I'm going back and have a look at the site.

John

Don't know? I just went there and no problem? I think it would be safe to overide it.

P.S. Let me hear your views on the EB's.

This message was edited Nov 1, 2004 3:51 PM

I got the same thing, John, but I just blew right by it.

Thanks Tplant for the link. It looks like something that fits me somewhere if it really works and according to you it does. Right?

I wear braces and walk with an arm crutch. I can get aronud that way but it's awkward and uncomfortable so I just hop on my electric scooter whenever I can.

Since you're in the State that will probably give us big trouble tomorrow, you are a year around gardener. Do you have any pics you can post of your setup that would help me better visualize your solution(s)?

Thanks,
Dave

Have you looked into Square Foot Gardening, Dave? I use that method and like it alot. Allows me to go organic, too, cuz weed control is easy.

John

I've got it on my list of possibilities. That's something else where a pic would be helpful to me. Are you a camera man?

BTW, I won't be back 'til late.

Dave

Yeah but, I'm in the process of moving the whole shebang to another location. I'll document the rebuilding of it when I do. That might be kinda fun for both of us come to think of it! Stay tuned.

John

dw.............My plants are still seedlings and there really isn't much to show at this time but believe me everything they say is true. I was hesitant at first but I couldn't believe the incredible production and ease of caring for my plants. I now have seven EB's and will probably buy a few more. The secret is to use fertilizer such as 10-10-10 or lower and dolomite lime as it is a slow releaser. My first box, I bought the complete kit to see what to use and thereafter I bought just the boxes. I grow also in large pots but the EB's will outdo the pot plants every time. I love them and thank DG for the link I found from a former member in Tampa that put me on to them. Try one --- you'll love it!

I guess it's back to the drawing board on my Spring '05 garden plan.

Why do you say that?

Because of the new ideas I'm getting from you and Tplant.

Well, thats a good thang. :-)

DW -- I'm not set up yet as previously explained but I will take a picture and post it when I finish the roll. Don't have a digital camera. Meanwhile make plans.

This is a little thing but for those of you out there in my situation it may not be so little.

For obvious reasons, I buy a lot of things by mail and through the Internet. It's far easier to have things delivered to me rather than to go out and shop (several stores) trying to find what I need.

For the longest time, I simply ignored the second address line when filling out a delivery address for what I was ordering. No longer! Now I type in that second line "Ring Bell & Wait 1 min". Sure enough, that appears on my address label and the mailman or UPS or FedEx driver sees it and obliges.

It's very difficult for me to lean over and pick up a package left on the porch which is always what happened before. I am usually able get to the door in less than a minute though I found that they're usually still there after 90 seconds (they don't carry stopwatches).

As I said, a little thing but a big convenience in my life that I wanted to share with my Disabled Gardener friends.

That is a GREAT idea! I have a few direct mail pieces come with gardenwife.com because I put that on a registration at some time or another when requesting a business-related offer.

Excellent dw.

I thought I'd post a picture of the ramps I use to get my 3 wheeled electric scooter onto the deck and then into the kitchen. Tread Tex (anti slip particles) were mixed into the sealer that was used on the deck when the ramps were sealed.

In the foreground is my trusty (squirrel & chipmunk proof) bird feeder that's shown with a suet block I recently hung for the Cardinals and Goldfinches as the winter cold is just a week or two away.

In the background next to my patio door is my squirrel, chipmunk, Blue Jay (etc) feeder table on which I mount a cracked corn cob. I suppose a zoom of this picture would show that there is no corn on the cob - I'm waiting for them to clean up their mess on the table and the deck before they get a new one. By the way, if you're going to put out a corn feeder like this, drilling a hole in all the cobs ahead of time makes it easy to slip the cob on and off the nail.

For those of you with really sharp eyes, the nursery of my Brugmansia cuttings in the kitchen can be seen through the patio door window behind the squirrel table.

I can see the Brug nursery, the squirrel table and the suet feeder all from the warmth and comfort of my easy chair in my living room. That view is a lot more interesting than the boob tube unless there's TV football on of my Chicago Bears or Notre Dame.

Just thought I'd post an update of more trivial details in the life of a Polio survivor and what things are like as the gardening season comes to an end.

As the 2004 season ends the 2005 season begins!!

John

Well put!

This message was edited Feb 28, 2005 11:51 AM

What you say about the screw is correct. These critters seem to enjoy dragging the stripped cob all over the place. Where in the world they take them and what they do with them I've never been able to determine.

But since I'm always looking for labor saving conveniences, I decided to try a long nail to avoid the task of having to screw on and screw off every cob (screwing it off lifted the table off the deck). I figuered thay would need a stepladder to lift the cob off a longer nail. It turns out that I was correct.

I can "predrill" holes in a winter's supply of corn cobs in 5 minutes and besides it's fun work for me that I enjoy doing.

.

Thanks :)

Dave

This message was edited Feb 28, 2005 2:47 PM

This message was edited Feb 28, 2005 2:59 PM

That's fun. Howie's Sony Clie' PDA has a camera built in. It's handy for doing candids, especially of silly signs in restaurants and stuff like that.

Hi, dave--didn't know you were over here on this thread--just wanted to post a link for the Square Foot Gardening site that somebody mentioned above. http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

My mom gardens this way and it's especially great for her since she has Parkinson's. Lots of good results with limited reaching and stooping, etc., so 'SFG' may be adaptable for some interested in trying new methods...

Thanks "t",

I've looked imto SFG but since I have great mobilty on my electric scooter I don't need it - at least not yet. I'm even able to handle a potato patch while seated in the scooter. Got 100 pounds from it last summer.

Your new 2005 thread on birding looks great. I hope it goes year around. I'm still waiting on my Xmas trees - they are in shorter supply this year it seems, as I think you said. If you took the time to read this old long thread you will understand why the simple pleasures such as bird watching mean a lot to me.