Allotments 4 All
General => Assisted Gardening => Topic started by: GRACELAND on September 14, 2009, 14:24:59
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Whether you’re an elderly person who has enjoyed gardening all of your life but have now found that it’s become a bit of a struggle physically or you’re a younger person who has always had some kind of disability – it doesn’t necessarily mean that gardening should be off limits.
In fact, getting out amongst wildlife and nature can often help ease things like stiff joints and help with things like breathing and gardening is an activity that doesn’t require you to over exert yourself so if you’re still able to get up and about, you can make it as leisurely as you want it to be.
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hear hear! :)
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I used to know a lifelong gardener who was well into her 90's who could no longer garden but loved to have a potter round every day, weather permitting. She always said, with a twinkle in her eyes, that having that to look forward to was the only thing that got her out of bed in the mornings!
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Graceland, i get up & about do housework etc: but it is almost impossible for me to garden i am almost imobile with my Osteoarthritus, in both my knees i grow the things to plant in my greenhouse & plant up pots & hanging baskets i cannot do much else around the garden. But believe me i do try. ;D
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Having had to give away one of my allotments over the weekend due to the fact that i can no longer continue to work two, this thread makes me think A4A has put a CCTV remote in in one of them. Is GraceL,s surname Orwell.
I have in the past knocked out some very harsh criticism to people who get allotments and then don't bother with them, they come out with the same old excuses, no doubt you have heard the same pathetic stories as me.
We have a chappie who through a stroke is paralysed down one side and his allotment is second to none. So when people try to give their reasons we usually reffer them to him saying he manages OK so why cant you.
Doing your work, jobs, task or whatever in gardening or in life for that matter is not hindered by your physical handicaps it is only limited. You can come up with a thousand reasons not to go to the garden and do a few hours work, you can only think of very few to go there on a rainy, damp or cold day, some can think of a reason on a glorious sunny day.
As in life it come down to ones mental attitude, determination not to waist what that day in your life gives you, the will power to go that extra yard.
When you are child a day lasted a week when you get older a week lasts only a day
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Graceland, i get up & about do housework etc: but it is almost impossible for me to garden i am almost imobile with my Osteoarthritus, in both my knees i grow the things to plant in my greenhouse & plant up pots & hanging baskets i cannot do much else around the garden. But believe me i do try. ;D
Rosesbud
you keep at it as best you can and even advising people on here helps :)
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davyw1
Is GraceL,s surname Orwell. ??? ??? ???
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WE do have a lovely garden. Peeps i have invited from A4A can vouch for that we work hard in our garden, yes it can be mind over matter & believe me sometimes thats all that gets me out there some days. Please don`t preach to me about gardening just come & see what we do .
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WE do have a lovely garden. Peeps i have invited from A4A can vouch for that we work hard in our garden, yes it can be mind over matter & believe me sometimes thats all that gets me out there some days. Please don`t preach to me about gardening just come & see what we do .
I know what you mean Rose ,Days my back plays me up i think of the garden and it makes you get out there even if its just a few odds and ends its great to get out there ,My wife thinks i,m mad in winter popping out there in the cold doing something !! :)
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I love my garden , but when it is 100ft wide back & front it is a lot of work my husband keeps it looking stunning, it is a wrap around garden both sides need full attention PLUS we have a vegetable plot all very well looked after.
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hay Rose that sounds some garden well done to you :)
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Not always possible. My late husband always started around 300 cuttings for me, he would work in the greenhouse. He was riddled (like Mary) with Arthritis so couldn't do much else in the garden, unfortunately he spent the last years of his life confined to a wheelchair. Due to the layout of our bungalow and outbuildings it was impossible to get his wheelchair to the greenhouse. Even so in the last few months before his death he sat at my kitchen table (me running backwards and forwards with cuttings and trays of compost) so that I could have some cuttings.
Mary your garden is a credit to you and Ron.
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Mary your garden is a credit to you and Ron.
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Well said :)
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Yeah I moved over to pots and troughs some time ago in order to continue my allotment zeal. It is different for everyone as I find, being wheelchair bound, even gardening in pots can be challenging.
I tend to stick to easy culture plants which are continuous cropping where possible like tomatoes, peppers, climbing beans, courgettes, cucumbers, aubergines and fruit like strawberries, raspberries, chinese lanterns and gooseberries etc..
I always add talking point plants like Lady's Slipper, Fat Hedgehog, Japanese Sword Bean and Chinese Yam are a few of this year's plan. The internet too has revolutionised winter and my ability to locate unusual varieties as I enjoy growing heritage types.
My actual garden area is covered over (flagged and stoned) as I am totally unable to control it. I then sit the pots at strategic points on that. I had an outside tap fitted too (plus a water butt) with a 100m coiling hose equipped with a lance gun with variable spray nozzle.
Liquid feed though has replaced good strong manure but I still get lots of lovely fresh veg with plenty to share.
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davyw1
Is GraceL,s surname Orwell. ??? ??? ???
Is big brother watching you, CCTVs
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I think as we get creaky ;D
we need to make things a wee bit easier for our selfs :)
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Davy, perhaps I'm not reading your first post on this thread right and I've misinterpreted it - if so, please accept my apologies. Your example of the gentleman who is paralized down one side being held up as an example of what can be achieved with the right mind-set, to those suffering from the severe debilitating on-going, sometimes excruciating, pain of arthritis, for instance - a pain which doesn't stop at night when the sufferer goes to bed but can be relentless (plus, of course, the physical disability it also creates) doesn't to me, bear comparison. :-\
All disabilities are different and even the same 'condition' can cause varying problems with the afflicted.
I applaud all the members here who struggle to garden and do their best despite these adversities, and I've seen at close hand that a simplistic view that mind over matter will always win through, is, to me, just that - simplistic.
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HYACINTH, There is no need for any apologies because i believe you should say what you think.
I was referring to people who get allotments then make excuses for not doing them the point was if he can dig with one arm why cant these people do it with two arms.
I know there is a vast difference between people who have problems like arthritis and such like painfull disabilities, i nursed my mother for two year who was crippled with it.
Nothing pees me of more then people complaining about nothing such as " What a miserable day " My usual reply is " there is a lot of people that will do a swap with you, they would only be to pleased to feel the rain if they could get out of the house.
I take my hat off to anyone with any disability who will give anything a try
Its better to have tried and failed than not to have tried at all
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I agree,
I have just got my new lottie which needs a lot of work as the site has been closed for many years.
I am hoping when it is up and running and the spring arrives that my husband may help me to tend it.
He suffers from spinal problems which mean bending lifting and twisting are out.
he says he will be more than happy to help pick the fruits of my labour that don't involve bending. ;)
we have a 3 1/2 year old who will be able to assist his dad with anything lower.
I may be picking your brains soon for helpful tips.
on a side note
I went to the plot today,there were 7 different plots being worked,5 went home when the rain started ::)
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One of my workmates had to have his fingers, nose & toes amputated after an accident but he's one of the most enable people I know. Even though he's legal entitled to a blue badge he doesn't use it because in his mind he's not disabled. He's as active now as before his accident. Granted he's had to make some minor changes to his life but apart from that he's not let anything hold him back.
CC
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It matters not whether you have a pot on the window sill or a mansion with acres of land.
It is the taking part that we all should remember. To grow a plant is to achieve a great deal in this time of hardship for some.
The older you get the less you have, and that goes for all of us in time.
There is no turning the clock back as time stops for no one.
Hats off to all of those who try. :D
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:D
i knew a man who was 87 when he died and was out on the garden every day of his life in all weathers
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Gardening certainly gets very hard for some as we get older, tis the bending that is hard for me.
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:-\ This cold weather makes you ache ::)
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I suffered a stroke in july and am am hoping to get back onto my allotment soon. There is plenty of good news here. Many thanks. ;)
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Thrive's website for those that may have missed it.
http://www.thrive.org.uk/ask-thrive.aspx
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Graceland, you're right, aches and pains everywhere ;D
hope you're feeling better soon, hopalong ,and that you can get on to your plot in time for sowing season :)
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My fist big gardening project that included managing a team of 14 people at some point was with a man that thought me a lot - It was even before Uni.
Jeremy was a full time head gardener with more than 30 years, at first he taught me to drive a tractor ( and sent me with 2 Swedish volunteers girls on each side of the seat to the compost heap), about all sorts of plants and trees and tools- he could fix anything. But only after few weeks -I heard that he can not see much.
(It did explain few things), but he enjoyed gardening and could do nearly anything.
I sold last year 65 round and high 65 cm raised beds- and heard from many people how happy they were with that- and got few orders for next year fom schools- they are happy with the fact no one will run into it. It is ideal if you seat on a wheel chair and does not cost much too- Made from recycled plastic it provides no work too.
to make it even easier - anyone can built it in seconds and in coming spring can be order with expanding compost for it.
Do not want to spam it- but let me know if you need any help with that
I used one with my daughters- in the front garden- we love it.
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I agree, generally: unfortunately, some people can't make the distinction between 'disability' and 'debility'.
We have a group of people working together on plots. Most of us are 'disabled' and have 'debility'. This means we often have to work to a different time line, or grow our veg in a different manner ('vertical gardening rather than simply 'horizontal'). we get some very 'odd' looks from other allotment holders - and often have to fight for our 'Green Gym' as some in the DHSS think that if we can grow tomatoes by 'doing' for 10 minute stints that we can do an 8 hour day's manual work! ???