Any Gardeners Out There?

[Seasha]

Would like to talk with other veggie or flower gardeners and share stories and tips for gardening with MS! I have been a serious gardener for about 40 years now. I have SPMS and even walking around the garden is tricky.... BUT, it is my passion and I can't imagine NOT gardening!Every 10 years or so, the garden grows smaller. Now, smallest ever and finding that it's getting hard to manage.

Just wondering what others are doing to make it easier?? I have raised beds (12") which helps the plants, but makes it hard to step onto. After falling so many times, my cane is my constant companion and helps hoists me up the beds. I crawl around a lot and my knees look like the knees of kids playing around in dirt -lol.

Any ideas out there from other gardens??

[heliotrope]

A step will help. I know people that have used aerobic steps to reach the garden. Also, padded kneelers (not Styrofoam!).

[Lexie]

Love it

I too love to work in my little flower garden. I have had back to back hip replacements for the last two summers and have not been able to do anything at all. Then when I think this will be a great summer I get the MS diagonosis in May. But it still will be a good summer. I water my little plants every afternoon just sitting in a chair. I sat on a little stool yesterday to do a little weeding and of course it fell over and it took a few minutes for me to get myself up. I know it was sight!

[Toomnyhats]

After 5 seasons of trying to grow veggies in "Houston gumbo", I gave up & went to pots. I'm originally from IL where we have "real" dirt that produces an abundance of veggies in the summer.

I now have a tomato, a green pepper and a cucumber. Three pots = 3 plants. With some of the smaller plants I may be able to put more than 1 plant in a pot.

Seasha, you may want to consider this, just use large pots. Downside is dramatic decrease in quantity of plants, but for me it works better.

[Alicious]

My raised bed is 4x10 (soon to be 4x20), and I can access it from both sides, so there is no need to step into it.

My beef is using a big shovel. I can't jump on it to dig with my left leg any more or I will fall on my hiney.

[Seasha]

One of the most helpful items I use is a folding kneeler bench. (here's an example http://www.nextag.com/Garden-Kneeler...D9D879785EE46C)

I've always loved houseplants and just recently got into veggie growing. This house I bought 2 years ago has asparagus, green onions, concord grapes, peonies, vinca, lilacs, sweet william...too much to list. Most of it stuff I've never dealt with before. I need a map to keep track of it all!

Just planted cantelope and acorn squash from seeds that came some I ate. Why buy seeds?!

Thanks for the tip, Sparky. Is the kneeler bench heavy? I have been using old bath mats folded up which sometimes work, except when it rains(often here) and gets wet.

I too have tons of trees, bushes and perennials that I planted back in the "good days gone by". What was I thinking? (that the MS wouldn't eventually get worse)

My first gardens were in Iowa, btw! The tomatoes (big beef) and cukes were huge!

[Lexie]

I was making a "Bucket List" a few years ago although it was like a "Retirement List" list for me. The first thing I had on it was to "Grow a pumpkin patch" because I love the fall decorating and thought it would be neat and inexpensive for me. ha ha ha Where in all the places you can't grow pumpkins? Florida right where I live. Oh well I'll just have to admire them in the Smokey Mountains every fall when we visit there. So much for my Bucket List.

[justacowgirl]

I love to garden. I always did perennials but lately the vegetable garden is taking priority. My husband built me a root cellar last year and I intend to fill it to the brim this year...kohlrabi, beets, spuds, carrots, beans, corn, garlic garlic garlic, onions and on and on.

Now if the weather would just cooperate. Too much rain this year.

What has made it easier for me is the right hoe! I found a great old one at a yard sale and man is it a winner. I never realized how much easier it is with the right hoe. I used to use the pointy kind but now I have this great old flat one with just the right angle.

The little pleasures in life!!

Wish we could post pictures so we could see what we are all growing...

j

[crawford]

I am a farmer /.....

I love to garden, but I relocated 3 states away from my farm so..... adaptions I - cannot live with out my garden.

April

[Seasha]

How lucky you have a root cellar, justa... I try to winter over carrots and beets loading up straw over top + Remay. I place a long stick where everything is, so when it snows I'll know where to look. have to harvest beets earlier on, tho. They won't last. Glad you found the right hoe...it makes all the difference. Sounds like you've got quite a crop....I love to grow enough garlic to last the entire year.

Crawford - hope you continue to find pleasure amidst all the adaptions!! I have moved 5 times during my 40 years of gardening. I cannot live without playing in the soil and watching everything coming alive. Guess it's a nuturing thing

And lexie - why can't you grow pumpkins in Fl? They grow them in Africa, so why not florida?

Great hearing from you all!
just call me "dirt under my fingernails"

[justacowgirl]

Seasha...I note are in the PNW...and have snow...Are you near Spokane by chance?

[Seasha]

No, justacowgirl - I live on the other side of the mountains close to Canada. We do get some snow here but doesn't last very long. Actually, snow, as opposed to no snow is good for wintering over crops as it acts as a barrier for frozen ground. What I can't do well here is grown corn and man! do I love it...

[justacowgirl]

I am up near Canada too but only a couple miles from Idaho. We can't leave anything in the ground to winter it just freezes hard as rock.

I do grow corn but I buy Yukon Chief from Alaska and it is awesome. It will sprout in the cold and come up in the wet and I got 80 ears 2 years ago. They are smaller ears but freeze wonderfully. I tried another heritage variety last year and it was awful so I am back to the Yukon Chief..you might try it.

We are having the wettest spring on record. We look like Western Washington! All green and bushy! We are used to the dry hot summers but not this year.

Maybe we can keep this thread going and all keep up on our garden successes and failures this year!@!

I just harvested my first bucket of spinach!!

j

[Shashi]

I just posted an idea I have for an indoor garden in my empty spare bedroom. I haven't had a garden in years, and I live in an apartment in the city, but I would love to have some fresh grown veggies. I'm just wondering how practical and difficult it would be.

[lovelysunshine]

tall beds

you can actually make beds on legs that are at table height

I do square foot gardening(sort of) and still have beds on the ground...but you should google handicaped raised garden beds or wheelchair accessible gardenbed plans

L.