I recently read Ruth Stout's Gardening Without Work: For the Aging, the Busy, and the Indolent. Even though it was written in 1961, I can see it still being pertinent to today's gardener. What I took away from her book was the importance of mulching and composting versus using chemicals and tilling the soil. I have heard plenty of arguments about her methods but the basis can't be beat. It saves disabled gardeners some strenuous weeding and composting does wonders for the soil. Plus you can use garbage thereby making it pretty darn cheap! Let me know if you have used her method of mulching with hay that hasn't gone to seed and what you think about it.

I've found several sites and have been trying to link them without sucess for several days so will just post the addys and see if someone else has any luck.

http://www.friendshospitalonline.org/adaptivegardening.htm

http://www.gardengrapevine/ine.com

Let me know if you got through and what you think.
vickie

http://www.carryongardening.org.uk/index.asp

http://www.rosemarybasil.net/html/ http://www.amazon.com/McGee-Stuckeys-Bountiful-Container-Vegetables/dp/0761116230/ref=sr_1_6/104-2224842-7107157?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188223103&sr=1-6

All very interesting sites! Valentinebear, I love your friend's "tombstone" to a dead plant. What a great idea! lol! I will have to write that one down. And it is so sad that she lost so much in hurricane Katrina! That must have been truly heartbreaking.

Vickie, I will have to save the tumbling compost idea from the grapevines.com site. That almost looks like it would be fun! It might be a great way to get the dogs in on the act too. lol!

I just got Accessible Gardening: Tips & Techniques for Seniors and the Disabled by Joann Woy from the library today. Gotta love the public library! If I like it enough, I will probably look for a used one to buy on Amazon. Has anyone else read this book?

I have been reading a number of books on accessible/enabling gardening lately. They pretty much say the same thing ... mulch, grow easy to grow flowers, plants and vegetables, use raised beds, have even surfaces for paths and patios, and find good ergonomic tools. But I have learned a few great tips from some of the books I have read:

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Accessible Gardening: Tips & Techniques for Seniors & the Disabled by Joann Woy

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They featured the ComposTumbler by the PBM Group looks great for composting if you can't turn it over yourself. It also looks like it could be fun too. Reminds me of the bingo barrel that they spin and then pick out the numbers. Here is their site https://www.compostumbler.com/StoreFront/IAFDispatcher.

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The Aqua Spike that turns a 2 liter bottle into a water system for plants. You can see what they look like here http://nga-gardenshop.stores.yahoo.net/13-4114.html.

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Enabling Garden: Creating Barrier-Free Gardens by Gene Rothert

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Vertical wall gardens that are basically boxes stacked upon each other on their sides. The boxes are filled with soil, covered with landscaping plastic and then chicken wire or screening. To plant, you slit open the wire/screen and the plastic and plant a small plant/flower.

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The author - Gene Rothert - is the manager of Urban Horticulture at the Chicago Botanic Garden and is also wheelchair bound. He imparts a number of ideas from his own perspective.

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Able to Garden:Â A Practical Guide for Disabled and Elderly Gardeners edited by Peter Please

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This book had some great ideas that aren't just for disabled or elderly gardeners - things like using two liter bottles for an herb tower or seed propogator. One oddball idea I liked was the nylon building blocks. You basically take a leg from pantihose, fill the foot area with dirt and fold it inside itself a couple of times. You can use it to build a "turf wall" which can be planted by making a tiny slit in the nylon or you could also hang it and plant it.

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This book also suggested growing espalier-trained fruit trees (fruit trees trained to grow up against a wall or trellis). It is one of the ideas I never thought of for the disabled gardener.

I put a pencil sized hole in the bottom of a 48 oz. or 64 oz. plastic juice bottle at the edge, fill it with water, put the cap back on and lay it on it's side with the hole up so the water won't leak out. To use it to water a plant I just stand it upright, leave the cap tight and the water goes out the little hole very slowly. You'll see little bubbles go up in the bottle as the water goes out. Even though you may not see bubbles for a while, the next morning that bottle will be empty. We drink a lot of juice.Believe me, this saves time. You can be standing bottles up while the first ones are doing the job. ANAEROBIC

What a very cool idea, Anaerobic! I will have to remember that tip. I live in an apartment with a balcony and one of my biggest problems is watering plants. I have trouble filling the big bulky water can and carrying it over a 8" high threshold to get to the balcony. I will have to try that one next summer. Thanks for sharing!