My brother just moved here from Indianapolis. He wants to get some chickens and maybe eventually other animals. He also wants to get some raised beds going. Problem is how to do this from a wheel chair and make it accessable for him to work. Can any of you help with some ideas? Maybe some plans that are wheel chair friendly? Please note that he will have little or no help. And is on a fixed income.I know that it would help him so much just to have something and some one to get up for in the morning. Animals make you get around and give you a reason to get up. Oh! I mean he would have some help in building but not after. The every day taking care of it. He is very independant EXCEPT FOR THE WHEEL CHAIR. He is able to use crutches to get very limited places. He has the use of a few of the muscles in the front of the legs but it is very taxing and dangerous. Thank you for helping.

-- Bonnie (josabo1@juno.com), July 06, 2000

Answers

I would suggest, that like everyone, we start with the simpler things and build up to the more difficult as we gain more experience. I would recommend that he start by building raised beds to garden in. If they are placed at the correct height, he should be able to tend them easily. I would also suggest that you make the walls of the raised beds wide enough that he can get out of his wheelchair and sit on the wall and scoot along on it as he works. Since he has the ability to get out, it would ge easier on him to be on the wall rather than trying to reach over a wall from his wheelchair. Obviously, it will depend on his own wishes as to what he feels would be the easiest for him. You could also set up a railing along the inside of the wall about six inches above it for him to pull himself along while his legs dangle on the outside of the wall.

A hose should be mounted in a convenient spot for him to reach right at the garden as well.

As far as animals, I would think that rabbits might be the easiest for him to start with. Since the pens are typically up off the ground anyway it would make it easy for him to get to them to change their water and food. They are also less likely to be gotten by wild animals if the cages are built properly so he does not have to worry about that aspect.

From there, I would just take it one step at a time and see how he does. Add things as he masters the earlier ones. I would try chickens next for the fun of getting eggs which can be set up to have nest boxes accessible from outside of the coop through a trap door which would make it easy for him to retrieve them. Also, another trap door could be set up to put in feed and water. He would need help probably to clean and freshen the bedding but that could be managed probably on a twice a year basis if he used a thick base of wood shavings or sawdust.

Good luck and definitely go for it. I think he will really enjoy it.

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), July 06, 2000.

I agree about the rabbits probably being a better animal to start with. And what about a dog? They make excellent companions, and with a little bit of training the right dog can be a BIG help (company, protection - from people and critters, herding, etc.)

A water spigot in the garden would be good too, if at all practical. Freezing pipes may be a concern though. If nothing else though, set up a spigot down by the garden, even if it's only fed by a water hose during warm weather.

And no matter what you do with the raised beds, think about the mud that the ground between them will become when it rains... I would get some quarry process (QP / shoulder stone / etc. - I've seen different names in different parts of the country) delivered and spread it out 2 or 3 inches thick and tamp / roll it and water it. It'll pack down nice and hard and prevent your brother from getting bogged down after a heavy rain.

-- Eric in TN (ems@nac.net), July 06, 2000.

There's a book on gardening that was written for people in wheelchairs and with other mobility problems -- my husband has a copy, but he's got it loaned out right now, and I can't remember the name of it -- sorry. (He got it just to loan out, as he works at a VA hospital, and a lot of the patients enjoy gardening but are disabled.) Otherwise, all the advice already given is excellent! Good luck to him -- does he have a computer, so he can get on this forum??

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), July 06, 2000.

bonnie, this isn't specific, but I thought I'd throw it in. In South Dakota, a farmer got pulled into his combine. He managed to hold the rest of his body out of the machine for hours until someone happened to find him. Both his legs were amputated. His machinery has had to be heavily modified, but he continues to farm. I saw a photo of his neighbor carrying him like a backpack. There may not be much left of his body, but there is a lot of gumption still in him.

In Minnesota, another farmer has lost both hands and both feet to diabetes. He also continues to farm. Over the years I've either met or heard about other people who have had severely disabled bodies, but the courage and will power to overcome the obstacles.

There are a lot of resources out there on sizing things for people in wheelchairs. And there are books on sewing and knitting garments to help people in wheel chairs both dress and sit more comfortably. A lot of gardening books at least touch on raised bed gardening, there are some directed at people creating raised gardens for nursing homes. I don't happen to know of titles and authors off hand. Try your local library. Also does your brother have a doctor or physical therapist who could provide either printed material or a bibliography? Any rehab center should have information to get you started.

In the end, it is going to be a matter of building things as time and money permit, sizing each thing to his particular reach. The better you are at scavenging things for free or cheap, the faster you'll be able to build. I wish you and your brother the best. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), July 06, 2000.

Hi, Bonnie -- While your brother's designing his gardening set-up, taking a look at "Square Foot Gardening" might be useful. There are some suggestions for raised planters that can be used by people who are in wheelchairs. (The book is still available to buy, but can usually be found in the library, too.)

-- Christine (cytrowbridge@zianet.com), July 06, 2000.

Sure he can do it. Just do a lot of thinking and planning as you go along. I do it with just one leg. I just have to figure out how I can do something. I know a chair is more challenging than my situation but I can relate. I would suggest small animals and not too many to start out. I've got Muscovy ducks and they just follow me around and when I want to put them up at night they just go in their shed. And definately get a dog. A labrador. I had one and he was just about like a 12 year old kid. That smart. Labs understand what you're doing before you even tell him what you want. Go for it.

-- Joe Cole (jcole@apha.com), July 06, 2000.

Bonnie, Yesterday, I received my copy of Lynn Gillespie's 'Cinder Block Gardening'. You or he can check out her web site (lynngillespie.com) and see if the pictures show what he's looking for. The beds are two placed rows of cinderblocks but, the books suggests 3 or 4 rows depending on the height desired ( higher rows require rebar to add stability). I'm really impressed with this book. If, he doesn't have access to the internet you can print off several pages of the web site and get them to him. No printer? - me either. I go to the library and pay 10 cents a page. Good Luck!

-- Pam Pitts (msjanedoe@hotmail.com), July 06, 2000.

Thanks guys & (and gals ) While I can certainly help with giving him chickens and rabbits. I just knew he would be so much better off if he could start off with the right stuff. You know avoid any un- necesary frustration. He has use of some of the muscles in the front of his leg only. I don't think he could scoot very easy ( or at all ) I'll check into that. He has no dr yet as he just got here. He had a heart attack about 4 months ago. With bypass and the works. His lovely wife of 4 years left him when his workmans comp ran out( which was in May ) He does not have access to the internet as he threw the computer out of his house after his wife ran off with someone she met on it. So computers are a bit of a sore spot for him if you know what I mean. He has a little dog( and I mean tiny) great company, doesn't eat much but isn't much good for protection. But he has a can of foam wasp killer. He says it works as good as mace on the bad dogs around there and is a whole lot cheaper.(Plus it takes care of flying nasties too) And some sort of gun or two for the two legged preditors. Thanks Eric about the quarry process. He has a mechanical wheel chair. He got around amazingly here. And I thought about him turning over in it; but I hadn't thought about him getting stuck.And I should have considered that; knowing how many times I've been ankle deep around here. You see I would worry about him falling and not having help for sometime. He lives some 27 miles from me. The raised blocks could really work for him as his son is a brick layer. Maybe? And thanks for the internet sites I'll look them up and I wonder if the county extention office would have anything especially on this stuff? I know I have gotten gardening and canning stuff there before. Well thanks folks . Ya'll are the best!

-- Bonnie (josabo1@juno.com), July 06, 2000.

Bonnie, my grandma used to have a necklace thing she wore and if she was ever in trouble all she had to do is push a button and help arrived, you could check into something like that or a cell phone on his belt so he could call someone if he got stuck.

-- kathy h (saddlebronc@msn.com), July 06, 2000.

Years ago I visited with a family whose mother was in a wheel chair. For her to garden they built a framework off of the ground, then a layer of boards, then sides made from landscape timbers (and yes I know they are treated). Boxes were at the height and width so she could sit in her chair and reach over to weed or harvest. I think the water system was a drip hose or two in each box. For the ground each year they added a layer of rolled roofing paper (the kind with the grit in it). It made a pretty firm base, but kept down weeds between boxes. Carpet scraps might also work. I think she had only two or three boxes about 8' long. Purpose wasn't to feed the family, but to let her continue to enjoy gardening. I suspect when she died the arrangement was fairly easy to remove. I agree with the comments about rabbits perhaps being the best small livestock for him. I don't see why he wouldn't care for them and process them from his chair.

-- Ken Scharabok (scharabo@aol.com), July 06, 2000.

Wheelchair Accessible Gardening by DO-IT Scholar, Joshua Spece

Many people enjoy gardening as a hobby, or even as a profession. When most people think of gardening, they usually think of someone down on their hands and knees on the ground. This doesn't have to be the case, though. People who have a disability can enjoy gardening just as much as everyone else. Raised gardens can bring the plants up to people who use wheelchairs. There are a few things that need to be considered when making a wheelchair accessible garden.

The first thing to consider, is the construction of the raised garden. It should be a comfortable height to work at. Twenty-eight to thirty inches high is usually good. Second, it should not be too wide. If it is too wide, it will be hard to reach the center of the garden. Generally, it should be no more than two feet to the center, so a bed accessible from all sides could be about four feet across. Length doesn't really matter. It can be as long or as short as you like. The garden can be built with pressure treated two by eight's with four by four posts in each corner. An easy alternative to building a raised bed is to use large pots. You can grow anything in pots, even cucumbers and tomatoes! An advantage to using pots is that they are portable, and can be easily moved. Once the raised bed is built it should be filled with good top soil or compost.

Next, you need to decide what type of paths to have between and around the raised beds. It can be left as grass, but it may be hard to maneuver a lawnmower down narrow paths. It can also be made of wood chips or mulch. A four to six inch layer will keep the weeds down, but it needs to be replaced every year or two. Wood chips may also be hard for wheelchairs to run on. Another option is pea gravel. This will also keep weeds down, but doesn't have to be replaced as often a wood chips. Once the gravel is compacted, wheelchairs should have no problem getting around on it. A more permanent alternative is a brick or stone patio built around the raised beds. This keeps weeds down, doesn't need to be replaced, and wheelchairs can easily get around on it. A disadvantage to this is that it is more labor intensive and expensive to install.

Once you have the raised garden built and easily accessible, you need to decide what to put in the garden. A good, foolproof choice is annuals. Annuals provide instant color and come in many shapes and sizes in a wide range of colors. Some good choices are petunias, marigolds, snap dragons, pansies, impatiens (if you have shade), and annual salvia. Put the tall plants in the center or back of the bed, and work your way down to the shortest plants in the front. Plants that drape over the side of the bed, such as lobelia and petunias, are good for the edge. Hardy perennials can also be grown in raised beds. Some good choices are black-eyed-Susan's, ornamental grasses, hostas (if you have shade), daisies, dwarf iris, and creeping dianthus for the edges. It will take the perennials a year or two to get established, but after that they require very little care, and don't need to be replaced every year like annuals.

When your garden is planted, it will require very little care. When it is dry, or very hot out, give it a good soaking in the morning or evening, never during the hottest part of the day. About once a month it is a good idea to fertilize your garden so it will keep growing strong and provide lots of flowers and vegetables. Once in a while it is a good idea to dead-head your flowers. This means to take off the old, dead flowers so the plants will continue to make new ones. That's about all there is to maintaining your raised garden.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), July 07, 2000.

This may be the book that's been mentioned:

http://www.greenleaves.com/bookcat/gb_0933149565.html

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), July 07, 2000.

Don't know myself, but from my reading it sounds like quail might be a good possibility for starting livestock too, with maybe partridges as a possibility later on. They could be kept in cages off the ground, like the rabbits.

As for growing things, he could use hydroponics. A lot of our gourmet varietes of lettuce are raised that way, and sold with their little hairy clump of roots still attached. For that sort of growing (not necessarily those particular crops), I would think plastic pipe, split in half lengthways to make long shallow tubs, would do. Vermiculite as a growing medium (or sand or fine gravel), with whatever solution of fertilizer he wanted to use, and when the crops were harvested, boil or bleach things to sterilise, then start again.

None of these or other ideas need to be everything he does. Variety is good, but easy is good too. If he does some things that are easy, it leaves him more time to do the other things that are not so easy. He doesn't need to work hard, working smart is better.

Actually, you could do this sort of thing even with legs. You could develop a nice little business in supplying gourmet items to a select few restaurants.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), July 07, 2000.

i also suggested that you might consider using tires as planters in rows for a garden. i am thinking of doing it next year due to my back. i know what a fixed low income is and cell phones are not in my budget but as i find that most of the time my chores are within 150 ft of my house so i always carry a wireless phone with me so if i fall and need help i can call for it. gail

-- gail (gef123@hotmail.com), July 10, 2000.

Bonnie...you didnt say where here was....Lots of ideas for him to be able to do with no problem... He could do some beekeeping just to name one... not only a fun hoby but he can make a few tax free bucks in the process... If he is close to me we would be glad to help

-- Doc (thisisdoc@aol.com), July 11, 2000.

He could raise mushrooms, too. As for chucking the computer, that's just shooting the messenger, and I bet he would enjoy this forum -- it's the only forum I participate in and I find it so encouraging & such a lot of food for thought. He is not the only person in the world who has gotten left. (I always figured if a fellow didn't have the sense to want to be with me, he didn't deserve me anyhow...) And my husband says "The best revenge is to live well." Homesteading is the right step. Come to think of it, I met my husband while building my house here on my little homestead -- he was the head framer! Best of luck to your brother...you never know who is just around the corner.

-- snoozy (allen@oz.net), July 11, 2000.

Used stacked tires sound like an excellent opportunity. My local farmers' co-op would let me haul off all I wanted since they have to pay a $1 disposal fee. Perhaps stack three of the same size, put some time of drainage platform on top of the third one, add a fourth and fill it with good garden soil. Instead of Square Foot Gardening, you have Round Tire Gardening. If he got a computer again, perhaps he could write a book about doing it while handicapped. I can see the possibilities even for people who just want to use raised beds one or two tires high.

-- Ken Scharabok (scharabo@aol.com), July 11, 2000.

This month's (Sept 2K) Mother Earth News had an article about raising bamboo as a cash crop. If he will be where the tropical (big) varieties with overwinter (I've seen some patches around mid-North Carolina, in the Goldsboro area) then for a moderate amount of work (mainly mulching and harvesting) a steady crop of bamboo for food, sale produce, poles,lumber, nursery stock, etc. can be grown. They say that the ideal "forest" of bamboo is widely spaced, leaving plenty of room for a chair. Another pathway idea is to lay down a concrete hex and fill with dirt and low-growing grass or other herbage. This will keep him out of the mud, while still allowing plenty of greenery to enjoy (some mother-or-thyme or similar scented herbs would provide a relaxing and aromathereputic benefit and there are many varietie that will handle moderate traffic. This should be cheaper that laying brick and more expensive that roofing paper, although a weed barrier underneath (to prevent incursion of creeping uglies) would eventually pay for the additional cost in saved weeding and mulch. Here's hoping it works out. If it does, a book or article to guide others along this unlighted path could be another consideration to add a bit of income. Perhaps a few homesteading- type mags might even be interested is buying an ongoing article a la Dear Abby to spread the info and experiences around. Who knows?

-- Soni Pitts (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), July 12, 2000.

its me again. rather than just stacking the tires i am planning on ordering a blade and instruction book from a countryside advertisor that being tirecrafting. they also have a website "www.tirecrafting.com which i visited to make sure that they had the information i was looking for. i think they do and i plan to order. i think by building the planters i would not have to use as many tires to get the height i need so i won't have to bend over to garden. another thought you might be able to use one of the walking stone molds or make one yourself so you could build (hopefully at a reasonable price) cement walkways around the planters to be more w/c friendly. another thought on rabbits i think it was in one of mike bennets books that he said he sometimes raised smaller rabbits than new zealand whites i guess they would be more of a pet breed but the adults were only around 5 pounds so might be easier to handle from a wheelchair. i also think he might reconsider a computer so he can be online. but i also realize it is his discion. as you can see i really wish my speller worked sending this reply i am embarrased. can't think of anything else right now but if you or your brother have any questions please e-mail me. gail

-- gail (gef123@hotmail.com), July 12, 2000.

A pretty good resource book on this is The Able Gardener by Kathleen Yeomans. You should try to get it from interlibrary loan. It lists many good resources for further ideas and sources. You also should investigate the independent living centers in your state. Each state has at least one, and they can be a great resource. In Wisconsin, we also have Agribility, which is a resource that works with people with disabilities and farming. If it is to be his "vocation", he might want to check with The Department of Vocational Resources (or similar agency to see if they could be of assistance in the initial set up. I used to work with one of Wisconsin's indepdent living centers, and will be glad to be of any assistance that I can if you have further questions on resources, or specifics on beds, adaptive equipment, etc. Good luck.

-- joan (JTYTOR@pressenter.com), July 12, 2000.

There is a current post about container gardening using basically 5-gallon plastic buckets. Never occurred to me for use in your situation. Putting wooden pallots on concrete blocks would make them about the right height for someone in a wheelchair. At the end of the season empty them in a compost pile and then refill next spring.

-- Ken Scharabok (scharabo@aol.com), July 25, 2000.

I am still fairly new at getting around in a wheelchair, and it isn't all the time..a few weeks at a time, then back on my feet..so I am not totally in his position..but one thing that helps me get around and not get stuck is cardboard boxes on the path. It makes for a smoother ride then on the ground and grass doesn't grow up under it, nor does the rain really hurt it. I used boxes from when we moved out here a year ago to make a path last year , it did wear out over the year, but it got me a good cheap start.

-- Cindy in Ok (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), May 12, 2001.

Good for your brother. If he wants to try something new by all means help him try and I'm sure we all can help too.

I've read a few articles about people in wheelchairs raising sheep, the smaller breeds. The feeders were outfitted so the chair went through the middle and the person could feed from both sides. Water buckets and faucets were raised to be more acessable. Big things like shearing were hired out.

I also read, a while ago, an article in Sunset magazine about raised bed agrdening for the wheelchair bound. There again, everything was up off the ground, easy to reach. Also beds were not real wide, so the person could reach to the middle.

I suppose the laying boxes in chicken coops could be raised with a door or something to collect eggs from the outside. Also feed troughs and waterers could be on a platform of some kind and filled from the outside.

I think once he decides what he wants to get into (animals and kind of gardening) common sense will kick in and solutions will come to you. And of course there is always all of us to jog the mind.

I can't remember the sheep magazine but try a search for SHEEP! or the Suffolk Banner maybe they can help too. I don't know if Sunset magazine can help, they usually want the month and year to do a saerch, but it's worth a try.

Good luck and let us know how things progress.

-- jennifer (schwabauer@aol.com), May 12, 2001.