NEW HERNIATED DISC - MUST RETHINK GARDEN PLAN - RAISED BED?

Atlantic Beach, NY

HI GUYS:

Just came out of the hospital with the deaded diagnosis.. Needless to say future bending will be limited but I don't want to give up my veggie garden.

Sooo...My current veggie garden is roughly a 4 ft. by 60 foot strip. I am thinking of cementing this area over and building an ELEVATED ( waist high off the ground) raised bed(s). I am thinking of cedar boxe(s) with each being 36 inches wide 18 inches deep and 6-8 feet long. Any comments on my specs??? Are there any sources for this type of stuff ready made??? .

Any suggestions, ideas , modififications would be appreciated.

I am in Long Island, New York

Thanx
Laska1

St. Louis County, MO(Zone 5a)

My thoughts, for what they are worth: I wouldn't bother concreting but I would put about an inch of newspapers at the bottom as a start to cover any vetatation there now. 18 inches is a good height if you are sitting down (I use a rolling seat). Higher is better if you plan to stand while you weed, etc. I like some of each, low for tomatoes, higher for smaller crops. You can go wider if you have access from both sides, but no more than 48 inches because you have to stretch (bend). Make sure the beds can drain. I found the square foot gardening book helpful to get started. Check out the wheelchair garden threads in accessible gardening, there are some great ideas presented. If you have to put paths in between, make them wider rather than narrow so that you can get a cart between them for moving heavy things around. Major help: weeping hose set up when you have the boxes put in so you don't have to drag a heavy hose around if you are in pain.

Walk around your garden now and think about what you normally do, like dragging in potting soil, etc. Make a list and think about how to do these things without bending/lifting. And ask here again, I'm glad to offer my experiences.

Cathy

Atlantic Beach, NY

Cath;

Thanx for the input.

As I sit here the memory of the horrendous pain is still very fresh. I think that if I had had a hacksaw I might have considered lopping off the leg. I am not kidding... and you are talking to a guy who didn't take novacaine for the last root canal

At this stage I want a table/bed thatI I can work at waist high. See this link for something that looks like it might work .. http://www.emilysplants.com/My_store_pages/cedargardencenter.html

Thamx
Laska1

St. Louis County, MO(Zone 5a)

Laska1, those look nice. I saw these on the accessible gardening earlier this year; my son is building them for me this fall: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/617936/

Richmond, VA(Zone 7b)

Hi LASKA1,

I had to have left hip replaced and will have the other replaced in 2008 sooooo had to figure out a way to garden without kneeling, bending and twisting. In past I grew a huge in-ground garden.

I purchased 15 EarthBoxes and now have a wonderful vegetable garden. My DH helped with the initial set-up. If you can not even get down to the level of the EB you can elevate them to the level you are most comfortable with. Some of mine are elevated on 6X6 wood post which I cut to a height comfortable for me - regular wood not pressure treated.

For me raised bed gardening would not have worked because I would still have to bend and twist and kneel to do the weeding and planting. With EarthBox there is no weeding, no tilling. Also if you are handy you can make your own GrowBox and save LOTS & LOTS of money. Making your own GrowBox also allows you to make it to your own specs.

Good Luck,
DL



This message was edited Oct 23, 2007 3:56 PM

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