Raised Garden Boxes

Would you like to raise some flowers and/or grow some vegetables for your own consumption? Raised bed garden boxes will let you do that and it is great exercise. Each spring the soil must be worked up and planted. During the growing season the vegetables must be weeded and

thinned. If the weather is not cooperating the plants must be watered. The wilted flower heads must be picked off the plants (called deadheading) which is great exercise for fingers. A box does not take up much room if space is an issue. Prior to placing a box, the area under it must be prepared. This is not necessary if it will be placed on cement or any other solid surface. If placed on the ground you must assure good drainage.

The height of the box opening should be a few inches taller than the armrests of the wheelchair. The width of the growing area should be several inches less than twice the gardener’s arm length which will allow the covering of the entire planting area. Built from pressure treated lumber, the box is open on two sides so one can drive a wheelchair underneath it and work straight on. 

The first year my boxes presented some unique problems because of the construction.  The 2” by 8” which made up the planting area did not allow for the soil to be deep enough for vegetables so most of the vegetables planted did not grow very well.  The following year, as you can see from the picture, we added about 3 inches to the height of the planting area.  This allowed adding another 250 pounds of soil to the bed.  Also, in an effort to cut down on moisture evaporation we added Hydro-Sorb to the soil. Hydro-Sorb retains water and releases it a little at a time.  These two changes made the boxes much more successful. We did not find it necessary to increase the depth of the flower boxes.               

I have 6 boxes, four I plant with vegetables and the other two with annual flowers. I enjoy working these boxes very much. I use adaptive garden tools which can be purchased online. The vegetable boxes can grow salt potatoes, broccoli, onions, baby carrots, beets and garlic. Gardening is good for many different reasons. Check out the video   Raised Bed Gardening

Button Board

 

This morning when I open my e-mail I found the most interesting letter.  Dominic Valentino  wrote me about a website he constructed called Button Board buttonboard.com , which allows an individual to surf the web using just the mouse. He built the website for his own personal use but was wondering if it would be helpful to other people who have limited range of motion or other problems. I tried the website and it works great. It amazes me the technological skills that some people have.

There are two other commercially available products which may make your computer more user friendly. The first is the UBS Haspel 4 Port Web Hub which connects to a UBS port in the back of your computer. A 3 foot long cord on a reel allows you to place the plug in device anywhere you want it. There are four UBS ports located around a  4” circular hub. If your dexterity is limited when you go to connect something like a scan disk at least one port is usually facing the right way. The cost at Radio Shack is less than $10. The second, also available at Radio Shack, is a Logitech Trackman Marble (Computer Mouse) The mouse ball is on the top as opposed to the bottom. The entire device stays in one place and you just manipulate the ball. It can be setup for right or left-handed people. You can choose what function you want the easily accessible button to perform. Also it enables you to control the speed of the cursor. I encourage you to try the Button Board website and forward it on to anybody you believe would find it useful. Please if you have created something like Dominic which would be useful to others contact us.

Quad Mitts

  I read Kelly Rouba latest blog with great interest. I have been trying to encourage people to think outside the box and telling them that there is more than one way to solve a problem. After looking at the “gloves” Kelly’s friend made for her it just demonstrates what I have been encourage others to do. She found an inexpensive way to solve the challenge confronting her. I was faced with a similar situation and came up with a slightly different solution. My problem was trying to keep my hands warm when I was outside.  My fingers are always clenched in a loose fist position.  It was very difficult for my wife or nurse to put regular gloves on my hands.  It quickly became evident that mittens would work best.  Unfortunately, mittens created problems of their own.  It was impossible to keep my thumb in the thumb of the mitten.  The major problem with mittens however, was that once I took them off I was unable to get them back on by myself.  So I designed what I like to call Quad Mitts. They have an opening at each end with the front one tighter. I was able to get my wife’s friend to knit a trial pair and they worked extremely well.  The picture below shows the pattern that we used.  Note that the cuff is extra long and can be folded over what I am wearing so I don’t have to worry about them coming off. When I need to use my bare hand I just push it though the hole in the front end and then pull the end back over my hand when I am finished. I am a big man so you may need to adjust the measurements according to your own size. If you know someone who will knit for you maybe you want to think about a pair of sleeves (my arms are always cold) and/or leg warmers. Often in the morning I will have my nurse put my sleeves on with a tee-shirt and then I will take them off when the day warms up.

Gloves for Everyone

By Kelly Rouba

All too often people without mobility restrictions take for granted the ease in which they are able to manage their personal care—from brushing their hair to bathing to putting on clothes. It is mundane tasks like these that can prove to be the most frustrating for those of us who struggle to accomplish them or simply cannot do them at all.

As someone who has difficulty with activities like putting on socks or styling my hair due to severe arthritis, I know that it can be embarrassing or bothersome to have to ask for help from others. In the past, there have been days when I simply couldn’t bring myself to ask or no one was around to help. In some cases, I just forego doing certain things all together, like putting on a hat or wearing gloves. Because of the limited range of motion in my shoulders, I cannot put on a hat. And whereas gloves are concerned, my fingers have so many contractures that I can only wear mittens, which I find to be restrictive and juvenile (sorry to those who like wearing them!).

However, from time to time, a stroke of luck comes my way and I happen upon an adaptive device or unusual product that allows me to accomplish things that I could never do or struggled with doing before. In fact, this very thing happened just a couple weeks ago when Christy Gibney, a darling woman I have collaborated with on work-related projects, made my coworkers fingerless gloves, so to speak. Although Christy made me a scarf, she quickly got to work on a pair of gloves for me after seeing how easy it was for me to put them on due to their design and that I could still maintain the function in my fingers.

Within a few days, my very own pair of blue gloves arrived at my home. My mother actually cried when she saw them because it has been years since I’ve worn anything to keep my hands warm when outside. It always pained her to watch me go out of the home in the cold. That evening, I proudly wore my gloves when we went out to eat and the warmth they provided to my fingers was an amazing feeling.

It is my belief that this type of glove would be beneficial for many people with disabilities and even those without. According to my coworkers, they are able to do so much more—from caring for their children to operating their cars—with these gloves than they could in regular ones and none of them have a disability.

Christy informed me that the pattern for fingerless gloves is available online; she also told me there are a number of knitting groups that donate items they knit. Those who can’t knit or don’t know anyone who does may want to search for these groups online in order to submit a request.

I am very grateful for Christy’s generosity and for eliminating one of my lifelong struggles. It’s a great feeling, and I hope readers of this blog find the gloves just as helpful.