Raised Garden Boxes

Plans For A Raised Garden Box

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

Raised Fower Box In Bloom

Working A Raised Garden Box

Button Board

Surf The Web Using Your Mouse

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.

Two User Friendly Products

                                              

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.

Dealing With Risk

Kayaking           If you read my other two blog entries Attitude, Attitude, Attitude and Attitude Adjustment, hopefully you are beginning to understand that it is a combination of your attitude and an ongoing process that are necessary to begin to deal with some of your daily frustrations. There is another barrier to some people’s efforts to think beyond traditional methods of accomplishing an objective. That obstacle is the concept of failure. Dealing with life’s adversities often involves risk and along with risk comes the idea of success or failure.  We are often reluctant to take a risk for fear we may not be able to accomplish what we are trying to do and that implies failure. First of all, nobody always achieves what they set out to do.  Secondly, many individuals have the misconception that failure is bad.  However, failure if approached with a positive attitude, provides opportunity for learning and hence for growth. In a “60 Minutes” interview LeBron James was asked what advice he would give to young kids, his response was not to be afraid to fail. LeBron James said, “Don’t be afraid of failure. “

Making adaptive equipment often involves a learning process that includes a change in attitude. If you have an idea for creating a piece of adaptive equipment, pursue it.  Remember for all of us, thinking out of the box is a strategy that can lead us down the road to success. When making adaptive equipment try to keep things simple. Use materials that are readily available and make the tools multifunctional if possible. Do not let yourself become discouraged for very few things happen quickly. Learning to approach a task with a new outlook will take time. However, success breeds success and after awhile you will look at things differently. Look at a new situation not as a problem, but as a challenge needing to be addressed. Set your mind free of the cultural restraints which may prevent you from finding a solution.  The following poem hung on the wall in my classroom for years.

ONLY A PERSON WHO RISKS IS FREE
by Author Unknown

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach for another is to risk involvement.
To expose your ideas, your dreams,
before a crowd is to risk their loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To believe is to risk despair.
To try is to risk failure.
But risks must be taken, because the
greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The people who risk nothing, do nothing,
have nothing, are nothing.
They may avoid suffering and sorrow,
but they cannot learn, feel, change,
grow, love, live.
Chained by their attitudes they are slaves;
they have forfeited their freedom.
Only a person who risks is free.

~ from page 147 of the book “Addiction by Prescription”  by Joan Gadsby