Easy accessible gardens for the elderly or mobility challenged are vital to community gardens and school gardens because offers the restoration of dignity and offers sense belonging to aging or mobility challenged individuals while addressing food security needs.
There are a multitude of strategies you can use with limited materials to construct these easily accessible gardens. Here are a couple visual thoughts:
This garden is made of old center blocks and strips of bamboo with holes for drainage. We also used old home gutters with drilled/poked holes in the bottom for drainage.
This is a keyhole garden made from brick. You can find instructions here: Keyhole gardens | ECHOcommunity.org and instructions with photos here: Tire, Sack, and Keyhole Gardens | ECHOcommunity.org
While efforts as this take time to build and it takes time to include the challenged individuals to address food insecurity or fill nutritional gaps, the impact of this work is immeasurable. There is no greater sacrifice of love we can give to one other than giving someone our time and full caring attention. Time is the most expensive gift we have to offer.
You may ask: why is this important? If you’re willing, I would like to share small part of my story -
This past year, I have practiced Farming God’s Way, and if you don’t know this - feel free to check it out here: https://farming-gods-way.org/. Within this network - a Garden of Faithfulness is a program built around a 1x2 meter garden in hopes that "he who is faithful with little will be faithful with much.* This strategy is a great way to approach pivotal agricultural principles on a small level before farming hectares of land.
Anyhow, I was piloting this garden at my home before introducing it to the refugee community where I live. As I was putting together my Garden of Faithfulness, my sister (who cannot walk and has a serious long term illness) desperately wanted to participate in the process. Though she recognized her contribution was limited, her determination was so great she would sit on the ground and help plant. She could only endure very small chunks of time. Despite this great challenge for her, she did not stop her efforts of contribution. Helping in garden improved her health; I saw it with my own eyes. There is so much power when someone physically limited is given the opportunity to participate in collective efforts. Dignity stolen from disease and age - restored - restored from being in God’s incredible creation.
At that time, sadly though, I did not strategize ways she could be more involved more comfortably and easily. My excuses were…
- I don’t have wood or money to buy or build a raised bed
- I don’t have screws or nails
- I don’t have time
As you read this, think about how many “I don’t haves…” are in these thoughts. Excuses. Looking back, I could have been creative and built a raised bed from what I had in my hand at that time. At that time in my life, I had stray plastic barrel pieces, bicycle parts, and rocks I could have used. God is all sufficient, sometimes we have to look to Him and open our eyes to what He has put around us in the midst of even scarcity.
The aging and sick are often cast aside in our communities. God deeply cares for them and He sent His Son, Jesus Christ that ALL would have opportunity to know Him and enjoy relationship with Him. May we too, deeply care for the aging and sick in our communities. May we too make provision for them in our communities as God, our Father, Who first loved us asks us to do.
Thank you for reading this post. If you have ideas or stories to follow, I would love for this to be a space to share.