Let’s be honest.  Gardening and disability aren’t always the most compatible things in nature.  Tilling, hoeing, and all the various activities involved with bring life from the earth can be a big hassle when you’re in a wheelchair.  But my Virgo roots have this insatiable need to plant stuff and watch it grow.  It makes happy to just sit among the plants.

 

Well as you can tell from the picture I found an answer.  That’s my lovely wife Annie posing with the plants that I am growing on our back deck.  Believe it or not that picture was taken a month ago.  This technique is simply amazing.  I found these planters in an issue of Mother Earth News.  Then I found the bucket idea - not as good for some plants as the commercial product but still feasible.  

 

So what is this system?  It is a plastic planter that holds the soil.  It  comes with its own fertilized.  It;s really two containers.  The inside one holds the dirt and is perforated with holes in the bottom.  The bottom one holds the water.  That seems to be the secrete.  It makes watering very easy but more important I think, is that the roots grow through the soil into the water.  There they ready access to all the water they want and any fertilizer you want to add.  I’ve been using an organic mixture from Miracle Grow.  The corn is over 10 feet tall.  Amazing.

 

 

So far I’ve grown tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, corn, beans, herbs of all kinds, squash, zucchini and cucumbers.  I have some success with everything - more with others like tomatoes and peppers.  I’m still learning and experimenting.  

 

So give it a try and let me know how it goes.