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Researching for a reference on another topic, I came across this 45 minute piece on gardening and aging-- tips , adaptations, and such. May be of interest to all you (fellow) old guys out there. https://pbswisconsin.org/watch/unive...we-age-rgj4oo/
Researching for a reference on another topic, I came across this 45 minute piece on gardening and aging-- tips , adaptations, and such. May be of interest to all you (fellow) old guys out there. https://pbswisconsin.org/watch/unive...we-age-rgj4oo/
I'll take a look later but let me guess, raised beds was one tip.
It's funny because I don't think age is affecting me, it's the squirrels that will prevent me from gardening.
My 78yr old Italian neighbor still tills the soil, plants the veggies, and takes care of his 50x20 garden area along with rest of landscaping PLUS carrys firewood to keep his wood stove going. Age doesn't affect him. I hope to be like that!
Researching for a reference on another topic, I came across this 45 minute piece on gardening and aging-- tips , adaptations, and such. May be of interest to all you (fellow) old guys out there. https://pbswisconsin.org/watch/unive...we-age-rgj4oo/
Thanks Guido. I look forward to taking a more thorough look at it from beginning to end later too. But I did just now quickly skip through to a few spots of it and it looks fairly comprehensive, informative. I saw that there are some helpful tips for tools and procedures for gardeners who have age related weaknesses or other physical handicaps or limitations of one kind or another. Something we ALL need to take into consideration if we continue to be gardeners as we age.
Last year we finally decided that weeding was too much for us. Removed two raised flower beds, about 160 sq ft. total and planted grass. Just wasn't worth it anymore.
I skimmed through it, too much talking and not enough bullet points, don't have time to read through it all, I have too much stuff to do in the garden today.
The big raised bed will get a 12 inch height increase and trellises for beans/cucumbers will be turned sideways for easier access and made out of pipe as is the trellis above the whole back yard fence which supports Wisteria. The previous chain/steel post construction did not make it through a storm this summer.
I'll take a look later but let me guess, raised beds was one tip.
It's funny because I don't think age is affecting me, it's the squirrels that will prevent me from gardening.
My 78yr old Italian neighbor still tills the soil, plants the veggies, and takes care of his 50x20 garden area along with rest of landscaping PLUS carrys firewood to keep his wood stove going. Age doesn't affect him. I hope to be like that!
my grandfather was 80 years and was still going strong with his garden. About an acre
But then he was run down on a foggy morning when he was out fishing. Wasn't the drivers' fault. Just an accident. But he never recuperated. If he wasn't so healthy and strong, he would have died in the ambulance. He lived a couple more years.
Most of the time when you are older you end up in a smaller house or an apartment or condo. I'm in an apartment so I have changed to container gardening on the balcony and only a small garden on the ground. I wouldn't want a huge garden anymore, not for just two people. On the balcony you get planters that hang over the rail and that makes it pretty easy for flowers or herbs.
In a smaller house you could do mostly container gardening and not have to deal with the hassle of the balcony. Also, I gave up some of the vegetables that I didn't really like that much anyway. One was beans on a trellis. We don't eat that many green beans so it was no loss. I grew more beets, squash, and lots of strawberries, easy stuff that doesn't have to be tied or trellised.
If I still had a larger vegetable garden, I'd just put down straw for mulch and not have to weed, although if you're in an apartment or a condo, that wouldn't look very pretty. What I do now in an apartment is to plant perennials in the ground and add a tomato plant or two among them. They look fine.
A helpful item is a Gro Box. I have two and you just add soil and your seeds or plants and there's a pipe type thing that you fill with water. That makes it self watering. A lot easier than dragging the hose almost every day or, if on the balcony, hauling heavy watering cans out there. You can clean out the Gro Box and use it every year. Also, it's on wheels so you can roll it around.
I find that being older, I certainly don't want to be lugging bags of fertilizer so I just make my own compost. I used to make it just so the vegetable peelings wouldn't go to waste and so that my garden vegetables would be organic, but for anyone who was buying fertilizer, that would be a hint--just make your own fertilizer. If you want it to be more sweet than acidic, add some bonemeal (comes in a small, lightweight bag.) If you want your soil to be more acidic, just add coffee grounds that you've saved.
The only other hint I can think of is to make sure you can get back up if you're sitting on the ground! Usually I'm just bending over but once in a while I do have to sit on the ground for a while. It might be a good idea to have something to help you get back up. I'm lucky that if I ever got into that situation I have a porch support column that I could crawl to if I had to and I could grab hold of that to get up. It's definitely something to think about though when you're older.
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my 93 yo grandfather planted his rows 8' apart so he could water garden crops from his air conditioned car. He had a large farm, so space was not an issue.
I should have built him a drip system.
I plan to continue to garden using equipment, but by age 80, I will go to 'compact' growing / intensive gardening. A friend is using a modular system that is handy. My 4th grade 4H leader had a Hydroponic system in his garage to grow feed for his show horses. It looked like it was made out of the Freezer / Fridge section in Grocery store. Great for growing fresh greens during blizzard winters.
..... The only other hint I can think of is to make sure you can get back up if you're sitting on the ground! Usually I'm just bending over but once in a while I do have to sit on the ground for a while. It might be a good idea to have something to help you get back up. I'm lucky that if I ever got into that situation I have a porch support column that I could crawl to if I had to and I could grab hold of that to get up. It's definitely something to think about though when you're older.
I'm light weight and still pretty nimble but am at that stage now with my arthritis that I don't dare get right down on the ground because it's next to impossible for me to get back up without assistance. So if I have to get that low to the ground I use an upside down milk crate to sit on. It's only 12 inches high but it's sturdy and easier to brace myself with my hands on it and push down against it to steady myself when it's time to stand up. I can stand on it too if I need to get a bit higher to reach up to prune things. Of course I have to be on level ground to do that but everything is reasonably level here anyway, so no problems.
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