Gardening as physical & emotional therapy

At some point in your life, your body will not behave 100%
as planned, so my response and motto is:
"Garden no matter what!"
Your garden is YOUR garden... it can be whatever you want.
Here's a couple quick ideas for adapting to whatever your body throws your way. And please comment if you're looking for physical work-arounds for a challenging situation in your garden.

[@CarrieNita]

I am in a wheelchair. I collect 15 gallon nursery pots and garden in them. They are the perfect height for my chair. The hard part is mixing the components of my soil. Equal parts of potting mix, coir and vermiculite. A small coffee can of azomite, 1/2 can of worm castings and 1/2 can of neem seed meal. I add 1 cup of dolomitic lime and 1 cup of vineager treated eggshells. To mix the soil I pour all the ingredients onto a thin/cheap tarp and lift the edges and corners to mix everything. I can then shovel the ingredients into the pot.The next challenge is trellising tall tomatoes.. aaaaarh!

[@greenhousefun3235]

you go. God Bless.

[@michaelstradley4579]

Oh my,,,am soo impressed,,,I have to walk with a stick,,,,amso glad you do this,,,as for the pole valt,,,WOW

[@EmbracingHarvest]

Love that you took the time to talk about the wide variety of benefits of gardening!

[@ankhfarm9212]

Thank you!! Dirt therapy is a HUGE part of why I farm & teach.

[@eveyp6113]

Stacey, Thank you for doing this video. It really hits home for me. I have back/neck injuries & MS. Doing anything has become challenging; however you are correct it is definitely therapy to garden. I am limited with the amount of bending / walking / sitting that I can do . Working in my garden improves my emotional well being as well . I have adapted by using a rolling seat in the garden. Sometimes I have to change positions from the seat to the ground , to standing & even hands & knees. Also , my husband built several raised beds for me . Limiting my activities to smaller time frames with Frequent rest periods is key for me. I guess the best way to sum it up is.... just do what you can do & enjoy every moment! 💜Thanks again! ☺️

[@StaceyMurphy]

Well said! That truly is the gift of life... to do what you can and enjoy every moment. Life can be that simple.

[@mohammedalrais5583]

Evey P Go for MMS to recover from your health issues. Search online for it, you'll be amazed.

[@janedoh3658]

Evey, Hang in there and good for you. I am in much the same boat.

[@eveyp6113]

I’m so sorry to hear that. I hope you are doing well. Keep your spirits up & a smile on your face. Makes everyday be a little better. 💜

[@CanalSustentabilidade]

I really enjoy and aprecciate. Thank you from Brazil! Studing it!

[@Koolgreenart]

Thank you

[@sweetefelicity]

Great ideas and inspiration! Thank you.

[@maryball8901]

I have been diagnosed with a condition that requires me to avoid heat and to sit rather than stand. But I love gardening so I am shortly going to start my Front Porch Garden using a variety of "tricks" like Grow Bags, Containers, etc.!

[@michaelstradley4579]

Thank you Stacy for seeing this,,,,you have really paid attention to us older people,,,,,Kiss

[@kdowell100]

Live to ride, ride to live. Live to garden, garden to live.

[@StaceyMurphy]

That's what I was trying to remember! Thank you!

[@sparkypage1]

I have to garden, I love it. I have not been able to get on my knees for years it hurts...a lot, nor can I squat, I am too stiff. I have raised beds and the sides are concrete blocks. So, I have a thick rigid plastic sit up on...that is what I call it. I slide across the tops of the concrete blocks and carefully reach around and alternated left and then change to right side. So I do all my gardening on my rear and to my side. I also have lower back problems so as long as I don't reach too far for too long, and alternate sides often enough, my back is fine. I hope I explained this well enough. I have 4 beds that are 10'x4' and 2 beds that are 4' x 30'. these measurements are the inside measurements. That is how much soil I work in. I love it.

[@janedoh3658]

Some good ideas here. I also have issues. I had raised beds built with re-purposed corrugated steel sides, so they're higher than most raised beds, and 6 inch wide boards to sit on to relieve fatigue. Also, drip irrigation with a timer has simplified my life, esp. on "bad" days. If I did it all again, I'd fill the bottom of the beds with trimmings, etc. (kind of like Hugelkultur) to decrease the soil cost and add a natural source of compost. This would also provide a place for trimmings and weeds I have to burn or haul away! Please! Keep up the helpful videos! Thanks.

[@lajwantishahani1225]

I have a bum knee and a bad back so I grow in raised beds made with bricks - I can sit on the sides and work in the bed. For harvesting too, most of my plants are at eye-level or, I can sit on the sides and pick the greens. The only problem I have is with turning the compost pit. I get a man to come in once a month or so to do the heavy duty work plus if needed, dig up holes for any new trees/saplings I'm planting. I time my nursery purchases accordingly. You can get short seats which can be folded and carried around for working on plants in the garden soil.

[@StaceyMurphy]

Thanks for sharing this. I often underestimate the amount of work that someone is willing to help me with if I just ask (or pay). And like you said, it's about organizing the work so they can do all the big jobs at once.

[@npoznak]

Thanks so much for this video! Sometimes I use a chair, when bending over a lot gets to be too much, and I have a thick foam pad for my knees. I'm planting a raised garden too, and after watching this video I'll see if I can plant it extra high - will keep some critters away too.

[@anngelagreen6246]

This is timely information as I was contemplating having to give up gardening due to a bad back. I will modify my movements and increase the height of my raised beds. Thanks for the video!

[@southrootedoutsideoutdoors2052]

Love your Channel

[@Jenniferlynn401]

I have lupus and several other debilitating diseases but I garden. I use a chair or just take time to do a bit each day. It can be accomplished by working at your own pace and listening to your body. I also can and dehydrate. I am using the Ruth Stout method for part of my garden this year. We will see how it works. I find working in the soil very therapeutic. I also have compost heaps and this year a medicinal herb/plants area too.

[@SBTwinMom]

Thank you so much for addressing this issue! :)

[@dollyperry3020]

I have knee issues as well and my garden is my therapy! I hope you feel better soon!

[@StaceyMurphy]

Thanks Dolly! I'm doing a lot of physical therapy and they are feeling better.

[@dollyperry3020]

I'm very glad to hear that! Breathe in the smell of tomato plants! Plant some seeds and eat some of your greens and hopefully you'll be back in no time :)

[@janeofthejungle123]

Move Your DNA, by Katy Bowman, is the reason I'm able to garden at all right now. Pick up a copy of Move Your DNA at your library!

[@gardeningchris2901]

straw bale gardens fantastic

[@jonathontuttle4851]

Great video!

[@jackiehorsley9263]

i understand what your saying of corse i don.t really have any problems gardening but i do have a friend that want,s to garden but fells like she can,t becouse its hard for her to focus from day to day on one thing

[@crystalgyovteam6652]

Hi Jackie, while I'm the type of grower that loves deep concentration, I have a very good friend who I swear gets restless if she has to spend more than 2 minutes on one thing... and she loves to garden. She simply gardens differently than I do. She will enter her garden and flit about, moving from this plant and pulling a weed, to watering that plant over there to grabbing a few things for lunch and adding a bit of compost to a plant on her way back in... then sometimes she'll forget about her garden entirely for a few weeks. Gardening is for all types of personalities and people. :-)

[@kdowell100]

I love airplane noise.