Growing Into Gardening
Gardening is one of those things where you can’t help but wonder how blind or partially sighted people would do it. It seems so visual, most would think you need to see to be able to know what plants are what and where, what are the weeds or actual plants, how and when things are ready to harvest, etc. Well I am happy to tell you that that is definitely not true! I am here to provide tips and tricks on how to garden being fully blind. But first I want to share how I got into gardening in the first place.
Growing up (yes pun intended), I used to spend a week with my Grandparents on their farm every summer, and they always had a huge garden. It was always so peaceful, relaxing and fun working in the garden with my Grandparents. The fresh country air blowing across my face, the strong smell of the earth under my hands, the pretty and comical sounds of the birds and cows in the distance, and the lighthearted conversation of my Grandparents deciding what to plant and where, all made for a wonderful experience. Oh, and did I mention how my Grandpa would spray Grandma and me with the hose? Never fails! On top of all that however, my Grandparents took the time to show me around the garden, where everything was, what plants where, and what and how to take care of them. They knew that I couldn’t see and that I wanted to know, so they spent a lot of extra time to show and explain it all to me. It meant so much, and began my love of gardening.
I also helped my Mom and my sister with their gardens here and there, and my Mom always had plants around the house which is a great place to start working on your green thumb! Being a blind or partially sighted person starting out on your own with gardening, house plants are very much a great starting point. House plants are contained in a smaller place like a flower pot which makes it easier to figure out how to take care of it.
Here are a few reasons why:
Transplanting is much more simple. Transplanting a plant from its plastic container is much easier since you can feel the edges of the pot and how deep it is and centre it the best you can.
Watering is easier. To check if the plant needs water you can stick a finger into the soil and if its damp it doesn’t need water and if its dry give it some water. Just make sure not to flood the plant, you do not want a layer of water on top.
House plants are not a lot of maintenance. Not only do you not have to weed house plants, depending on the type of plant you get, you only have to water once a week or even only once a month.
You can decorate your house. You can get a large variety of house plants that do really well in different conditions: direct sunlight, hardly any light, etc so you can find a plant that will do well in pretty much any room in your house. Plus you can get really fun colourful tactile pots to put the plants in!
Some great houseplants I highly recommend starting with are spider plants, jade plants (these two are my favourite), Christmas cactuses, air plants / succulents, ferns, or even a window sill herb garden.I am actually really excited because this year I am starting my first vegetable garden all on my own! It's equal parts scary and fun. The traditional garden is a patch of dirt in a large square or rectangle with lines drawn in the dirt to divide the plants into sections. Of course, this can be a bit difficult to do for someone who is blind or partially sighted, and I am not quite that adventurous. So here are a few ways to make a vegetable gardening a bit easier:
Use planter boxes. Planter boxes can come in a few different ways, but the one I have is a long skinny rectangle built out of wood about knee high, against the fence with four dividers forming five boxes to plant in. This makes it so much easier to remember what you planted, and you don’t have to worry about the plants growing together. It is just all around way more organized!
Get a soaker hose. A soaker hose is basically a hose that rests all along the planter boxes that has tiny spaced out holes all along the hose and when you turn the water on it very easily sprays the plants. So you don’t have to worry about if you are getting water equally on all the plants (plus you get way less wet in the process).
Begin with starter plants. A lot of people plant a vegetable garden with seeds, which is fine, but as the plant begins to grow it is really hard to tell the plant apart from weeds. Starter plants are little beginner plants that the green house has started to grow (you can get most vegetable plants this way), and you can feel the starter plant really well and remember what it looks like so when weeds pop up you will be able to tell the difference. Highly recommended.
Some great vegetables to try as a first time gardener are potatoes, carrots, radishes, lettuce and other greens, chives, cherry tomatoes and herbs.Gardening is honestly quite a lot of effort, especially when you’re first starting out, but the connection with the earth, growing your own food and just how incredibly peaceful it is all makes up for the hard work. Plus, the more experience you gain the more fun and relaxing it will be, I promise! I recommend starting out small with house plants and little herb gardens, then gradually move to an outside vegetable garden using the tips I mentioned. They have honestly worked so well for me and haven’t failed me yet.
Good luck with your newly found green thumbs, and simply just give it a try, you might surprise yourself!
by Jillian Sloane