So far at least.
After a recent post about my bad back there’s been some curiosity amongst my readers about how I keep gardening when I’m so gimped up with a combination of back and age-related issues. Apparently many of my readers are feeling similar aches and pains as they struggle to continue with their gardening addiction as they age. And some of you also have back problems. So several days ago I promised to reveal some strategies and devices I use to help me keep at it.
I’ll begin with some of the problems I face and end with my favorite new back-saving device.
Some of my most significant challenges with garden work originate with the hardware in my back (7″ rods and screws) that severely limit my flexibility, in addition to causing pain when I try to bend them in directions they don’t want to go. My back issues have also caused nerve damage in my hips, legs and feet that makes it very difficult and painful to kneel down and get back up. If you don’t have raised beds, and I don’t, gardening without kneeling is a pretty neat trick if you can manage it.
And if I work too long, or too fast, my legs get weak and wobbly. So I have chairs placed in strategic places, in sun and in shade depending on weather, and I work slow. But I plod along and I get it done, eventually.
And believe it or not, I enjoy the hell out of it. It’s the Montana farmer in me I guess.
This is my almost 1200 square foot mostly vegetable garden as of two days ago. It always looks bare like this in early spring before I’ve planted much of anything new because the only perennials in my garden are a few herbs and a couple of rhubarb plants (behind my shed at right).
It’s cluttered up with tools because of early spring projects. The orange flags you see are the result of yet another fiber optic cable being installed in my neighborhood. I’m not happy about it but that’s another story.
Tilling is the one gardening process I haven’t been able to come up with a strategy to make easier and less painful. But it’s necessary in order to work in garden waste from the previous year, old leaves and grass, mulch, compost and the like, all of which enrich the soil. It also loosens the soil, making it less compacted.
Tilling is the first step I do in spring and thankfully I only till once per year these days. It’s so hard on me it takes me a couple of days to recover but the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment when I’m done is immense.
Some gardeners use a no-till strategy but I’m not one of them. At least I can till standing up but wrestling these guys around still isn’t easy.
Trellises are space savers and back savers. This is the cucumber trellis that I built two years ago. It ain’t pretty but it’s highly functional and I love it. Having cucumbers grow up instead of sprawling on the ground saves a lot of bending over and time spent on my hands and knees as I’m tending my vines and harvesting cucumbers.
This trellis has been so helpful with my back I…
built another one this week for pole beans. It took me most of three days. I told you, I go slow.
These are some of the gardening tools in my collection. With a bad back, some are much more useful than others.
- Shovels: The larger shovel on the right is the newer one but I almost never use it. It’s too heavy, and dull and it takes too big of a bite. I inherited the smaller, shorter shovel from my dad and that’s the one I nearly always use. It’s worn very sharp so it slices into the ground easily and it takes a small bite that isn’t heavy.
- Garden hoes: I think traditional garden hoes are next to worthless for weeding. The two hoes to the left of the shovels are a design called “scuffle hoes” that are much easier to use and more effective at killing weeds. My favorite of the two is the old one to the left of the newer one. The blade of the older one is worn almost razor sharp so it cuts through the soil with ease and destroys nasty weeds effortlessly. I can keep my entire garden basically weed-free by spending just a few minutes weeding in my garden several mornings each week. And I don’t have to kneel down or bend over to do it.
- Furrowing hoe: The furrowing hoe on the far left is a little hard to see clearly but it’s my almost constant companion in the garden. I don’t use it for its intended purpose of making furrows while seeding. Instead, I use it in two other ways – as a sort of cane when I’m walking in the garden after my legs get tired and, most importantly, as a hook to pick things up off the ground so I don’t have to bend down.
Here’s a better look at the business end of the furrower that I use as a hook to pick things up off the ground. This little beauty has saved me a lot of discomfort and pain in recent years.
This is the potting bench I built about 30 years ago. The orange-ish lichens growing on the front of it are indicative of its age.
For many years I didn’t use it very much but as my back slowly went bad on me I began to use it more and more – not only for potting plants but for countless other projects that would otherwise require me to get down on my hands and knees to work on them. It’s been a lifesaver.
OK, on to my last strategy and favorite new device for making garden work easier and much less painful.
This year my back problems have increased to the point that I thought the demands of spring planting would prevent me from gardening at all. In the past, planting tiny seeds precisely in narrow furrows has always required me to get down on my hands and knees and scoot around on the ground in order to get it done. And I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it.
But a simple 5+’ long length of 3/4″ Pvc pipe has been saving my ass and my back.
I use it to make my seed furrows. And more importantly to…
drop seeds in the furrow, through the pipe, exactly where I want them and in the precise number I want them. Here I’m planting green onion seeds for demonstration purposes only. I’ll actually plant them soon.
All you have to do is make sure the inside of the pipe is clean (no spider webs) and dry and it works perfectly, while I’m standing up! This is the first year I’ve been able to plant seeds without getting on my hands and knees and being absolutely miserable.
It’s still a little early so all I’ve planted so far is five rows of beets but the new tool and technique have worked wonderfully.
Speaking of beets, readers already know that I much prefer golden beets over bloody red beets so goldens are all I’ve planted in the past. But this year I’m excited to try the “gourmet blend” on the right so I planted 3 rows of goldens and 2 rows of gourmet.
So there you have it, for what it’s worth. If I had to garden today the way I used to garden, I wouldn’t be gardening at all. If you’re in a similar boat I hope some of these tips and strategies will be useful to you.
Ron
PS – In case you’re wondering about Bandito.
For most of the time I was taking these photos Bandito was surreptitiously robbing my bird feeders. Obviously, he has defeated the slinky I installed on the feeder pole to keep him from climbing it. It took him nearly two years but he figured it out. I try to cut him some slack with the expensive seed he consumes because he and Mrs. Bandito have at least one brand new baby.
However, the female Red-winged Blackbird below him isn’t cutting him any slack at all.
Impressive projects, especially with back problems! I also loved your post on the cedar waxwings recently.
Great post!! Thanks for all your gardening tips!!
I don’t garden—I’m told I have a black thumb. But I enjoy everything you write and wish you better health and long life.
Much appreciated, Hilary.
What a great post, Ron! The seed dispenser and furrowing hoe/hook are genius! I don’t garden much, but spent about an hour the other day tidying up last year’s stuff – it took me 3 days to recover! So your tricks will come in very handy. Except I don’t think Ace Hardware is going to stock the old razor-sharp shovel and hoe that you favor – it’s obvious those are especially loved tools. It’s wonderful you have figured out a way (slow and steady) to continue to use them. Here’s hoping your golden beet crop is wonderful!
Thank you, Carolyn. Dad’s old shovel wouldn’t have been sharp when it was new. It either wore to sharp or dad sharpened it on his bench grinder. Maybe both,
That’s fantastic how you have managed to still do all this! Very ingenuous seed tube. I haven’t done much and might not. Between the drought situation and my more than likely need for a knee replacement very soon, I don’t think I can care for a garden again this summer. I took a hard fall on ice March 5th and buggered up both knees. The replaced knee is almost better but the other has irreparable damage thus replacement pending. Right now I’s just like to be able to walk moderately well.
Thanks, April. I’m very concerned about the water too. I see that parts of Colorado already have major restrictions and we’re no better off than they are.
I envy you still being able to get on your knees! I love the ways you “MacGyver” things to get the job done😄
“I envy you still being able to get on your knees.”
Diana, I can’t. If I do I can barely get up. And trying is very painful.
Ingenious work-arounds! Adversity can be the spur for innovation. Love the tube seeder method and the tools. It took my squirrels around 6 years to figure how to get to the hanging buffet despite the slinky: I’ve mounted a metal cone on the pole and that is an effective barrier! Now 72, I garden differently than I did, at even at 60: shorter and much less strenuous work sessions, more breaks sitting and sipping in the shade on the deck or under my pear tree admiring my progress, and paying a high school student to do the the ‘heavy lifting’ upkeep in the spring. The days of wrangling the troy-built are long gone!
You grow an amazing garden and I hope you continue to innovate each new season!
Elise, your gardening time seems to be spent much like mine. I love my Troy-Bilt (it’s an old one, built before the company went to hell) but I think my days using it are numbered. Tilling straight isn’t bad but turning and backing up are nightmares.
A Spring day in the life of a gardener. Love this post Ron. The PVC pipe seed planting tool is simply brilliant. May want to post that one on a gardening blog. Good tool for all – not just those with bad backs. I was just diagnosed with severe disk degeneration in my neck. Yuck – planning for how to manage this for my remaining time on the planet. No cure … just manage.
Good luck with your neck, Kathleen. My neck might be the only part of my spine that hasn’t given me any problems. Yet.
you can put a tee on the end of the pvc and then cut short pcs of pvc for the seed spacing and put an elbow on them and connect to the tee. that way the seeds are evenly spaced. Hope that makes sense. I also bought one of those fold up benches that you can kneel on or turn it over and sit on. Really helps with getting up and down.
Jo, I’ve seen those fold up benches advertised. I don’t think it would help me much though, I have to avoid kneeling pretty much completely.
Wow Ron, that is quite an illustration of what it is like to be a gardener and birder etc all with a bad back. If all goes well I
will hit #88 next week and knocking on wood so far I have
never experienced any back problems. I remember
that Curtis Mayfield song “Just keep on keeping on.”
Everett, needless to say, I’m jealous of your healthy back. I hope it continues.
Gives new meaning to “Necessity is the mother of invention.” An illuminating series. Thanks for sharing.
“Gives new meaning to “Necessity is the mother of invention.”
It sure does, Tony. And it is.
I had to laugh when I got to the Bandito shot. Last weekend I watched one of our resident squirrels checking out all the oranges in one of our trees before settling on one, peeling and eating half, then carrying the other half along the top of the block wall and off to the nest. They are persistent little buggers!
Glad you’ve been able to set up some workarounds for gardening! Still use my mom’s old grabber as well as the tall pooper scooper when I’m picking up detritus in the yard (see above orange-peeling squirrel — the opossums peel the oranges too).
We’ve tried the PVC pipe for treat delivery while we’re walking small dogs at the shelter, but it takes two people (or someone with 3 hands) to pull off.
Marty, I’ve gotta admit – it’s so damn cute to see Bandito or his mate carrying that little baby. The parent grabs the baby by the throat and then the youngster wraps its entire body around the neck of the adult, like a furry necklace – and off they go.
I don’t much like the word cute, but cute it is.
Love your indomitable resourcefulness, and wishing you many more years to realize you aren’t really old yet. Very sorry your back is such a challenge, and really glad you come up with such ingenious work-arounds. I’ll stop kvetching and get out there and garden – really appreciate your seed sowing solution!! It’s only 9 degrees F here in Ottawa so I have to wait a bit longer…
9° – brrrr!
It’s cooled down some here but it isn’t nearly that cold. Stay warm, Burrdoo.
I don’t garden, but I have friends and acquaintances who do, and you can bet I’m going to pass on that trick with the tube for making furrows and planting seed. Genius!
Good, Shoreacres. I hope it’s helpful to some of them.
Nice! I have a much smaller veggie garden these days (4′ x 12′ with chicken wire to keep the cotton tail rabbits out) BUT a large flower garden that, over time, is mostly perennials based on tulips and Peonies Joe’s mother planted probably 70+ years ago. A weed whacker works well for some of that clean up. Then I have a D-handle tile spade and shovel for that since I’m all of 5′ tall. Like the scuffle hoe and I have as well as an old Warren Hoe that I use like your furrow hoe. Like your “tool” for seeding……. 🙂 “Adapting” over time sure is necessary as we age…… 😉
Bandito had crossed my mine recently and was wondering how that was going.
Judy, the technique that Bandito uses to climb the pole and avoid the slinky is really interesting (and maddening) to watch. It’s hard to describe though. I have a love/hate relationship with that little rodent.
Interesting post! I love your solution for planting seeds. Brilliant! But now, if you don’t mind, please don’t call yourself an “old man” ever again. Cuz if you’re an “old man” WTF does that make me? Not going there. 😉
Also, I’m betting you have some choice words for Bandito while you’re out there working and he’s eating. He doesn’t look all that “surreptitious” to me!
There’s no denying it, Sue. I’m an old man.
Bandito really was trying to be sneaky. He always does when I’m nearby when he’s after seed. He’ll let me get real close (as close as 6′ or so) but he always keeps one eye on me.