Imagine a vegetable garden that everyone can reach: one you don't have to bend down to weed, that can follow the sun around in a small backyard and that won't take up too much space. "Impossible！"you say —think again! A group of people living in suburban Melbourne came up with a creative way to garden in small space.
They all love growing vegetables but not everyone could do that when they just had a conventional vegetable garden. To solve the problem, they added a mobile vegetable patch(菜地). They turned an old hospital bed into a garden on wheels. The bed can be raised and lowered so everyone, including people in wheelchairs, can enjoy working in the garden. Their local greengrocer(蔬菜水果商) provided some containers, where they planted their vegetables. This perfect garden can be easily wheeled around to follow the sun!
It is a great activity for Michele, Marianne, Shelly, Jimmy and Ashley, who have a disability(残疾) and are supported in their homes by people employed by the Department of Human Services. The garden is a joy to everyone and provides the vegetables for a lot of cheap and nutritious meals. "Our garden is coming along well," says Michele.
"We've been eating lots of salad items —lettuce, cucumbers and spring onions. Everyone loves them. Unfortunately, the strawberries were a failure. I think it was a bit too hot in the pots for them. We have plans for a potato crop next year, grown on newspapers and covered with straw and sheep manure(肥料). It is a very 'no-dig' way to grow them."
