Garden variety

Tomatoes, potatoes and even some rhubarb are flourishing now on the back lawn of Medicalodges Pittsburg.

“It was Joe Connelly, one of our residents, who got the ball rolling,” said Joyce Hinrichs, business office manager.

“A lot of the people here are limited in what they can do,” said Connelly, himself in a wheelchair. “They can read a book, but there’s nothing permanent about that. But to get out and grow something, you get satisfaction out of that. You’ve accomplished something.”

Hinrichs welcomed his idea. “In my past life I  had a greenhouse and nursery, and I thought that we really needed to get the people out here enjoying this,” she said.

“Now we’ve got four large containers and a whole bunch of smaller ones,” said Kathy Fields, activity director.

The containers are accessible to those in wheelchairs, and Fields said that residents enjoy helping out with the gardening.

“The residents help us plant and do the weeding, and there are usually some of them out here when it’s time to water,” the activity director said.

“This is actually physical and occupational therapy,” Hinrichs added. “The residents are using their hands and arms. It’s therapy in a lot of ways, because everybody, especially from this era, has had a garden in their life at some time.”

Connelly said that he grew up on 6 1/2 acres in Washington State, and remembers his mother planting flowers. He also remembers using vegetables in some unusual ways.

“We had one cow, and somebody asked Dad if he’d ever heard of feeding a cow rutabagas,” Connelly said. “They were great big tubers and hard as a rock, but Dad took them to the place where we chopped wood and chopped up the rutabagas and cow started chewing on them. It didn’t affect the taste of her milk at all.”

Residents and staff got some expert advice Tuesday from Jacob Weber, tri-county horticulturist with Kansas State University Extension.

“Joe said that we needed to get Jake Weber out here to talk to us, so I called him and he said he’d be happy to come,” Hinrichs said.

Weber discussed various aspects of container gardening, including using the proper potting mixture in the containers, rather than topsoil. “If you just put topsoil in the container, it turns into a muddy mass and the plant roots can’t get air to them,” he said.

He also advised using a slow-release fertilizer and, to  supply  micronutrients to the plants, mixing two  parts sand with one part topsoil and adding that to the potting mixture.

Weber also urged care in using appropriate weed killers that are intended for home yards and gardens, not stronger chemicals designed for agricultural usage.

“There are places, even here in Pittsburg, where the brick sidewalks are clean of weeds, but the trees on each side of the sidewalk are dead or dying because of the chemicals used,” he said.

Weber said that the potting mixture in the containers should hold up for years of gardening.

“It does gradually decompose over years, but I’d say what you have should go for 10 to 15 years, though you might add a little more from time to time,” he said.

That’s good news, because Connelly and Hinrichs want the garden project to continue. “I’m calling this a pilot project,” Hinrichs said.

“I’m thinking now about where we could plant a batch of corn here,” Connelly said. “You know, it would be nice if we could afford a greenhouse, and I’ve read a book on hydroponics.”