Growing Kids in Accessible Gardens

Author: Sarah Lineberger

Gardens are an excellent teaching tool for youth because they providing important hands-on learning activities and inspire kids to discover the wonders of their environment. These experiences are valuable for all children, but can be especially meaningful for children whose exposure to nature is limited, such as those with special needs. These kids face challenges and barriers in the traditional outdoor setting, and instructors and parents are often times hesitant to involve them in gardening activities. But through accessible gardens, opportunities for interaction with nature can open up a whole new world for them.

Dan and Paulina Gilliland, of Camp ASCCA (Alabama’s Special Camp for Children and Adults) in Jackson’s Gap, AL, share the story of their accessible garden for disabled campers. Their success in achieving their mission is a major reason why they are one of 25 winners of the 2005 Mantis Awards.

"Camp ASCCA is Alabama’s Easter Seal camp, a nonprofit organization providing camping and outdoor recreation to children and adults with disabilities. Our mission is to help children and adults with disabilities achieve equality, dignity, and maximum independence. Last year we served 5,484 children with conditions such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida, epilepsy, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, spinal cord injures, and head injuries, to name a few. Our summer campers range in ages from 6 to 21 with varying degrees of physical and mental challenges. One of the features of the camp is a Demonstration Farm which is home to horses, cows, pigs, donkeys, chickens, goats, and so on. Our children enjoy feeding and grooming the animals during the week they are here for summer camp, but we decided that a farm was not a farm without a garden. Our love for gardening at home just spilled over into our work. Paulina, a Master Gardener (and camp nurse) has been a very willing garden planning partner.

"The Camp ASCCA Accessible Garden was built in the spring of 2004. We had the perfect place for garden, right by a beautiful lake and full of sunshine. Campers get the opportunity to garden, some for the first time, using raised beds. I estimate that 75 percent of our campers have never gardened before. They plant, weed, then harvest vegetables that are then prepared for them in the camp dining hall.

"Volunteer Master Gardeners and staff use the Junior Master Gardener curriculum and other teaching methods to introduce the campers to gardening basics. Our goal is to expose our campers to the joys of gardening and to educate them about plant growth and development.

"We knew we needed raised beds so our children in wheelchairs could garden without barriers. Our local Master Gardeners Club built these with donations from the Tallapoosa County Farmers Federation and Spencer Lumber Co. We also wanted to be able to allow the children to garden in inclement weather, so we built our "tool shed," complete with a wheelchair ramp into the garden and potting benches set at the height of a wheelchair. Our in-ground beds, where we plant corn, okra, squash, and the like, are maintained by our mentally disabled campers as well as those medically disabled campers who are able (epilepsy, sickle cell, hemophilia)."

The Gillilands are seeking funds for additional adaptations to the accessible garden including new pathways and adapted tools. As one of the winners of the Mantis Award, Camp ASCCA will receive a new lightweight tiller to help in expansion of their garden. The Mantis tiller will provide enormous support in construction and maintenance of new beds and is small enough for them to use in the camp's raised beds.

The Gillilands note many benefits of the gardening program. They witnessed physical benefits as the children exercised little-used muscles. The children also reveled in the opportunity to dig in the dirt, a new experience for many since the soil is usually out of reach for those in wheelchairs. Overall, kids enjoy learning something new. The Gillilands observed that participating in the garden "helped campers make the connection as to where their food came from. They really enjoyed eating the vegetables they picked. The kids enjoyed feeling like they were on a real farm. Campers are also able to pick corn to feed to the animals, so they see that the animals benefit from a garden also. Many of our mentally disabled campers actually enjoyed weeding the garden!"

Although still a work in progress, Camp ASCCA’s Accessible Garden is touching the lives of many. The Gillilands hope to provide campers with a hobby and knowledge they can enjoy for years to come.

For more information about accessible gardening and tips for creating an accessible space, check out the background information for the July 2005 issues of Kids Garden News.

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