Boca Raton, FL – JARC Florida’s Ability Garden was created over 13 years ago. Kimberli Swann, Supportive Living Coach, Environmental Educator, and Coordinator of the JARC FL Ability Garden in Boca Raton, designed a master plan to create an Ability Garden that allowed JARC FL clients to sit or stand while gardening because not everyone could squat or bend over.
These built-in adaptations allow everyone to have the opportunity to garden no matter what their ability or disability is.
Today, the produce (vegetables and fruit) from the JARC garden is prepared by the clients in the garden’s Farm to Table Outdoor Kitchen, or it is sold to raise money for the garden program.
“No matter what your abilities, you are welcome here,” said Swann, “the garden is a place to learn patience, care, and nurturing. The life skills are endless.”
Some of the key components of the JARC FL Ability Garden include:
- Our garden has not always had a paved path but as soon as we put one in, the garden became accessible to many more clients. The garden is long and linear so we designed the path to wind and have curves so that I could create nooks and niches on both sides of the path. That is where we have placed a multitude of planters of different heights to accommodate all the different heights that people come in!
- The planters butt right up to the path so that you can stay on the path while you garden. This provides stable footing as well as accessibility to someone in a wheelchair. I also designed the path to be wide enough so that two people can walk side by side which in some cases involves a client who may be unsteady on their feet and an aide holding their arm.
- Benches and chairs are interspersed throughout the length of the space. This is so that someone can rest if they can’t make the long walk. It is also so that a person can sit at eye level with someone who is in a wheelchair or a scooter.
- We have several kinds of specialized planters as well. We have two round rolling towers with multiple growing pockets that can be gardened in while standing up or while sitting. Some clients need to stay out of the sun, so we roll it to the shade, let them garden and then roll it back to the sun so that the plants grow. In addition, we have a planter that allows a wheelchair user to get their legs underneath it so that they are not gardening from a sideways position. Years ago, before you could buy these commercially, we built one for our clients.
- In addition, we have small portable benches that can be easily carried so that one can sit while working. These benches also flip over and become cushioned kneelers. Our social area has extra-large tables to comfortably accommodate people who need extra space such as someone in a motorized scooter. And lastly, don’t forget to buy specialized scissors and tools for your left-handed users and light weight tools for those gardeners with limited strength or mobility.
In honor of Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, we invite you come by and visit the JARC Ability Garden and meet the clients that keep it thriving. https://jarcfl.org/garden/
