New Garden Beds 'Huge For People With Disabilities'

Mary Twohey is about to plant her first garden.

It's something she never imagined doing until the Dunedin Community Garden took on a project to build six beds accessible for disabled residents requiring a wheel chair. 

"This is huge for people with disabilities," Twohey said. 

Twohey, a Dunedin resident, lives with a debilitating spinal cord injury from a broken neck she sustained 30 years ago in a dirt bike crash in San Diego.

Her activities are limited on what she can reach from her electrical wheel chair.

Twohey is excited to have her first shot at growing "vegetables or anything edible," she said.

Twohey has watched the project grow at Eagle Scout Park since fall 2012.

When Twohey became involved, the gardeners had attempted modifying one bed for a person with disabilities.

The final product is raised on legs, leaks and stands too tall for those in a wheel chair, said Debbie Sheldon, the community garden's vice president and project manager for the ADA project. 

The community garden volunteers saw room for improvement after the first attempt. Sheldon said it reaffirmed their commitment to "do it right."

She admitted the project came with challenges. 

The American Disabilities Act, signed into law in 1992, provides only general guidelines for buildings, it didn't get specific on how to build accessible garden beds, said Sheldon. So with a $3,000 IBM grant, the volunteer group worked through basic accessibility issues that people in wheel chairs would face: the ground needed to be leveled to provide a smooth previous surface for mobility, the beds needed to be spaced to allow for wheel chair clearance, and the beds needed to be high enough off the ground for disabled users to reach, dig and plant.

Twohey, who works at the Disability Achievement Center, an advocacy resource for people living with disabilities in Pinellas and Pasco counties, would come in for usability tests at different stages of construction.

She would provide feedback such as "this is how far I can reach and how I can get around," Twohey explained.

The city contributed surplus material for the ground surface and Twohey's usability tests helped the volunteers decide on a 24-inch-high bed height.

Volunteers logged about 400 hours to get the six disability-accessible garden plots ready. Three of the beds are still up for grabs.

The Dunedin Community Garden is up to 60 members and 43 plots.

Twohey is elated with the latest phase.

She's got an accessible bed to try her thumb at yet-planted Roma tomatoes, basil and marigolds and plenty of people willing to teach her.

"You built the bridge correctly before anybody even thought about crossing the river," Twohey said to Sheldon. "There's a whole battle that didn't even need to be fought."

Want to Help?

The Dunedin Community Garden's annual fundraiser "Grillin' for the Garden" helps raise money to cover insurance expenses, upkeep and speakers for their increasingly popular free, educational workshops at Dunedin Community Center.

• When: 2 to 7 p.m. on Sunday, April 28 
• Where: Dunedin Smokehouse
• Why Go? Live music, food and drink specials and raffle prizes. See details on Grillin' for the Garden in Dunedin Patch.

To inquire about an open plot for persons with disabilities, contact members through the Dunedin Community Garden website. 

Related Coverage:

• Dunedin Community Garden Tries for Spring Opening
• Community Garden Becomes a Reality
• City to Honor Dunedin Community Garden Workers
• Dunedin High Student Builds Shed For Community Garden
• Dunedin Initiatives Honored in Regional Competition

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