Indiana

Outreach Coordinator Ed Sheldon joined the Indiana Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation for its annual workshop on accessible gardening at Flanner Farms in downtown Indianapolis on May 18. The farm is sponsored by Flanner House, a social service organization started in 1898 that assists senior citizens, those in financial distress, families, children, and more. Flanner Farm provides two acres of community-based agricultural production space in the heart of an urban food desert, with numerous raised garden beds to facilitate access for all.

During the workshop, Flanner Farm staff taught participants about the benefits of container gardening for those with physical limitations. Everyone made their own "soft-sided" fabric bag container with a cabbage plant to take home. Ed Sheldon discussed AgrAbility's services to non-traditional audiences, including urban, socially disadvantaged, and veteran farmers, and displayed several gardening tools designed to assist those with arthritis or similar conditions. The participants gave some of those tools a real-life test as they planted their containers.

Submitted by Ed Sheldon