I'm sympathetic to the challenges with mobility as I have a chronic illness with pain and fatigue complicated by a recent ankle fracture. Now my raised beds are more helpful than ever since I'm in a wheelchair for a season. I've done plenty of gardening with children both at my home & when working with our camp's nature center, so hope these tips help you out. 1. Plan ahead to have supplies ready for them to do something hands-on for each gardening session. It's not fun for them to watch you do it without getting their own chance. 2. Involve them from planting to harvest. 3. Ask what they want to grow & eat. 4. Include your food service staff in on the process. Might be fun to have chef/cook out in the garden, too. 5. Get donations for weed free soil mix ingredients like square foot gardening method suggests (bagged compost, peat moss, vermiculite). Method doesn't use any fertilizer just the compost, so no fertilizer burning of crops. Keep gardens weed free by controlling nearby weeds in the ground & mulching (especially in the off season if you're not year round gardening) 6. Plant short rows. 7. Assign space to people or individual crops. 8. Create themed gardens such as: salad, pizza garden, tea garden, soup garden, butterfly, hummingbird, etc. 9. Use transplants or only easy seeding with seed tape for small seeds (homemade could be fun project) or just plant large seeded crops from seed. 10. Plant transplants of lettuce at the same time as planting seeds. Can also be done with cucumbers. Then they can compare which is growing faster & how the seedlings may catch up with the transplants. 11. Encourage participation by having names of jobs like planter, gentle rain maker, garden scouts to look for the sprouts or fruit, insect spy, weather watcher, etc. That way everyone has a job whether than can be hands on or not. 12. Make highly visible secure labels (also make a garden map to keep track & redirect if gardeners get off track) 13. Take photos of seedlings when sprouted for future label to include seedling & mature crop photo on tag. 14. Expect labels to move around & replace as needed. 15. Use harvest baskets (check for 2nd hand or dollar store plastic coated wire baskets) & scissors vs knives for harvesting. Rinse harvest in the basket while outside or plunge into a clean bucket of water. Swirl in a circle overhead by handle or shake to reduce water. Put in shade or cold water as soon as possible. Wash again inside according to food service procedures. 16. Make gentle rain makers: Use smallest bit to drill holes in lids of plastic water bottles up to a liter. Squeeze to make rain & won't wash away seedlings. Store in laundry baskets or milk crates out to the garden & so water warms up in the sun. 17. Create a watering schedule or system to help make sure it gets covered regularly from edge to edge. The SFG soil less mix prevents overwatering, but does need more watering in hot weather especially if a raised to wheelchair height container with less than 12" depth of soil. 18. Provide for seating, sun protection, have alternative activities for those that don't want to touch dirt (just want to watch or tell others what to do). 19. Gather community partners to help directly or with money or in-kind donations for: seating, water features to attract birds (pondless fountain, concrete not slippery ceramic or plastic birdbath). 20. Encourage youth organizations to get involved such as Campfire, 4-H, Scouting, Awana, local horticulture FFA or college programs. 21. Start small & build on this 1st year experience to make improvements for next year.

Here's one site where you can search by City, County, or State: http://www.freep.com/article/20081218/BUSINESS06/81217076/1232/data Here is a link that might be useful: Check Nursing Homes

Not a frequent poster but I've certainly enjoyed following your home posts Bodica. You are in an intense phase of grief. "Did I inconvenience.." that is blaming the victim; don't do it. Remember that even though it was not installed, your mother knew that you were advocating for her right up to the end. Institutions can cause so much pain. I don't have experience with nursing homes yet, but the pain the hospital caused me and my daughter at her birth and in the following days took years for me to recover from. I wish I had spoken to a counselor or therapist bc it was very hard on my husband and I. What eventually healed me was the natural process of how dendrons/memories change in the brain (softens the memory; it's been documented), and also looking at how happy/free from hurt my daughter is now. Your mother is free from the pain now, I hope that is a comfort to you. Unfortunately many of us have gone through these nightmare experiences of intense pain; loss of loved ones, injustice. Some say call a lawyer, in certain cases I might, but also I just try to be more loving to the ones I've got left. That is what heals me and honors those who are gone. Best of luck, and fwiw, I'm sure this thread will help countless others. I'd never given a washlet a second thought before, but now it's high on my list for older loved ones and someday me.

My Grandmother had a massive stroke 11 years ago. She was far, far too well off to qualify for medicare. So the house was sold, the assets were liquified and my Aunt has had to use Grammys money to pay for the nursing home...for the last 11 years. The first place she was in was nice, a private home converted to a small place, she had a private room. It was very expensive, but no one really expected her to survive too long. About 3 years ago she was moved to another place, shared room in another facility that is not nearly as nice. I hate that she's there, but no one is equipped to keep her at their home (she needs 24 hour medical attention). The place is your sterotypical nursing home, and she's just gone downhill so much, yet she still lives. She told my cousin last year that she just wanted to die, but she's got those damned genes...longevity is in her system. Sorry to be such a bummer, but this is a situation that really bugs me. I hope your coworker can find some respite care...is there an Alzheimers support group? They might have some options or suggestions. My next door neighbor's mother has alzheimers, and she's finally gotten to the point where she's basically bed ridden now, so he can finally get out of the house on occasion. But it's really, really tough on the caretakers in the meantime.