low stamina newbie gardener

[addVanessa]

Hello
I'm new here and as the subject says I have low stamina due to Multiple Sclerosis.
A million years ago I had a huge garden (I remember 48 tomato plants and 12 zucchini plants-- practiced zucchini-acide towards end of harvest)
But at 54, and more easily fatigued we've finally decided my new-found need to garden should be contained to a much smaller scale. I've decided on tomatoes for sauce and eating and lima's and some wax beans. Only 4 tomato plants and maybe 2 each of the beans.
I'm sure everyone here can do that much in a heart beat but do you think it's reasonable for me?
Instead of planting up the hill we'll be using the no longer existing flower garden in front of the house. Less walk and being smaller we could cover with bird net to discourage the wild pets from helping themselves.
The old huge garden only had an honor system for varmints.. We only got three sides put up ::)
I'm sure to post more when canning season starts for the veggies.
Although I'm intrigued with canning my tomato sauce, chili, stew and soups... I don't cook often but when I do boy, I just can't seem to make ANYTHING for only 2 people. My favorite pots are huge and huge-er.

[WileyCoyote]

Hello, addVanessa! Are we related? LOL You sound familiar!!
Yup, I've got lupus, and I know what you mean about low stamina. Come out of the bed charging sometimes, other days every joint aches and I just want to sit wrapped in a blanket. Used to work in 100-degree weather, 12 hours a day, cleaning out foreclosed houses and working EMS and firefighting - now I look for the fastest and easiest way to do things. Used to hoe and spade my whole garden every year - then finally bought a rototiller.

Know what you mean about cooking in bulk - I have a huge pot on the stove right now full of beef soup. It'll last for days, unless I split it up and freeze it! I just keep adding stuff to it... oh, look, that'll go in, too! ;D

I too have cut down on the amount of plants, but I can't make do with just two of each bean - since I dehydrate or can for the whole next year, I have to have more... 6-10 at least. Now that the three kids are gone, I use the pint, not the quart, jars to can! But cutting down on tomatoes I did have to do, because sauce is what I use them for mostly anyway. Although (in another post somewhere on here I think), they were talking that tomatoes are bad for joint problems, and I've noticed that since I cut back on potatoes and tomatoes, I've had a lot less joint pain. Don't know all the particulars of MS, but it might bear researching. ;) Hurting less is always good... ;D

[addVanessa]

Hello, addVanessa! Are we related? LOL You sound familiar!!
Yup, I've got lupus, and I know what you mean about low stamina. Come out of the bed charging sometimes, other days every joint aches and I just want to sit wrapped in a blanket.

I too have cut down on the amount of plants, but I can't make do with just two of each bean - since I dehydrate or can for the whole next year, I have to have more... 6-10 at least. Now that the three kids are gone, I use the pint, not the quart, jars to can! But cutting down on tomatoes I did have to do, because sauce is what I use them for mostly anyway. Although (in another post somewhere on here I think), they were talking that tomatoes are bad for joint problems, and I've noticed that since I cut back on potatoes and tomatoes, I've had a lot less joint pain. Don't know all the particulars of MS, but it might bear researching. ;) Hurting less is always good... ;D
Cutting out or down tomatoes? Not an option for me. I'm half Italian and my husband's family came from that extreme northwest province of Italy (Ireland) We'll just have to live with any pain that comes from tomatoes or potatoes lol. Like Lupus, I can't make plans on how I'll feel on any given day. But I've learned to underestimate what I can do so if i feel good I can go crazy with stuff (if I know that I've got another day for downtime).

As far as gardening, St. Clueless (husband, saint for putting up with so much and clueless as to why) grew up on a farm so he's not happy with doing a lot more work. I think I' can end-run him by using the landscaping around the house as growing zones....the beans can be planted in front of the deck using the rails of the deck as supports for vines, the gardens flanking the front door will do for tomatoes. Much was removed before the residing this year. He'd have to rework the garden and replant anyway. And hopefully he won't notice the space in front of the deck is being claimed until it's too late.

Wish I could do more but the deer and wild turkeys passed out our address as a safety zone. The three garden areas can be covered with bird netting or chicken wire to protect them. Since St. Clueless does so much to pick up the slack here; I can't blame his reluctance. I plan to augment the produce from local organic farmers. (His suggestion.)

Looking over this website caught my attention on actually preserving something other than jams. So I'm more excited about it than the gardening. Using pint jars instead of quarts makes sense.

As for dehydrating beans, thought to just can them fresh so I would cut the re-hydrating step out of the next soup or chili making. Right now I use store bought cans of beans. Love the ease of it but hate the stuff packed in with them. Now I'm wondering if the beans have to dry first in order to have similar taste and texture to what I'm used to now.

Sorry to ramble...I can't help myself.