Growing plants provides soothing effect for gardeners of all ages

By Ellen Spitaleri

The Clackamas Review, Jun 23, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

ellen spitaleri / clackamas Review

Melissa Richmond, organic gardening coordinator at Elite Care-Oatfield Estates, invites Gay, a resident, to taste a crisp, leafy lettuce newly picked from the facility’s garden.

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Melissa Richmond describes herself as a “cultivator of plants and people,” and she isn’t kidding.

Richmond is the organic gardening coordinator for Elite Care-Oatfield Estates in Milwaukie, an elder-care community, and said gardening with elders is her passion.

“I don’t want to be just a gardener. I feel fortunate to have the intuition and the ability to help everyone be able to take part in [gardening] and feel successful,” she said.

The Oatfield facility has a large garden and a greenhouse and residents are encouraged to participate in a variety of activities.

All the vegetables are set out on tables and residents can go shopping, although “all it costs is a smile,” Richmond said.

“Everything we grow goes into the houses; each house has a chef and the chef uses the fresh produce to prepare meals. It is a great way to find out what people want to eat,” she said.

Shopping at the “market” also “increases social interaction” and helps residents see the “connection to the food that is grown here.”

There is a high percentage of residents with dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease, Richmond said, and gardening and going to the market gives them a “sense of pride and an opportunity to participate in the community.”

“People’s eyes light up when they come to the market,” she added.

Participation

Richmond estimated that about 85 percent of the population at Elite Care has participated in the year-round adaptive-gardening program.

In the off season, she sets up a table inside the facility and residents come in and make seed tapes for root vegetables, using flour and water paste, seeds and paper towels.

“Everything is started from seed in the greenhouse — it is less expensive,” she noted.

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