Sub-title to the thread: "what changes to your garden routine have you made to accommodate change in stamina?"

One thing you might consider is to get a garden cart that takes less strength to push. [mine makes me a bionic 73yr old][well, sort of] Another thing I've done is to place small compost piles in various parts of the yard ... especially those that require using steps. Another thing is to do onsite mulching with a small chipper, again at the most hard to reach parts of the yard. And best of all, is there a girl or boy in your church or neighborhood who might benefit from the work experience? An adult with dubious legal status will work harder, smarter, and probably cheaper than a teen, but the kids deserve the OJT that other generations had.

Anybody try mulch blowing? Overpriced?

I use an all Straw and hay year round permanent mulch. I piled it on thick the first year, about 8 inches. I never till or remove it. When it starts to compost a lot, I add a little more, but it hasn't been much work since the first year. Got the idea from the book, "how to have a green
thumb without an aching back" by Ruth stout. It's been five years now, and my soil gets better and better.

I use a push mower mostly for the exercise, and a wheelbarrow to move stuff around. I also live on a slope and it's a workout moving even mulch up toward the back of the house. I think as I get older I'll be looking at a riding mower and trailer to make both easier at least for the bulk of it.

@borderbarb I like your idea, I know I had spending money as a young teen from various "jobs" - took me a minute but I assume OJT is on the job training?

Yes, on definition of OJT. My next truck load from the tree trimmer will be hauled from driveway to back yard by two very nice kids, who are eager to earn some money. Kids can't compete with adults for strength and experience. There is a lot of that kind of competition here in CA.

waas .... what is mulch blowing?

zach .... the hay/straw mulch sounds great to me. I've linked to interview with Ruth Stout. Since I don't have a truck, getting bales of hay/straw is a problem. The tree trimmer dumps his load of FREE mulch in my driveway.

Here is a link that might be useful: Video interview with Ruth Stout

The mulch is distributed by large/wide hose and blown into place. I've heard its recommended for anything over 10 yards.

borderbarb -- I sure enjoyed watching the Ruth Stout interview. Thanks for making my day by posting the link! :-)

My wife and I have an old riding mower with a trailer that we use for big mulch loads. Park it behind the truck, pull the mulch down into the trailer, drive it to where it's going. The other person runs the wheelbarrow to shorter destinations.

Over time we seem to need a bit less mulch as the soil quality has improved and plants have grown together eliminating some mulching needs.

I get this from youtube when looking for the ruth stout video "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Gardenworks."

Guess I'll try googling it.

Wow ... I got that message on every attempt to find a link to her video.

This one works today, but may be changed. Do you suppose we are breaking some kind of law?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQv6KX7h0QM

Here is a link that might be useful: Ruth Stout