Louise Garner, left, gets to enjoy the garden that her husband, Sim made for her. The rows are wide enough that her scooter can go down the rows. | Brent Maze

Louise Garner doesn’t have any trouble getting around the garden at her home on Sanders Road, thanks to her husband, Sim.

While Louise might be confined to a scooter, Sim made sure that the rows in their garden were wide, and firm enough, for Louise to get around with little problem.

“It took a while to get it to this point,” Sim said.

Sim, who is retired, built several raised beds using railroad ties. He even used a wheel they had lying around their 11-acre property as a way to let bean vines grow instead of using stakes.

Tomato plants are also growing up a wire fence instead of using string to tie them up.

“Sim has done a lot of hard work to make the garden where I can get around in it,” said Louise, who has rheumatoid arthritis. “He has done so much for me. He’s a great man and a great father. I just want to see him get recognition for that.”

The Garners have three children and adopted another.

The Garners used to have a farm in the Massey community many years ago before moving to Hartselle.

“The Lord told me that we should sell our farm in Massey,” Louise said. “We prayed about it and we said we would move if it sold. It did and then this house opened up for us and we’ve lived here ever since.

“Little did we know at the time that the farming industry would go down like it has, but the Lord knew.”