Gardening really is one of life’s simple pleasures – growing plants for your own benefit and perhaps future generations. Losing sight can make it challenging, but you can still enjoy the sounds, smells and shade on a lovely summer’s day. The team at In Your Pocket want to help you still enjoy the garden with their talking phones for the blind and visually impaired!
First some inspiration. Just say “Play podcast Gardeners’ Question Time”, or perhaps “Play podcast Gardeners’ World”. If you are enjoying the podcasts its worthwhile once you start listening to say “Subscribe”, so the podcast will be added to your favorites (so you don’t need to go searching again).
Better check the weather first though. Just say “What’s the weather forecast?” to get today’s weather on your talking phone for the blind.
Perhaps let people know what you are up to. To send a message just say something like “Send a Message to Emma – I’m out the back in the garden, so come around when you get here”. If Emma seems a bit late, you could check the time by saying “Whats the Time?”. Also useful if you feel you may have had a little too much sun.
One of our users said she likes to use Pocket as a sound beacon, as she is apt to lose her bearings. Putting Pocket on a chair or a table in the corner of the garden and having it play a book or radio quietly (just say something like “Find Radio Stations in Peterborough” or “Find me books about the Universe from Torch Trust” for an interesting read. If there’s a light rain shower, the XCover4s handset won’t mind too much as its waterproof. If you want to take Pocket around with you or protect it, it may be a good idea to put it in a bag and tie it to something larger like a fork.
If you want to put something new in the ground, you could say “Magnifier” to see the back of a seed packet. If you are still having trouble you could say “Be My Eyes” to connect your handset’s camera, speaker and microphone to one of the more than 166,000 volunteers for Be My Eyes as in the UK. Useful to be able tell the Tomato Feed from the Weed Killer! The Magnifier and Be My Eyes could also be handy for inspecting a spot on a leaf a bit closer.
Perhaps you’re keen on birds, and would like to try identifying bird songs in the garden. Just say “Find podcast Tweet of the Day” is a lovely way to start. You could also say “Find book The Bad Birdwatcher’s Companion by Simon Barnes” if you are a member of the Calibre Audio Library.
If you have finished in the garden and are feeling really pooped, why don’t you reward yourself with a nice cup of tea in the shade. Perhaps you should also tell Pocket “Go to sleep in 30 minutes” if you feel you are likely to drop off and don’t want to miss too much of your audio book!
Enjoy your garden.
The In Your Pocket Team
