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Notes From the Garden
Notes from the GardenTune Up Green Thumbs and Exercise Weather Skills
By Madeleine Wilde
Apr 07, 1999 -- Many inquiries came forth from my last column regarding exercises that might be designed specifically for gardening work. There are a few hard-to-find books and pamphlets that I have encountered over the years. However, recently I came across a small, useful guide developed by fitness experts Tucker and Eugenia Bradshaw called Shaping Up America's Green Thumb ($7.95 + $2.00 shipping). For ordering information, look at their website (www.bpfit.com) or call (1-800-783-8224) or e-mail them at bpfit@msn.com. They recommend that these exercises should be started a month prior to active gardening work, but don't use that impossibility as an excuse!I particularly appreciate the icons they developed which identify four different target movements; rotation, bending, kneeling, and lifting/pulling. Each of us have different body strengths, so with these icons it is possible to focus on the exercises that will strengthen our specific weak spots. The exercise graphics are just the standard ones, but again the icon is a helpful reminder about just what the exercise is accomplishing. They also include a brief list of tools and just which type of exercises relate directly to the tool. This guide is an extremely useful tool for people who are comfortable with developing and maintaining their own exercise regimen. It is also a good introduction for people who have not recently thought about the benefits of stretching and strengthening exercises. For those who need glamorous or vigorous encouragement in order to seriously engage in a fitness program this guide will be a severe disappointment.
Now that we are all tuned up and eagerly ready to take on the garden, the Spring weather throws its capricious fits at us. Moments or even sometimes hours of glorious sunshine followed by windy, cold squalls wreak havoc with our schedules. It takes great cunning on your part to outfox the weather. I have found that making simple lists of the tasks that you would like to accomplish greatly helps. Their priorities can be as changeable as the weather, and with the list in hand I don't need to re-think them over and over.
During the glorious sunny moments, I watch my neighbors get all their tools out for their projects, as though time or the weather will stand still for them. Then the wind picks up and the rain drops splatter briefly before turning into a regular downpour. All the tools are soaked.
Try to think through your projects and divide them up into phases. For example if you are preparing your vegetable beds by removing last season's stragglers and this season's fresh weeds, digging in some rich compost, repairing the structures, and mulching off the renewed beds, do all the jobs section by section, except perhaps the structure repair. Instead of weeding the entire area, just do one-quarter or one-third, then dig the compost, and then cover that with mulch. If the weather gods are still with you, start with the next section. This approach will save you from the discouragement that comes from having weeded the whole area, and then not being able to get out to finish the job before the next batch of weeds has germinated!
Mowing and edging the lawn can also be broken down into phases, especially the edging part. Get those big lumps of straggly mud and grass into the yard waste as you go along and then you won't be scrambling to get them all picked up when the lively spring rain squall passes through your block.
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