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trouble with exercising is that too many people don't. The beauty
of gardening is that more and more people do. Now research shows
that you can exchange those highly scented bodies at the gym for
highly scented flowers in your garden, and still get the advantage
of a good workout. But, in my opinion, physical fitness is not the
only benefit.
Weed off weight
Gardening uses all the body's major muscle groups.
Arms, legs, shoulders, stomach, neck and back all are used during
an hour of raking, digging and planting. You may not end up with
"buns of steel" but you will get a challenging workout
that stretches and strengthens muscles and promotes cardiovascular
health. Gardening also improves coordination and burns calories.
Depending on
the activity, working in the garden for 45 minutes can burn the
same number of calories as 30 minutes of aerobics or jogging. For
example, mowing the lawn with a push mower or tilling the vegetable
patch expends the same level of energy as swimming or aerobics.
Digging or turning compost can burn up to 400 calories per hour.
Even something as simple as planting seedlings can burn 160 calories
in only 30 minutes.
Experts recommend
that if exercise is your goal, your total gardening time should
add up to at least 30 minutes per day. As with all exercise programs,
warming up is important before you start. Stretch your muscles before
you begin and make sure you alternate strenuous activities with
lighter tasks. Remember that repetitions are important. You will
get more exercise taking smaller loads in your wheel barrow and
making more trips than you will by making fewer trips with heavier
loads.
Over the fence
I
once had a neighbour who went out to his front yard every morning
around 7:30 and spent an hour pruning stray shoots off his immaculately
neat hedge. He didn't do so because he cared whether his hedge was
perfectly shaped. He did so because that was the time people were
out, heading for the subway, walking their dogs, taking their kids
to daycare. He had a cheery good morning for everyone and most stopped
to exchange a few words about the weather, the state of the world
or the latest community news. This gentleman's garden was more than
a hedge and some lovely flower beds. It was his introduction to
the people around him. He built a whole social network over that
hedge.
And what better
way to get to know people than to stop and admire the prolific blooms
of their clematis or the striking blossoms on their rose arbour.
Gardeners seem to form their own community, where common interests
are shared along with perennials, and friendships are made over
ordinary back fences.
In the small
rural municipality that I now call home, the Horticultural Society
is one of the most active community groups in town. Its monthly
meetings attract between 60 and 80 people and their annual plant
sale is always a sell-out. Members are responsible for the flower
barrels that decorate the town each summer, and recently took on
the landscaping of the new library. These people come together to
take on such tasks because of their mutual love of gardening. An
added benefit, of course, is the social relationships that develop
when individuals are drawn together by a shared interest. Together,
these people are helping to build a stronger, more beautiful community.
Scents and satisfaction
Anyone who has spent time tending a garden knows the
soothing, stress-relieving effect that it has. It is relaxing. It
takes your mind off work, family problems and all the other troubling
issues that prey on us in our everyday lives. When you grow herbs
and flowers you have no need for expensive aromatherapy oils for
stress relief. Pick and dry some leaves and blossoms and the scents
will soothe you all winter long.
And what could
be better for one's self-esteem than knowing you have produced a
beautiful bouquet or a delicious salad from a patch of plain, brown
dirt. What a sense of accomplishment!
For enthusiasts,
gardening is a year-round activity. The annual cycle begins in December
with the arrival of the seed catalogues, and ends the following
November (depending on where you live) when the garden is put to
bed for the winter. In between , you plan and dream about your perfect
garden. You nurture the seeds and young plants to the best of your
ability and even if things don't work out quite the way you hoped,
you can always anticipate next year. Meanwhile, you have the satisfaction
of knowing that you created something that is uniquely yours. You
see tangible results from your efforts that are both beautiful and
fulfilling.
Cultivating a healthy environment
Gardening is one of the best means of getting in touch
with our environment. As more and more people move away from chemical
pesticides and herbicides and turn to other less harmful insect
and weed control methods they gain a greater understanding of how
their gardens work.
Studies show
that pesticides can cause health problems ranging from birth defects
to cancer, and that children are at particularly high risk. The
use of substances that are harmful to humans for the sake of larger,
redder tomatoes seems not only ludicrous but unnecessary. By understanding
how the various components of the garden interact naturally, we
can reduce and possibly eliminate the need for toxins.
The most effective
strategy is prevention. Watch your plants to make sure insect populations
don't get out of control. Some plants, such as marigolds, dill and
alyssum attract beneficial insects. Providing a dish of water or
bird bath will encourage beneficial insects to stay around.
Last but not
least, get out the garden hoe and dandelion fork, and dig weeds
by hand. As mentioned above, it's good exercise, and you will have
the satisfaction of knowing you aren't adding unnecessary poisons
to your neighbourhood.
Gardeners know best
Gardening has been growing in popularity by leaps and
bounds during the past decade, but its benefits are neither new
nor unrecognized. Many gardeners feel a powerful sense of well-being
from being in touch with the earth and its natural cycles. There
is a spiritual aspect to gardening that helps us achieve balance
and harmony in our everyday lives.
Perhaps Ralph
Waldo Emmerson went right to the root of the matter in 1841, when
he said "When I go into my garden with a spade, and dig a bed,
I feel such an exhilaration and health, that I discover that I have
been defrauding myself all this time in letting others do for me
what I should have done with my own hands".
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