outdoorsing is awfully good for the soul, but it can be hell on the body.
The former is the stuff of February daydreams. The latter -- all that pain from hauling and bending, raking and pruning -- fades in winter.
We're in delicious denial till spring.
And then, filled with primordial anticipation, we head outside, only to inflict pain upon ourselves once again.
"Sore muscles come with the territory, but when you get such a positive result, you tend to block that out of your mind," said Winnie Harris, program and volunteer coordinator for University City Green, which has planted thousands of trees and bulbs in West Philadelphia neighborhoods over the last dozen years.
Now here's a gardener we can identify with. "Can't wait to get out there," Harris said, even though summer brings 16-hour workdays with UC Green's youth program, taking care of 500 street trees, plus work in her own garden.
"As one of my girlfriends said to me," Harris confesses, "'You don't know when you've had enough and you've done too much.'"
To reinvigorate, and to ease the exhaustion and sometime soreness, she soaks, sometimes twice daily, in a tub of steamy water infused with an old-time favorite: Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Soap.
"Nothing like that peppermint bath," Harris said.
But sometimes peppermint won't cut it, as Patty Brick of Egg Harbor Township, N.J., knows firsthand. She's a gardener and physical therapist well-acquainted with sore back muscles and injuries to shoulders, elbows, wrists, and hands caused by stressful repetitive motion in the garden.
"People are lifting heavy bags of mulch, repotting and replanting, moving shrubs. Everyone's trying to plant these beautiful planters, then lift them up," said Brick, recalling a patient who went hosta-crazy one weekend digging and dividing up a long row of hostas, making new holes, lugging plants from Point A to Point B, and putting them all back in the ground again.
"It's a lot of work for weekend warriors trying to get all their gardening done," Brick said.
Pruning, with its constant and forceful squeezing, is another big-time pain-producer.
"People will go and clean out an entire row of shrubs and not think anything of it, creating that same motion 100 to 200 times," Brick said. "Two days later, their wrist is bothering them and they don't understand the burning in their elbow that's radiating up to the shoulder."
It's called lateral epicondylitis, or tennis elbow.
Time to toss the "weekend warrior" model, which gets a lot done on Saturday and causes miserable immobility on Sunday. Brick has a better idea, one she uses on the flower and vegetable gardens, shrubs, and containers on her own one-acre property.
This is going to sound like your mother telling you to eat right and go to bed early, but there was truth to that and there's truth to this:
Brick sensibly divides the garden chores into manageable bites, in proper sequence; then, using ergonomically designed tools, she paces herself. She cleans out the beds in March, moves things around in April, plants anew in May.
Brick takes her time, making sure to work in two-hour chunks or so, with breaks in between. "Give your muscles and joints a chance to recover from what you've done for the last two hours," she said.
Such admirable organization and exemplary self-control.
Perhaps we alone lack these qualities, for here's another gardener, David Siller, who is all of that. He only occasionally gets sore, which, for a 31-year-old guy, is about as bad as it gets.
Siller farms for Weavers Way Co-op in Mount Airy, Pa., using his hands like any home gardener, but on a much grander scale. Not like the big commercial farms, though, where he said "you can see farmers with big beer bellies riding tractors."
Siller tries to stay mindful of his methods. When digging holes, for example, he won't jump on a shovel, over and over, with one foot. Better to evenly distribute the weight by using both feet.
Lifting is another problematic activity, as anyone who has ever lugged mulch bags through the back 40 can attest. Weavers Way farmers routinely hoist 50-pound boxes of cucumbers, watermelons, and eggplants -- but not by bending at the waist. Siller bends his knees slowly, keeping his back straight.
He keeps in shape with runs and daily yoga, learned from Mom, who's a yoga instructor. Siller does an hour a day in winter, ending with the corpse pose, which transports him to that fascinating state between effort and repose. In summer, after a long, muscular day at the farm, he might manage 15 minutes.
"If I've been outside working hard all day in awkward positions planting ... you don't get to pay attention to your body as much," he said . "Coming home, taking a moment to examine your body through breath and observation, that is a really powerful thing."
Feels good, too.
Food
February 10, 2010
outdoorsing can be hard on the body
- Food
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Toys R' Us launches its own baby products
Toys "R" Us is banking on the power of the Babies "R" Us brand name to sell infant formula, diapers, wipes, laundry detergent and bottled, purified water in its stores.
The Wayne-based retailer officially announced the creation of the branded line of products recently after quietly introducing them into its stores at the end of last year. -
Add flavor to a nutritious chicken dish
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts may be great nutritionally speaking, but they can fall pretty flat when it comes to flavor.
Consider that a plus, a healthy blank canvas on which other flavors can shine. - Veterans Corner I hope this day finds you enjoying our way of life in this United States. We are able to choose for ourselves what we will do today because of the veterans in your community. Let all of these heroes know that we appreciate the sacrifices that they made while serving this nation.
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Venison a tasty variety for steak lovers
These assertively seasoned venison steaks also can be made using bison or beef. Like most game, venison is lean; keep it rare to avoid drying it out.
Venison steaks over smashed cauliflower
Start to finish: 30 minutes
Servings: 4
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and ground black pepper
1 to 1 1/2 pounds venison loin or tenderloin, cut into 4 steaks
Two 1-pound packages frozen cauliflower
2 tablespoons water
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup heavy cream
Salt and ground black pepper
In gallon-size zip-close plastic bag, mix the brown sugar, paprika, chili powder, thyme, oregano, garlic powder 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. -
Military roundup
Army Reserve Capt. Jonathan M. Lawson is returning to the U.S. after a deployment to Iraqi or Afghanistan in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom or Enduring Freedom, respectively.
The soldiers return to Fort Dix, N. - Long love: Study examines successes of lengthiest marriages SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- At the statistical intersection where increased life expectancy balances out the divorce rate, there is a surprising new cultural demographic: More Americans are reaching and exceeding the 40th wedding anniversary.
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outdoorsing can be hard on the body
outdoorsing is awfully good for the soul, but it can be hell on the body.
The former is the stuff of February daydreams. The latter -- all that pain from hauling and bending, raking and pruning -- fades in winter. -
Experiment takes aim at genetic learning disorder
WASHINGTON -- A pill to ease a type of mental retardation? An experiment is under way to develop one, aimed at a genetic disorder that might unravel some of the mysteries of autism along the way.
Chances are you've never heard of the target -- Fragile X syndrome -- even though it's the most common inherited form of intellectual impairment, estimated to affect almost 100,000 Americans. -
Ask a dietitian
Q: How much calcium do I need each day? Are there other foods besides diary products that contain calcium?
A: Calcium is an essential nutrient that helps build bones and teeth and maintains bone mass throughout the life cycle. - Veterans Corner This weather certainly has put a damper on our ability to serve veterans at the Goldsby Community Center on Thursdays. There were only 44 who ventured out last Thursday morning. We were able to work all of them and to close our doors by 8:30 a.
- More Food Headlines
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Toys R' Us launches its own baby products
Toys "R" Us is banking on the power of the Babies "R" Us brand name to sell infant formula, diapers, wipes, laundry detergent and bottled, purified water in its stores.
