Garden Detective

I'm sick. And tired. But I had quite a productive weekend, with aching muscles to show for it. I'm walking around like Tim Conway's "Old Man" character from The Carol Burnett Show today -- a grim reminder that my sedentary lifestyle has taken its toll over the winter and that some simple pulling and lifting has the power to cripple me.

I mustn't be alone in this, as June 6th is National Gardening Exercise Day. The holiday, promoted by Jeffrey Restuccio, author of Fitness the Dynamic Gardening Way and proponent of "aerobic gardening," is new to me. I like the thought of viewing garden work as exercise. At least when I'm done I can feel a sense of accomplishment and revel in the fruits (and vegetables, and especially the colorful blooms) of my labor. What enjoyment awaits me when I step off the treadmill?

Restuccio has some interesting charts on his website that show the number of calories expended during various gardening activities. For instance, according to one chart, an hour of weeding burns 364 calories versus, say, sitting quiety, which burns only 80.

I moved one of the big euonymuses (nearly killed myself in the process), trimmed some needled evergreen groundcover (scratched myself severely in the process,) moved some irises and a beautiful azalea from the backyard to the front (both without incident,) and weeded three-quarters of the front bed. After reading the calorie charts, I estimated I must have burned more than 1,200 calories over the weekend.

As I'm still suffering from a nasty cold (DAY 9,) which has rendered me weak, all the bending and rising while weeding left me dizzy to the point of near unconsciousness. You might have noticed me lying on the grass -- flat on my back -- periodically throughout the day, had you been walking by.

At one point, John, who was axing some old tree roots, looked over with concern. "Hey, are you O.K.?"

"Don't worry about me -- I have a system." And a good one, too: Bend. Rise. Lie down. Repeat.

Mulch comes tomorrow.

Happy spring.