A Conversation About: My Aching Back

By Jean Thomas

It’s not just my back that’s aching. It’s my front and sides and all my corners. I managed to put in a five hour work session in my gardens the other day. Although I’ve been gradually increasing my daily exposure to what will become a normal garden workday, this one went lots farther. I am probably comical to watch while tending to my garden. I can be seen doing everything from tossing a bag of mulch over my shoulder and hiking across the lawn to sitting in the grass like a two-year-old and reaching to pull as many weeds as possible without relocating my backside. I also have a set of kneelers that I use on rotation, flipping the first one to follow the last in a relay to travel the longest distance without having to constantly repeat the torture of getting to my feet and then descending to my knees. I dig and plant and weed and carry and rake and hoe, seemingly without end. My mental process may be to blame here. While I make lists in good faith, once I go out the door all bets are off. In order to accomplish task number one, I must first move or clear or locate something. In achieving the preparation, the original task loses importance and I drift into a totally different direction. I have come to terms with this behavior by calling it Organic Drift.                                                                                      That sounds better than admitting to being a scatterbrain, much like this conversation. I started talking about aches, so let’s get back to the topic. I am well educated on the art and science of ergonomic gardening from talking with my friend Madeline Hooper. Madeline is a former dance instructor and currently hosts a show on PBS called “GardenFit”. She has made a career by using her body correctly and has much excellent advice. Posture is important, and there are correct ways to lift and bend. It turns out that my scattered approach to garden chores is actually a good idea. Madeline says that dividing gardening up into half-hour segments provides the chance to work different parts of the body more evenly. So when I dug the trench for the Hydrangeas and then wandered off to rake the perennial meadow for a while and then repotted a batch of seedlings and then drove the rider mower around the lawn , I was behaving in an ergonomically correct fashion. Take that, you who finish an entire project in a single session!

You can hear Madeline at: https://ccecolumbiagreene.org/gardening/nature-calls-conversations-from-the-hudson-valley/episode-97-what-is-gardenfit.  You can also find her travelog/ fitness show, called “GardenFit” on your local PBS station. There are two seasons available now. There is even a featured episode in the second season with a visit to a Greene County artist at her Athens home and studio. And, returning to my personal aches and pains; In retrospect, I should have realized that another factor was weighing in on my great big tiring day in the garden, namely that the temperature sneaked up to eighty degrees when I wasn’t looking. Good thing I hydrate a lot… and I have a secret gardening weapon. Don’t tell anyone, but it’s always a good habit to follow the shade when you work. It buys you a little more comfort, and it makes you look smart.