The First Tomato

Living next to the "Greenhouse Capital of Canada" means that those living in Medicine Hat have fresh local produce almost all year round.  It tastes great and is far better than the vegetables that are shipped from the other site of the planet.  

Yesterday my wife and I made a Greek salad with local cucumbers and peppers.  For the tomato we used the first vine ripened tomato from our backyard garden.  Oh, my!  The flavour of that tomato burst into our mouths, out shining everything else in the salad.  At the first taste there was no doubt this fresh, red orb was just brimming with nutrition that the tomatoes we buy just don't have.   This is the reason we have a garden.  This is what we wait anxiously months for.  The taste and nutrition of a home grown, organic tomato is beyond compare.

It's a privilege that our society and technology have advanced to where we can have fresh produce year round.  We are healthier for it.  But the taste and nutritional value of homegrown, in season produce just cannot be matched.  That's why we have a garden.  If you don't have a garden you are missing something very special and when I eat my tomato I feel sorry for you.

Gardening Season Has Arrived

It seemed like it would never happen, but spring finally seems to have come to Medicine Hat.  Better late than never, as the saying goes.  With spring comes gardening!  

Gardening is fabulous exercise.  Walking, bending, lifting, raking, digging, planting, pruning; a great variety of activities to stretch and strengthen most of the body.  The heart and lungs also get a good workout.  The fresh air is wonderfully beneficial.  Listening to the birds chirping lifts the spirits.  Gardening is an almost perfect activity.

Sometimes gardening can be so enjoyable, we forget that it is exercise.  It must be treated like any other exercise regime.  Always keep in mind that gardening can be very strenuous.  Many of the muscles used in gardening have been dormant since fall, just like the flowers.  These muscles need to be worked gradually to get them back into shape.  Start gardening slowly.  Do short sessions to begin with.  Vary your activities.  There are so many of them to do.  Rake for a short period, do a little pruning, plant a few things, do a little digging, take a break, then go back to the raking.  Repeat as necessary.  It doesn't all have to be done in one day!    Watch the lifting.  Get help for heavy objects and make sure to use good lifting posture.  Always stretch before and after each time in the garden.

A visit to the chiropractor is crucial before starting to garden.  Any vertebral subluxations that may be present will make you susceptible to injury.  An adjustment or two will assure your spine is ready to garden when you are.

Me playing in the dirt

Keep gardening enjoyable this year.  Don't injure yourself!  Now ... to take my own advice.