Time to pick a pack of pickled peppers!

For those of you that read my last post, you know that I started a walking program that began with mastering the mountain I like to call, my driveway. I am happy to say that the walk back and forth to my mailbox is starting to get a little easier to tolerate. Not that I still don’t huff and puff, it’s just that I don’t mind it as much. I figure this higher altitude I now live in is turning my brain to mush. I mean, who in their right mind would continue this bodily torture, right?

I am also trying my hand at gardening. By this, I mean I dutifully watched Tom dig holes to plant some new rose bushes. Not to be outdone by this manly display of energy, I have planted a little indoor greenhouse, starting some fresh veggies and flowers inside so they will be ready by April to plant in the garden.   This is satisfying on two levels. One the one hand, we plan on canning and freezing the vegetables come harvest time. Not only will this save money on buying costly produce in the stores, but the health benefits of growing your own veggies without the use of pesticides and other nefarious agents cannot be discounted.  Also, since our flower garden is situated on an incline, we will be able to work off more calories planting, weeding and cultivating our babies all summer long.

This made me think about how many calories are burned with simple gardening chores. For example, we have about two acres, if not a little more of lawn that needs to be mowed. Then there is the weed pulling, edge trimming and mulch hauling that is inevitable. I did some research, and came up with the following list of gardening exercises and the benefits thereof. These calculations are based on the average body weight of 150 pounds:

Digging, spading, filling and composting, 340 calories per hour

Lawn mowing with a power mower, 306 calories per hour

Raking the lawn,  292 calories per hour

Laying down crushed rock, 340 calories per hour

Planting seedlings, 306 calories per hour

Watering the lawn and garden,  102 calories per hour

Weeding the garden,   306 calories per hour

Light duty, picking flowers/vegetables, 204 calories per hour

Chopping and splitting wood,  408 calories per hour

Carrying and stacking this same wood,  340 calories per hour

Wow! Just think, a few hours in the garden, a couple of days a week, and before the summer even gets started I should be able to see a marked improvement in my overall well being. Just the time it took to put this article together has gotten me excited enough to put on my workout clothes and get digging. Of course, I will need to shovel the fresh snow that is now covering my workout canvas.  I wonder how many calories you can burn shoveling snow? I guess that will have to wait for another blog!

Happy Trails!