When Gardening Is a Workout

I'm sitting here today with, frankly, a sore butt.  A sore butt that is a result of ... gardening?? 

Last spring, I spent every weekend for approximately a month cleaning up/cleaning out our garden area so that when the weather was not incredibly hot and humid, we could sit outside and enjoy it all.  Each weekend, I would do a certain amount, so as not to be overcome with tiredness and the amount of physical activity. 

This past spring, here in the Philadelphia area, it rained non-stop practically every single weekend.  The few that it did not, we were either not in town, or had other commitments.  So the garden was left to its own devices, and was to put it mildly, a mess.  Last weekend, the weather was pretty perfect - warm but not overly hot, and with very little humidity.  On both Saturday and Sunday mornings, I went out early and worked on getting things cleaned up and organized.  Our garden area is not large, but because it had been left alone, there were leaves, sticks, blown trash, and overgrown weeds everywhere.  (Three large garden trash bags' worth to start!)  But finally it was looking better.

As for me, I easily got a all-body workout doing the cleaning up.  Between standing up and squatting down, kneeling and pulling out weed roots, and raking and sweeping, every bit of me felt the burn, as they say.  I was a little bit sore, but nothing two acetaminophen didn't help.

Yesterday and today, I am off work, in my continuing and final attempt to use vacation days instead of losing them (tomorrow is the end of our year at work).  It had rained pretty heavily overnight on Wednesday to Thursday, so yesterday morning I took myself outside to do some planting, as we had bought some flowers and plants last weekend.  Things don't always do really well for us, because except for a planter in front of the house, the actual garden area doesn't get a lot of full, strong sunlight.  We discovered last year that in both places, New Guinea impatiens plants were VERY happy, as well as being pretty.  Since we got started late this year, there were only two of those left where we had gone, but they looked pretty healthy, so we got those as well as some marigolds, asters, and some annuals.  Everything was planted yesterday, and so far, is still alive.  :-)

(Not ours - just an example of what the New Guinea impatiens look like)

But oh boy do I have a sore butt today!  I guess the prolonged kneeling (I have one of those garden pads, so was not kneeling on bricks), and stretching was a workout for my posterior area.  Not that it's a problem - that area can use all the help it can get!  But I was surprised at how it felt this morning - I must have really given it a workout!

Never having lived anywhere with a huge yard, and not having parents who were interested in gardens or lawns, I never realized how you could get in shape that way.  Having said that, I'm perfectly happy with the size of our garden, and the amount of work it provides for us.  It's just another example of why I would be a crappy suburban neighbor.  So, suburbanites, be VERY happy that I live in the city, and not next door to you! 

Have a great weekend, and enjoy whatever exercise you can get.  But mostly, if you are in one of the many places in the U.S. and abroad where major heat waves are occurring/are starting to occur, keep cool!