Ready to garden without back pain? It’s time to stop letting your aches and pains prevent you from doing the things that bring you joy. This blog will discuss smart ways to use your body when gardening to decrease pain. I also throw in a few pearls of wisdom to organic planting and companion gardening.
Pain Between Shoulder Blades When Gardening
Always remember, just because you’re moving doesn’t mean you’re using your body parts correctly. In other words, the proper form is always the key to prevent injuries and to avoid aches and pains. With that said, most pains between the shoulder blades have to do with too much bending with the shoulders and neck rolled forward.
When it comes to shoulder blade pain the most important thing is to not let your shoulder blades roll forward and leave your body! Also, it is important to not lift bags or buckets, regardless of their weight by allowing the shoulders to roll forward. Keeping the shoulder blades flat against the rib cage and using the arms to do the lifting is very important.
Here is a video that explains what I am talking about.
How To Avoid Lower Back Pain And Knee Pain When Gardening?
Lower back pain and knee pain are no different than any other parts of you that are impacted as a result of a bad form. We’ve all heard the saying, “Don’t lift with your back!”. Now the question is how do we do that and what do we lift with? The answer is hip-hinging!
Try this! Stand up and put your hands on your hips, keep your back neutral and straight, and now bend down at the hip instead of your waist. Hip hinging saves your back, your knees, and overall your body because instead of the lower back muscles doing the lifting, it is the glutes and the leg muscles that are working. Here is a video on hip-hinging!
How Do I Start Organic Gardening?
Thankfully we have reached a point where many people see the value of clean eating. Which means organic vegetables and fruit! When you plant your fruit and veggies, you know exactly how they were planted. You know if they are truly organic!
These days, you can grow many of your commonly used herbs in a variety of ways:
- In a pot or two on your patio
- Have small boxes hanging from your balcony fence
- Use the community shared lots that many cities still offer
- Or have enough land to plant your liked vegetables and fruit trees in the ground or in vegetable boxes.
It is very simple to get started and you don’t need to spend any money!! Have a container next to your sink. Every time you cook, all the parts of the fruit and vegetables (including onion and potato peel) that you would throw away, go into that container. At the end of the day put the contents into your outdoor compost area. I will explain how to make your own using old buckets below. This becomes a great organic compost for your vegetable garden!
How To Start Your Own Composting
This is much easier than you think! I owe the knowledge to my great aunt who got to live over 100 years and managed to never be on any medication. Amazing woman with a great attitude in life but let’s not digress!!!
Dig a hole in your backyard that is 2.5 feet deep. Grab an old 5-gallon bucket that has a lid and has been lying around. If you don’t have a backyard, do NOT cut the bottom off but put 4 small holes at the bottom! Otherwise, use a saw to cut the bottom off. Place this bucket in the hole you just dug and put some mulch or dirt as a starter to fill the bottom 1/3 of the bucket.
Now, go twig hunting!!! Put leaves and small twigs you find in your backyard or on the side of the street in your ‘compost bin’. Every day or so, add what you have collected in your container by your sink. Have a dedicated old ladle to stir the mixture. Make sure to close the lid when you are not using the compost and stir it every time you add more compost to it. Having moisture is necessary for the compost to flourish! And next time you are at the gardening store (or when you are working in the yard) find earthworms and add them to your bin. They will do the work for you and make your compost super-rich after a while.
If you have super dense compost from storing so much in it, you can always do the following to water your flowers:
- Grab a bucket and put a net or strainer over it.
- Get a few ladle-full of compost and put in the strainer or net and add water to wash it off.
- The water now is caught in the bucket that you will use to water your patio or indoor flowers with.
For those with domestic birds, you can use duck poop immediately on your veggies and fruit but let the chicken poop store for a month before you can use them to add additional fertilizer for your vegetables and fruit.
How To Garden Without Using A Chemical Herbicide And Pesticide?
I have used this website as a resource for a while now and love the information provided. Throughout the years of organic planting, I have come to learn how even certain weeds offer help to combat pests. It sure pays off to pay attention to the weeds that naturally grow in your garden and see what sort of pests they attract.
I have noticed a weed that grows abundantly by my citrus trees and rose bushes that attract ladybugs. Tens of them on each stem!! Lady bugs eat aphids which LOVE to kill all fresh shoots. When the weeds are absent, however, I use a combination of 3 tablespoons of Ivory soap with water and leave them in a spray bottle that I use to spray the aphids off. The only thing to remember though is to do it when the sun is down or before the sun is fully out. Of course, while ladybugs are not impacted by the occasional Spring rain, this mixture washes off so re-application is necessary!
Gardening And Functional Movement
I never thought gardening would be my ‘thing’ but I now appreciate the lessons I have learned from being exposed to this way of clean living. The produce is amazingly tasty! It is rewarding and keeps me busy with things that otherwise would not add to my life.
Hope you enjoyed this blog that mixes some of my farm life with posture and functional movement. I hope this leads to you exploring doing your gardening regardless of your yard size and leads to a much healthier life for you and your family. As always, if you’re ready to address the root of your aches and pains be sure to contact the office.
Dr. Shakib