Gardening for the Soul

If you enjoy gardening but either don’t have your own or would like to contribute your skills to a good cause, then consider your local church yard.

The churchyard plays an important role in conservation. They are often home to wild animals such as squirrels, bats, foxes, hedgehogs and voles.

Planting can be a few simple trees or there can be well established colonies of snowdrops, crocus and daffodils as well as more formal schemes which require regular maintenance, pruning, weeding.

A fine example of what can be achieved, can be seen at St. Michael’s Church, Stanwix, Carlisle.  Where the Friends of the church took the opportunity to get involved in the Living Churchyards project and created.

• A roman herb garden
• Habitats for wild animals, insects and reptiles to flourish
• Nesting boxes for birds, bats and squirrels
• A pond area to encourage insects and aquatic life

The cemetery is also promoted as an educational resource for local schools and groups.

As can be seen from this example, the church yard can be a diverse environment and an active garden.  Plants and flowers can be grown to supply the church flower arrangers with materials.

Trees and shrubs provide a welcome home for urban birds and wildlife.

The church grounds take on a softer more relaxed atmosphere giving a welcome, tranquil setting to visitors.

You can arrange to garden as a group with friends and take a little peaceful time out on your own to do a little weeding.

Contact your local church to see if they have a volunteers group or see if you can arrange one.

The Living Churchyards project has now been replaced by the “Caring for gods acre” project and if you wish to become involved, further details can be found on their website.

This exciting 5 year project (2007-2012) offers volunteering opportunities and support for groups managing churchyards. The project also organises bus tours, activities and workshops for the general public.
Are you thinking of volunteering?

They offer:
Training – certificated or non certificated
Experience in a wide range of conservation tasks
Travelling expenses or minibus lifts
Tools and protective clothing

Learn new skills and discover new places in beautiful surroundings with good company, tea and cake!
If  you are a Church group, the Carling for gods acre” tam can visit and offer you advice on managing your churchyard as well as run activities in your churchyard for the general public or specific groups (schools, cubs, brownies etc).
There are exhibitions and displays available to borrow equipment for children to explore your churchyard.

More information

Caring for God’s acre project - The conservation charity for Church yards and burial grounds.

Sprouting seeds and micro greens

Sprouting seeds contain a wide range of beneficial vitamins and minerals. Seeds are the beginning of life in plant-form, so it stands to reason that they are full of natural goodness, especially when they begin to sprout.

You don’t even have to have a garden, a window ledge will do. Within 2-7 days you can harvest healthy young shoots loaded with nutrients.

We are all familiar with beansprouts, the shoots of Mung beans, which are used in oriental cooking to add a crisp texture and tasty sprouting seeds are delicious eaten raw, but there are many other types of seed which can be used in this way which can be added to salads, sandwiches, stir-fries, curries and casseroles.

Micro greens
Living greens are plants which can be eaten as young seedlings, before the first true leaves appear.  More than just sprouts, they they offer an intense range of flavours and textures.

There is no gardening, seed sowing or even soil involved.  All that is needed is water and a container.  They are quick and easy to grow indoors all year round and are ready to eat in only 6-15 days from sowing.

Just like sprouting seeds and salad leaves they are rich in healthy nutrients and are ideal for spicing up sandwiches and salads or to garnish soups.

More sprouting information
The Happy Juicer - information about seed sprouting
Sprout people – learn everything you need to know about sprouting beans, including Adzuki, Garbanzo, Lentil, Mung, Pea, and Peanut

Gardening Boosts Vitamin D

Readers may be aware of recent media reports on the rising incidence of Ricketts.  This bone disease is caused by lack of vitamin D (which we source from sunlight).  Our northern hemisphere climate combined with indoor lifestyle along with other factors has led to Ricketts rearing it’s head for the first time since the WWII.

Sun exposure to the skin is the human race’s natural, intended, most effective and most neglected source of vitamin D. Research is now indicating that vitamin D may also have implications relating to other health conditions including Multiple Sclerosis and cancers.

According to data from the Vitamin D Society in canada;

“Vitamin D sufficiency, along with diet and exercise, has emerged as one of the most important preventive factors in human health. Hundreds of studies now link vitamin D deficiency with significantly higher rates of many forms of cancer‚ as well as heart disease‚ osteoporosis‚ multiple sclerosis and many other conditions and diseases.”

Because sunshine is a free commodity with no publicist or lobbyist, the Sunshine Vitamin Alliance is established as a coalition of right-minded physicians, individuals and organizations who advocate natural vitamin D production through regular, non-burning sun exposure.

Humans make 90 percent of vitamin D naturally from ultraviolet B exposure to the skin, which naturally initiates the conversion of cholesterol in the skin to vitamin D3.

In northern climates (anywhere north of Birmingham in the UK) sunlight is too weak in parts of the year to make any vitamin D – a period referred to as ‘Vitamin D Winter’.

Although some foods naturally contain or are fortified with supplemental vitamin D. Researchers suggest that this is only a small percentage of what we need daily. In contrast, sun exposure to the skin makes thousands of units of vitamin D naturally in a relatively short period of time.

Supplementation of vitamin D via food is an alternative means of producing vitamin D when regular, non-burning sun exposure is not possible, oral supplementation of vitamin D is not nature’s intended means of producing this vitamin and past experiments in the 1970’s led to over processing of calcium in children.

The Vitamin D Society state;

“While overexposure to sunlight carries risks, the cosmetic skin care industry has misled the public into believing that any UV exposure is harmful. No research has shown that regular, non-burning exposure to UV light poses a significant risk of skin damage.

Humans spend less time in the sun today than at any point in human history – which is why more than 1 billion people worldwide are vitamin D deficient.

Vitamin D Comes From the Sun
Sunlight is the best and only natural source of vitamin D. Unlike dietary or supplementary vitamin D, when you get your ‘D’ from sunshine your body takes what it needs, and de-metabolizes any extra. That’s critical – as vitamin D experts and many health groups now advocate 1,000 to 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily – five to ten times the old recommendations. Because too much ‘D’ from dietary supplements may cause the body to over-process calcium, nobody really knows for sure how much supplementary vitamin D is safe. On the other hand, sunlight-induced vitamin D doesn’t have that problem – it’s the way your body is intended to make it!”

TAKE CARE

Before everybody rushes for the sunbed or starts running naked around the garden…BEWARE!  Skin cancer is still on the rise and one of the major cancers faced today. Exposure to the sun should be treated responsibly, NEVER allowing the skin to burn.

Always protect eyes from the sun.

Female Gardeners take note – Sun and wind will dehydrate and “age” the skin rapidly.
Good skin care is vital.

How much is enough?
Experts recommend sun exposure to the arms and legs for 10-15 minutes.

The amount of vitamin D produced depends on the intensity of the UVB in the sun and many other factors. Darker-skinned individuals may need 5-10 times more exposure than a fair-skinned person to make the same amount of vitamin D.

All of this points to the fact that gardening has yet another health bonus!

Gardening Calorie Counter

Today sees the launch of our new downloadable gardening calorie counter.

We have compiled data and analysed statistics to give you an idea of how many calories are burned doing various gardening tasks.

A simple table gives easy reference and allows you to complete the record sheet which you can pin to your shed door or kitchen notice board to keep track of how your gardening can help to shed those extra Kg’s.

All of the figures are an approximation of how many calories the average person would burn, so it must be remembered that everybody is different and will lose weight at different rates.

Of course all of this forms part of a general healthy diet and taking around 30 minutes moderate exercise each day.

Skipping meals and crash dieting will not lead to efficient or safe weight loss and it is important that good dietry advice is followed.

We advise that you consult a medical practitioner before undertaking weight loss or fitness programmes.

Gardening is a rewarding fitness activity but be sure to pace your self, do a little at a time and vary your tasks to avoid injury and discomfort.

So download the leaflet, print off the record sheet and have fun!

Gardening Calorie Counter (1)

Gardening For Fitness

The physical benefits of gardening are well documented, improving strength and mobility.

Think of your garden as a gym, but without the membership fee, sweaty bodies and awkward, boring machinery.

Read more