Legionnaires’ from Compost

Recent press reports suggest links between bagged compost and legionnaires’ disease, as calls are made for better warning labels.

An article in the current issue of Eurosurveillance points to three cases of Legionnaires’ disease in Scotland between 2008-2009, caused by a particular strain, Legionella longbeachae Sg 1 associated with bagged potting compost.

Legionnaires’ Disease is a water born bacteria which causes a type of Pneumonia and is acquired by droplet inhalation.  It is thought to affect men more than women, especially the middle aged and elderly.  Those with existing medical conditions of the respiratory or immune system are also at greater risk.

Until recently, an association between cases of Legionnaires’ disease and gardening or use of potting mixes, was thought to be limited to Australia and New Zealand.  However, is has now been identified in Japan, the United States, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

In the UK, only nine cases of L. longbeachae have been reported since 1984. Five of them, including the three cases in Scotland have been linked to the use of potting composts.

Although the report does highlight a potential risk to gardeners from bagged potting compost, it also makes it quite clear that two of the people concerned in the Scottish outbreak had other health factors which put them “at risk” from infectious diseases.

Wear gloves and wash your hands.

Apart from the damage that soil does to your hands, it can contain all sorts of nasties.

One of the easiest way to avoid picking these up on your hands is to wear gloves and always wash and scrub your hands well after gardening.

Make your own compost.

Making your own compost usually involves the rotting material reaching very high temperatures as the materials break down.

A lot of bacteria cannot survive these temperatures and are destroyed during the composting process.

Air circulates through the compost heap and the resulting compost does not sit in warm, damp plastic bags.

More information

Eurosurveillance, Volume 15, Issue 8, 25 February 2010  – Legionella, springtime and potting soils

BBC News article – Compost link to Scottish Legionnaire’s cases

HSE information – Causes and symptoms of Legionnaires’ Disease.

Health Protection Scotland – Article about the Scottish compost linked Legionnaires’ cases.

Figo Connectors Review

Necessity is the mother of invention and the FIGO flexible garden frame connector is one of the latest garden gadgets designed to make our lives easier.

We have spent the week playing with a box of these new flexible connectors and we are certainly impressed, their flexibility means they can be used to make all sorts of structures, from crop frames to obelisks and shaped plant supports.

Bamboo canes have been around for centuries and many gardeners have spent hours tangled in string and wire, trying to put them together to make protective crop frames and plant supports.

Modern crop frames
The gardener can purchase specially designed purpose built garden frames made from tubular metal with special connectors but they can be expensive and can generally only be formed into one shape.

The Build a Ball revolutionised the home made garden frame, but again you are limited to 90 degree angles and only a certain size of bamboo cane.

FIGO is incredibly versatile
The Figo works on a similar principle to the ‘Build a Ball’, allowing gardeners to use bamboo canes to build their own structures.  The advantage is that the connectors are mounted on a sturdy flexible rubber ring, which gives any manner of angle combinations and they can accommodate a cane with a width from 8mm to an impressive 16mm, which means that you can even use tubular metal to construct your frame or support.

Most bamboo canes are larger in diameter at one end than the other and this is a huge, frustrating problem with the Build a Balls but the FIGO gets round this effortlessly.

The FIGO is the British brainchild of gardener Sharon Wong, who went to product development company Hyphen with a basic concept for a flexible connector. Hyphen developed and improved the design  to create a whole new patentable design that is not only supremely easy to use and very durable, but also inexpensive to produce.

FIGO is not fiddly

The FIGO flexible connectors are large and easy to handle,  even those with limited dexterity can easily push a cane into the connector, although if strength and joint pain are a problem, we would recommend sticking to the smaller 8 -10mm cane widths, as these are easier to push in.

Even in cumbersome gardening gloves, we found the FIGO easy to use.

Gardening for health opinion of the FIGO
Very versatile and easy to use, the Figo comes in a sturdy cardboard box which is fully recyclable but we suggest that it is kept to keep your FIGO connectors safe when not in use.

A box of 10 connectors gives you six 3 way and four 4 way connectors which will enable you to make a number of structures from one box and comes with full instructions (not that anybody needs them).  The FIGO website contains all sorts of useful information, is well laid out and easy to navigate.

FIGO also limits the risk of being poked in the eye by unprotected bamboo cane ends and gives the perfect protection to the corners of your netting where normal canes may tear through.

Initial cost of the FIGO may seem slightly high at £19.95 + £3.90 postage but postage is free when you order more than one pack and we feel that their flexibility and ease of use is well worth the investment.

Gardening for Health gives this product 10/10.

FIGO Launch
FIGO was launched at the GLEE show at the NEC in September 2009 and substantial orders have already been placed by distributors around the world.

No doubt they will soon be appearing on a garden centre shelf near you but if you don’t then simply purchase via Amazon.co.uk or the product ads on this page or log on to the FIGO website and purchase your own.

FIGO on YouTube
See the FIGO connectors in action in the short you tube videos showing what sort of structures can be built from these very flexible connectors.

101 uses for FIGO
These connectors are so versatile, they are great fro the kids too, they can build tents, sculptures and even geodesic domes. They are also useful for creating windbreaks, enclosures for pets, in fact– anything at all!
There is a section on the FIGO website where you can upload your grand designs….the only limit is your imagination.

Make Spring Gardening Easier

As gloomy winter days give way to the watery sunlight of spring, the temperature may still be cool but daylight hours are lengthening and the garden is certainly starting to show new signs of life.

Early spring can be a hard physical time for the gardener and apart from the usual seed sowing frenzy, there can be a lot of pruning, digging and raking to be done, so it’s all too easy to overdo things.

Over the winter months, the garden has been relatively dormant and so, to some degree have you.  Your muscles and joints have had a rest from the gripping, pushing and pulling and they need to be eased gently back into the work.

Don’t try to do everything all at once. It is really easy to get sidetracked once out in the garden and take on more jobs than you planned and no matter how tempting it is to see a task through to completion, it is best to do little and often whilst varying the tasks, to work different muscle groups and joints.

Make yourself a “to do” list and stick to it.

Warm up before you start physical jobs – preparing the body for what you are about to ask it to do.
A few simple exercises will help to strengthen or mobilise wrists and arms, shoulders, back and legs.
The Keep Moving booklet from the Arthritis Research Campaign is ideal for Arthritis sufferers.
Some simple hand and wrist exercises.
Exercises for the knee.
A range of exercise for the back, neck and shoulders.

Your garden tools are important

• Make sure tools are cleaned and sharpened.
• Consider ratchet mechanism pruners which take much less effort to operate.
• Stainless steel spades and forks are less inclined to clog up with dirt, making them easier to use.
• Garden tools with a smaller blade such as a border spade or fork are usually easier to work with and their smaller area means that you are not tempted to lift large amounts of earth.
• Long handled tools help you avoid too much bending and larger rubber grip handles are great for those who find gripping painful.

A little and often
Work on a small area of the garden at a time, especially if you are taking over a new garden or allotment.
Cover uncultivated areas with ground cover whilst you work on other parts of the garden, otherwise you will spend your time constantly chasing weeds and achieving little else.

Think about any changes you want to make to the layout of your garden and how you can make your life easier in the process.

• Move self seeding plants like Alchemilla Mollis away from gravel and brick paths where seedlings are hard to remove.
• Consider raised beds for growing your veg.
• Add edging strip to lawns to avoid grass growing into your flower borders.
• Think about getting pot bases with wheels to move planters easily around the patio – they have an added advantage of also making it difficult for slugs and snails to crawl into pots.

Keep warm – cold muscles are tense muscles and working them in a tense state is more likely to result in strains and overuse injuries.

Remember that your garden is for enjoying, take time to sit back and do just that!

More information

What to do in your garden this month – Gardeners World
Gardening tools for the disabled - Able Gardener
Grow Your Own Magazine - Useful information for the home veg and allotment grower.
Arthritis Research Campaign – Gardening with Arthritis.

Events and Publications

Maureen Flett is available for presentations at gardening shows and events, for talks on all aspects of gardening for health, health benefits of gardening and gardening with disability.

We are currently on the following gardener’s society speakers lists;

Cottage Garden Society - The Cottage Garden Society (CGS) is an informal, friendly society of approx. 5,000 members, in many countries, bringing together amateurs and professionals who share an enthusiasm for this type of gardening.

Garden Organic – The national charity for organic growing.

RHS – The Royal Horticultural Society, is the UK’s leading gardening charity dedicated to advancing horticulture and promoting good gardening.

Maureen is also writes articles on gardening for health for the web and publication.

If you would like Maureen to attend one of your events, or write an article, then please contact us using the form below;

Vegetable plug plants

Growing your veg from plug plants can have many benefits and over the last couple of years, the range offered has increased greatly.

One of the hardest parts of growing your own is the tricky seed growing stage when plants are subject to damping off or destroyed by slugs and snails.  Using pre grown plug plants cuts out this stage completely.

Plants are usually supplied at a size ready for planting directly into their growing position. Handy when space is at a premium and you do not have room for lots of seed trays, compost, propagators and indeed a greenhouse.

Avoid pricking out which can be laborious and difficult, especially for those who lack dexterity or the ability to stand or sit for long periods.

Plug plants are usually raised in the optimum of conditions, allowing good root development, so that your vegetables romp away once planted.

Many people like to go away early in the year and leaving precious seedlings in the care of a friend or relative can prove disastrous.

We have a selection for you on the left and you can view the complete range by clicking on any of the links.

More vegetable growing information

Grow your own magazine website – full of useful information for the home and allotment grower.
Allotment vegetable growing -  dedicated to the home and allotment gardener.
BBC Gardener’s World - Practical growing advice from the experts.

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