Putting your back into it (safely)

It’s that early spring moment. The birds sing, the sun shines. Small furry animals scamper at your feet (no, wait, that’s a Disney cartoon).

You think, if you pull your finger out, you can clear the weeds, plant potatoes, hack down a bush and sow some seeds, all before lunch. Then, ninety minutes later, it’s not your finger that’s out, it’s your back. And you spend the next few weeks hobbling around, moaning gently, and falling behind for the rest of the year.

Even if you can shift half a ton of topsoil with nary a twinge (me, jealous?), it makes sense to think about ways to reduce strain. Let’s face it, if we’re kind to our joints, chances are that they’ll serve us better for longer.

For all those who tend, like me, to cripple themselves in the first enthusiastic frenzy, Safe Gardening has a specific sections on avoiding back pain, not to mention RSI and CTD (repetitive strain injury and cumulative trauma disorder, respectively).

They certainly made me think about my working methods; I feel positively sheepish not to have thought to move a heavy pot by loading it on to a shovel and dragging it into place!