We had a bumper crop this year which I sliced thinly, dried in a very low oven overnight and then shrink-wrapped. It is quite delicious eaten like this, as it becomes significantly sweeter on drying. I can easily consume two quince a day. Quince has hugely beneficial properties: it is, according to published scientific papers, a powerful antimicrobial and antioxidant, and it is also anti-Helicobacter pylori – a bacteria that causes infections and can cause stomach ulcers and stomach cancers.
We also quickly realised it is a powerful aphrodisiac! When I checked this on Google Scholar, I learnt that “after administration of the quince extract, mounting frequency and the mating performance of rats increased highly significantly. The extract also influenced the behaviour of treated animals in comparison to non-treated rats in a remarkable manner, making them more attracted to females.” Enough said!
And… stretch
Stretching daily, when muscles are warm, just keeps you so much more supple and less prone to injury. Few gardeners bother with this, but you must! We often do not realise that three hours’ gardening – maybe an hour each of weeding, mowing the lawn and pruning – is equivalent to a full-on hour in the gym in terms of calorie consumption. Gardening is more physical than you think, so spend time stretching the body, including your hamstrings, the hips and the quadriceps after every session.
Develop your core muscles
So many back injuries are caused by poor core muscle use. When I visit Horatio’s Garden at the Midland Centre for Spinal Injuries in Oswestry and chat to people with severe injuries, I am always shocked at how many occur by way of seemingly trivial accidents, such as slipping off a kerb or tripping over awkwardly. If you are overweight, with poor core muscle tone, you are more likely to have accidents like this.
Similarly, when carrying out many gardening jobs such as lifting heavy sacks or plant pots, climbing ladders or bending down, it is all the more important to engage your core to support your spine. My favourite exercise for this is with the foam roller – see my YouTube video “How Not to Get Back Pain From Gardening”.
Exercise your vagus nerve
Life in the 21st century can be stressful. While a certain amount of stress is healthy, it is useful to learn how to manage it. As we get older, our vagus nerve, which controls our parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), stops functioning as effectively. The PNS is important as it calms us down, as opposed to the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), which is the force behind the fight-or-flight response to our adrenaline kicking in when something shocks us.