Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Ideally, each week one would do a minimum of two workouts with weights,
three sessions of aerobic exercise (fast walking, bicycling, swimming or
running) and some yoga.   In the real world, few of us can fit in that much
exercise. I believe everything counts: instead of driving to the store, walk
there and back; take the stairs instead of the elevator, and so on.  It's
all good.
  

    

Steve, you'd be surprised how much solar a simple poly film greenhouse can
absorb.  It's cold and cloudy here today and the greenhouse has been above
freezing since mid-late morning.  Outside the greenhouse it's 24 F.

I didn't have time this year, but the next step will be adding thermal mass
inside to moderate the temperature change overnight.  It won't help a lot in
the depths of winter wnen we have serious excursions below zero, but it
would make a difference come March or so.
  

    
Fitness: I walked the dog. That counts.

Gardening: I've ordered the four seasons book. A fine complement to the seed
catalogs that just arrived in the mail this week.

Cooking: I'm about to make the egg nog. Blueberry muffins are gone. Bagels,
cream cheese, lox, yum. Bruschetta after the baguettes bake. Shrimp
chilling.

Inkwell: Merry Christmas to all of you, along with other seasonally
appropriate greetings as might be appropriate!
  

    
Happy holidays to everyone!
  

    
I just got a surprise bike for Christmas, so it looks like my fitness
regimen for 2009 may be changing.
  

    
Hurray! Enjoy the new bike. I'm no fitness expert, but for the last
few years I've managed to work exercise into my life on a regular
basis. I average 4 workouts a week. I especially like any form of
dancing, hiking and biking. There was a period of running in there --
that would be nice to get back to. I try to work in weight training or
core training at least one day a week. Autumn's ideal week in #101 is
mine, too, and I've managed to get a few of those in. 

I think for a fitness program to work, it has to be routine for you to
exercise X days per week. Chances are, once it's become routine, your
fitness level and attitude will be improved and you'll miss it when you
don't do it. I also think exercise has to be varied and fun. If you
have fun on an elliptical machine watching MSNBC (as I do), great. But,
if you dread it, chances are you won't keep at it. One great thing
about dancing is that there are so many different styles and you can
begin to master something as you get fit. It also feels great to move
around, and the music and people can be a lot of fun. Being in nature
is also a wonderful benefit of certain forms of exercise, and seems
especially good for the mind. So find something you like. Stick with
one thing, or include a variety -- as long as you're doing something.
Once you have a routine established, you can push yourself in various
ways, but the hurdle is doing something at all.
  

    
Cooking:  We had a great Xmas dinner starring risotto with grilled
wild matsutake mushrooms and fresh truffles.  Dessert was a gateau Ste.
Honore.  Now I need to seriously tap into the Fitness conf.

Gardening:  I too am ordering that book.  What you've accomplished
really inspires me, (zippy).  I live in an area of very high (think
hurricane level) winds in winter, plus gophers and ground squirrels in
hard ground, plus it's a rental, so I'm wondering what would be a good
way to set up a vegetable garden.  It would have to be relatively cheap
(rental), something I could disassemble one day (ditto), and also be
something that could withstand the onslaught of a wave of critters. 
Any suggestions, anyone?

Fitness:  We received a year's membership to the local gym last Xmas
as a present, and it has really changed the regularity with which we
work out.  Having a nice steam room really is the cherry on top.  I
agree, we *have* to work out a specific number of times a week,
otherwise we feel crappy.
  

    
<cjp>: It's stuning how much one can garden in containers. Dunno how they'll
do with the four-seasons deal, but in season, they're amazing.
  

    
Oh man, I have tried and tried to grow in containers around here, but
the wildlife is almost crazed in their desire to eat anything that
could even remotely be regarded as edible.  I have tomatoes on the back
deck which are always devoured by the squirrels and ground squirrels,
and when I cover them with netting, the local lizards get caught up in
them and die, and the mice chew a gap and take advantage of the lack of
competition.  Or else the wind blows everything to pieces.  I want to
put in a greenhouse, but I'm afraid that it will be blown to Kansas.  I
need a moat.  And a brick wall.  With turrets.
  

    

<cjp>, if you don't get *too* much snow I would suggest tunnel covers since
they are low to the ground.  If there's a prevailing wind direction you
could construct or plant some sort of windbreak to shelter them.  Coleman
gets positively geeky about tunnel covers in the book, citing various
different designs and the pros and cons of each one.  Resistance to wind is
one of the topics he covers.

Cold frames are another possibility, and they are something you can take
with you when you move if you want to.  Much about them in the book too.

I get quite warm and fuzzy knowing that other people are interested in this
stuff too.  I'm loving the journey and will love it even more with company.
  

    
Well then, you've convinced me.  I shall read, learn, and report back!
 And please keep posting on the Well about your experiences.  I know
that I am not alone when I say that I really look forward to them.
  

    
Yes, please!

(Is there a topic on this in the gardening conference?)
  

    
Oh yeah.  406.
  

    
 . . . on my way . . .
  

    
Okay, that's going to be one of my new haunts on the Well.

The <gardening.> - <cooking.> - <chow.ind.> connection is a natural.
  

    
We certainly will love having you around.  Welcome!  And anyone else
who wants to stop by Gardening will be greeted by people with dirty
fingernails and an invitation to swap stories and experiences.  Keep
your doors locked around August, though, or you might find a couple
huge zucchinis with your name on them.
  

    

boy does that bring back childhood memories!  my mother grew them.  I was
the one who had to haul them in the wheelbarrow...