garden update
Apr. 27th, 2026 19:36![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thistleingreyLast fall I pruned the back yard's shrubs and saplings, slowly, and closed my eyes whenever I had to hack a few times at a thicker branch. This spring, my slow pruning of the additional rain-fueled shoots and yanking of some grass and oxalis have given tiny housemate some exercise on non-walk afternoons. She considers it her duty to catch anything I pull out and toss towards a fence to decay, such that pausing to gather two or three things before tossing is met by loud objections.
From those 3-5 minute snippets of labor, we have no more dog-safe twigs to lop, a first since fall 2021. When I told tiny housemate one day that I hadn't brought a cutting tool outside because we're finished, tiny housemate disagreed and bit off a few small branches within reach. Perhaps they were in the way for investigating cat- and squirrel-crossings.
For things that don't need pruning, I do as little as possible. Last fall, the hydrangeas struggled through dry weeks (non-rain watering occurs via hand-carried can, a hose drip that I move around now and then, or not at all), but they've decided to put forth leaves this spring. The persimmon tree has had the hose-drip treatment only once in 2026 so far, after too much rain last year left its fruit almost tasteless. In the fall I harvested some, which my mother sliced and dehydrated into treats for tiny housemate, and the rest went to the curbside compost service because tiny housemate and local squirrels kept fighting over the ones that dropped.
It's hilarious to try calibrating web advice that's somewhat informed. My physical endurance, the limiting factor, is in the respective target audiences for "Recovery after Covid" at AARP (AARP keeps dropping its age threshold for membership---I haven't joined, but it's now 50 years) and "I have been unable to run because of pneumonia for about two months" at RunnersWorld (I ran short distances with mild bacterial pneumonia 7-8 years ago, apparently, because former primary care dismissed the early stage as just a bad cold).
Neither article is of use to me; somewhere without any past bed rest is where I am. As Susan Paul writes in the second article, "In the right doses exercise can boost our immune system but, conversely, too much training can significantly impair it." And no one says, use nibble-doses of yardwork/housework as a proxy for lifting weights and feeding proprioceptive balance. Why would they, when "Go for walks" is their main goal.
From those 3-5 minute snippets of labor, we have no more dog-safe twigs to lop, a first since fall 2021. When I told tiny housemate one day that I hadn't brought a cutting tool outside because we're finished, tiny housemate disagreed and bit off a few small branches within reach. Perhaps they were in the way for investigating cat- and squirrel-crossings.
For things that don't need pruning, I do as little as possible. Last fall, the hydrangeas struggled through dry weeks (non-rain watering occurs via hand-carried can, a hose drip that I move around now and then, or not at all), but they've decided to put forth leaves this spring. The persimmon tree has had the hose-drip treatment only once in 2026 so far, after too much rain last year left its fruit almost tasteless. In the fall I harvested some, which my mother sliced and dehydrated into treats for tiny housemate, and the rest went to the curbside compost service because tiny housemate and local squirrels kept fighting over the ones that dropped.
It's hilarious to try calibrating web advice that's somewhat informed. My physical endurance, the limiting factor, is in the respective target audiences for "Recovery after Covid" at AARP (AARP keeps dropping its age threshold for membership---I haven't joined, but it's now 50 years) and "I have been unable to run because of pneumonia for about two months" at RunnersWorld (I ran short distances with mild bacterial pneumonia 7-8 years ago, apparently, because former primary care dismissed the early stage as just a bad cold).
Neither article is of use to me; somewhere without any past bed rest is where I am. As Susan Paul writes in the second article, "In the right doses exercise can boost our immune system but, conversely, too much training can significantly impair it." And no one says, use nibble-doses of yardwork/housework as a proxy for lifting weights and feeding proprioceptive balance. Why would they, when "Go for walks" is their main goal.
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