(Diabetic) *kitten* Up in the Garden

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tracyschreier
tracyschreier Posts: 81 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Anyone out there trying to lose weight who is also a backyard gardener? I'm Tracy. I'm trying to lose weight and also start a garden. I don't know why I associate these two things together, but I do. Anyway, I've got a small plot of land for a vegetable garden and will be starting it this weekend. Any tips would be most appreciated. Also, anyone out there who is trying to lose weight, start a garden, and who is also a diabetic? Yeah, we need to talk.
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  • supplemama
    supplemama Posts: 1,956 Member
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    Not a diabetic but I'm an avid gardener! What are you planting this year?
  • WendySPWarren
    WendySPWarren Posts: 63 Member
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    I love gardening, but there's not a whole lot I can do in my 4m x 2m paved courtyard. :p I am studying Botany at Uni though, so I guess that should count for something! :)
    My dad is a diabetic gardener who's trying to get fit. He would be the perfect person for you to be friends with, but I don't think he is on mfp. :(

    As for gardening tips, fork out the extra money for a good fertiliser, it will pay off later. And make sure to keep your plants free of frost. Also, getting locally native plants is great- they tend to die less. :p And, as always, follow the care instructions when planting.
    What are you going to plant? :)
  • jabadahut
    jabadahut Posts: 16
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    We cant plant here until after mothers day because we have been known to have frost that late into the spring. lost all my plants 2 years ago because of it.
  • AtwaterD
    AtwaterD Posts: 18
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    Good luck! :)
  • Defren
    Defren Posts: 216 Member
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    I'm not a gardener but I am a T2 diabetic :-)
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
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    I did a lot of vegetable gardening when I was younger. It is actually much easier than most people think. The key is to get a bit of knowledge--especially of your soil type (which your local agricultural people will be glad to supply) and go at it. As you acquire more knowledge, you will become much more efficient in raising that which grows best under your circumstances. As an example, you are probably wasting your time trying to grow sweet corn in dry sandy soil. You could enrich the soil and put in trickling irrigation---but that is a lot of work and expense to get a few ears of corn. There are vegetables that LOVE sandy soils (like the root vegetables) and don't require a great deal of water (at the right time) like corn does. Good luck! :smile:
  • Elif84
    Elif84 Posts: 287 Member
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    I don't garden, but I'm a Type 1 diabetic :-)
  • highflyer88
    highflyer88 Posts: 148 Member
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    Not a gardener but am a diabetic....although I'd love to try gardening veggies someday I stick with flowers because veggies intimidate me! Feel free to add me as I can use all the motivation I can get and love to see how others are doing and encouraging them as well!
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
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    I'm not a gardener but I am a T2 diabetic :-)

    Gardening is absolutely a great way to counter T2. It requires you to do a bit of heavy lifting and hauling (great for improving insulin response) and gives you LOTS of time in the sun in the cooler mornings and evenings (which supplies Vitamin D in abundance---great for all health conditions). It supplies wonderful nutrients in the vegetables that you raise (crowding out the other crummy empty carb food items) and it lowers blood sugar from the exercise you get in weeding. What could be better? :smile:
  • lindathome
    lindathome Posts: 29 Member
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    Diabetic (Type 2), Gardener, and loosing weight :) They are all connected! We started our small garden last year (around a 5x5ft square plot, plus flower beds re-purposed), BUT, with the horrible heat and drought we lost 99% of our produce to the varmints (groundhog, squirrels, raccoon, and even a poor hungry deer) ... and we live in the CITY. Our small plot has the potential to produce a lot of 'produce' :) as evidence by the quite impressive results last year, despite it all being eaten by the animals. I refused to water heavily to make up for the drought, feeling that I wasn't saving any money or doing the environment (or ultimately myself) any good by lots of compensatory watering, but find the whole gardening process quite therapeutic.

    We had several varieties of tomatoes (including cherry, grape, roma, and beefsteak), cucumbers (the groundhog LOVED the entire cucumber plant), pumpkin (again, loved by the groundhog), jalepeno, green peppers, orange peppers, okra (ironicly for a plant that typically thrives in the heat, this poor plant suffered horribly last year and only produced 2 okra).

    The plan for this year is to repeat planting tomatoes and peppers, hopefully with some protection from the animals with wire frames over them (yes, the groundhog will be able to burrow UNDER said protection). Working on that!
  • _chiaroscuro
    _chiaroscuro Posts: 1,340 Member
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    Not diabetic but I have a few things to say.
    1. I've had a lot of success repelling critters by planting marigolds around my veggies.
    2. Coffee grounds have given me great 'maters, and eggshells in the soil work for calcium-deficient tomato plants.
    3. Yours is the best Introduce Yourself thread title I've seen. Happy digging!
  • lindathome
    lindathome Posts: 29 Member
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    Try planting some peppers or even a roma tomato plant where you would plant a flower - they grow very easily and there isn't a lot of pressure of having to take care of them much, just some good watering or weeding.

    Planting some small marigolds in the same flower bed or pot will also help ward off some of the pests (bunnies, and other rodents) and some bugs.
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
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    Not a gardener but am a diabetic....although I'd love to try gardening veggies someday I stick with flowers because veggies intimidate me! Feel free to add me as I can use all the motivation I can get and love to see how others are doing and encouraging them as well!

    It's actually easier to grow vegetables than flowers. Flowers are fussy, and they have to look good (or what's the point?) But if a vegetable plant survives, it will produce vegetables. Even if they don't look fabulous, they will be edible and nutritious. :smile:
  • RumOne
    RumOne Posts: 266 Member
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    I have a container garden on my deck (the deer, moles and rabbits tear though it if I don't), I am pre diabetic so I am on the diabetic diet and the plan is to lose weigh while getting stronger. You can always read my profile to see if I would be a good add.

    Good Luck on the garden and the weight loss
  • TesselCat
    TesselCat Posts: 74
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    I fit these qualifications! Unless you have to be planting one for the first time. I've had a garden on my back deck for about five years now! I wish I had the space to grow it normally in the ground but aside from the deck, back yard doesn't get a whole lot of good sun. (Also our soil is suuuper sandy.)

    I love love love having a garden. Last year I splurged and got a nice bench for me to keep some of my herbs on so they could get all the love and light they need. I grow a lot of them. (Seriously, a dozen or so types, sometimes multiple pots of them.) Favorite thing after the herbs has to be the peppers, but I try to grow as much as I can. Tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, cukes, radishes, beans, and I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting. I've got one little ground patch on the side of my house that I grow butternut squash, rhubarb and some horseradish in.

    Also a few pots of grass for my furry friends, and some catnip. Because I'm a good cat owner.
  • reerazzle
    reerazzle Posts: 81 Member
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    Diabetic Type 2, trying to lose weight, and aspire to garden!
  • wannchef
    wannchef Posts: 8
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    I do not have diabetes (borderline), so I want to stay that way. :flowerforyou:

    Love to garden though. What growing zone do you live in. My last frost date is May 20th. I am starting seedlings now but have not been out in the garden except to clean off the winter debris.
  • duluthian
    duluthian Posts: 69
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    I have been growing a small garden for a couple of years. I love it. We have such a short growing season up here in northern MN, but I still have been succesful. This year I am starting my Toms, Beans and Zucchini from seeds. We cannot plant until after June 15th due to the threat of frost, so I am trying to get a head start. Good luck and have fun digging in the dirt.
  • bpotts44
    bpotts44 Posts: 1,066 Member
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    We cant plant here until after mothers day because we have been known to have frost that late into the spring. lost all my plants 2 years ago because of it.

    Cool season crops are impervious to frost. Lettuce, spinach, broccoli, etc.
  • CrazyTrackLady
    CrazyTrackLady Posts: 1,337 Member
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    Anyone out there trying to lose weight who is also a backyard gardener? I'm Tracy. I'm trying to lose weight and also start a garden. I don't know why I associate these two things together, but I do. Anyway, I've got a small plot of land for a vegetable garden and will be starting it this weekend. Any tips would be most appreciated. Also, anyone out there who is trying to lose weight, start a garden, and who is also a diabetic? Yeah, we need to talk.

    You associate them because good gardening equals healthy eating. Your brain and your body are telling you this is a GREAT thing -- so have fun and reap the benefits!

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