He designs them so they can be done whenever or wherever, without needing a gym or other equipment. The fixes Hughes suggests are often quick and simple. The head of the garden, Rosebud Schneider, dives into the history and meaning behind her “three sisters” crops (corn, beans and squash), finding links to her ancestors through cultivating the land. One of the largest farms they visit, Ziibimijwang Farm in northern Michigan, sits on 300 acres of tribal land. She starts each morning with a barefoot walk through her backyard vegetable garden. At 95, Peggy Walsh is the show’s oldest guest. Throughout the season, Hooper and Hughes also visit a Japanese-style zen garden in Connecticut to help owner Bob Levine get rid of his knee pain while weeding and begin practicing Tai Chi again. By adding a few simple stretches and swapping out her restrictive rain boots for more comfortable sneakers, Hughes was able to make a big change for the new mom. While running the farm, hiking up and down 80 acres of narrow rows, Bridges was also pregnant and trying to temper her foot and ankle pain. There’s also Brooke Bridges of Soul Fire Farm in New York, a community farm committed to food sovereignty and incorporating traditional African techniques to crop cultivation. “The first time he stood straight up, Simon went “Oh!” And he just got it.” “I needed to fix how they bent down and stood up, without hurting their backs,” Hughes says. All that hunching and bending over was becoming a problem. Saffron crocuses grow fairly close to the ground, while Price and Avery both stand more than six feet tall. But harvesting more than half a million saffron flowers per season is no small feat. The couple moved from a city lifestyle to become the largest saffron growers in North America. There’s Peace and Plenty Farm in northern California, run by Melinda Price and Simon Avery. Harvesting saffron at Peace and Plenty Farm in California. Taking this garden-based advice to the small screen seemed like a natural fit for the pair. How could they help other people with similar issues? Although Hooper is a newbie to the television world, Hughes has spent time in front of the camera before, acting in small roles on shows such as Days of Our Lives and All My Children. Still, common sense or not, the stretches and “fixes” that Hughes prescribed to Hooper were so effective, they sparked an idea. Aim for that as a neutral stance, and you’ll stave off a lot of issues. Keep your ears in line with your shoulders, shoulders in line with your hips and hips in line with your knees. Clients have often told him he should write a book, but he jokes that “my stuff is so common sense that a book would be a pamphlet.” When asked about a universal tip that can help most backyard gardeners, his go-to piece of advice was: Pay attention to your posture. Hughes’ fitness philosophy relies on building routines and following some basic guidelines. “And within a month, the stress, the aches, the pains, all went away, because I was moving my body better.” “Once I started to work with Jeff, he had a chance to really understand what I was doing,” says Hooper. The next day, she called Jeff Hughes, a longtime fitness trainer for celebrity clients. So a friend recommended she find a personal trainer. But as happy as she felt to muck about in the dirt, her body was paying the price. The longtime PR executive turned to gardening after retiring, and she has spent years cultivating her own garden in upstate New York, spending hours at a time outside. Madeline Hooper knows your planting pain. But are you also a little sore and achy? Got a crick in your neck and a tightness in your shoulders? A wrenched back, creaky knees, tight hamstrings…it comes with the gardening territory. How do you feel after a long day in the garden or on the farm? You might be proud of the work you put in, or maybe you’re feeling excited about the new shoots you can see poking through the soil.
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